January 10, 2011

I'm coming for you, Lance

I haven't been able to run consistently since October due to my annoying bout of "runner's knee;" but that hasn't stopped me from trying other forms of cardio. I recently went to a spinning class with my parents and followed it up with a run through snow covered hills. While I discovered running through snow on a bum knee isn't the most fun in the world, spinning is incredibly wonderful. I absolutely fell in love with the class and have actively been looking for a spinning class near my apartment. There was something so supportive about working out in a class-setting where enthusiastic shouts were encouraged while you're being told to pretend you're racing Lance Armstrong through a night club, on a bike. It's encouraging, it's motivating, it's an awesome sweat-inducing good time. Biking in general has become a great amount of fun for me, lately. This weekend I biked 44 miles, split between two days, and this morning I did a 15 mile bike/hill workout before heading into work. While at heart I will forever be a runner, cross-training has made me a stronger runner, a better runner, and a happier runner. And hey, now I have the best of both worlds!
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Welcome to Head Over Heels!

Like many 20-something women, I woke up one morning exasperated. It seemed like every day I would find a new passion, a new dream, and get excited about yet another project, just to find that they would all crash and burn. I wanted something that I could control and that would be all mine.

Because our 20s are a time of exploration and discovery, it's very hard to find that path that directs us exactly to our dreams, especially because our dreams have the habit of evolving overnight. I had worn myself into a tizzy of exhaustion, disappointment, and an overwhelming sense of having no control over my own life. And that's when I went for that first run.

Two minutes later, I arrived back at my apartment steps, panting. As long and as torturous as those two minutes felt, they also gave me a sense of liberation, a feeling that had been severely lacking in my life. The next day, pathetically still sore, I again put on my sneakers. Three minutes, yes! This routine was repeated daily throughout the summer and now, I'm a half-marathoner! My ultimate goal, a marathon, still looms in the distant future, but the even bigger goal is one I can actively work on every day: learning to gain control over my own life and learning to fall in love with myself one step at a time.