I totally love and totally hate running. Totally.

First, what do you guys think – if your Christmas lights are relatively inconspicuous, is it still tacky to leave them up all year long?  I ask only because last night as I was headed back from my run, I noticed that our neighbor 2 houses down still has their icicle lights up over their garage.  And I thought, “Huh.  Not a bad idea since they’re so hard to notice.”  I mean, I’ve run past that house almost every time I run in our neighborhood (so at least like, 5 times now!) and I just now noticed them.  I’m pretty sure it’s still tacky and it would bug me to pull up to my house and see them every day, but I just wanted to see what you guys think.

Anyhow, back to the running.  When I came in the door last night I told David,

“If I didn’t just achieve a personal best in distance, I might actually quit running.”

Because let me tell you, running in the pea soup that is Florida air after an afternoon rainstorm is NOT FUN.  Add to that the fact that my neighborhood is made up of a bunch of hills strung together, and that I accidentally ran up a mountain last night, well.

You see, I am trying to increase my mileage every time I run.  But if I plan my routes ahead of time so that I actually know where and how far I am going when I run, I psyche myself out and am much less likely to actually complete the run.  I enjoy flying by the seat of my pants, so to speak.  It helps keep my mind off the pain of running and occupied trying to decide where I’m going and remember where I’ve gone and guessing how far I’ve run.  Plus it’s a fun way to explore and get to know the neighborhood.  This is how I came to run up a mountain:

I had already almost gone down one dead-end road, so I made sure to look ahead for another street sign, hopefully indicating an outlet to the road I was about to turn down.

It was a slight incline, which is normal for my ‘hood.  But then all of a sudden I found myself here:

This is me looking out across a "valley" to the hills ahead. It was really pretty, and an excellent illustration of why this city is called "Crestview." But I knew there was no way I was running back up that road once I got to the bottom!

Did you know that running down a steep road is no piece of cake?  It takes a lot of focus and restraint not to go tripping/rolling down the mountain!

See? I was very glad I had "made sure" the road looped around.

I made it to the bottom without tripping OR rolling down the hill, and I was feeling pretty good.  Until I turned the corner and discovered THIS:

I was mad. Oh, I was mad. So mad that I turned around and kept right on running!

You know the term “feel the burn,” right?  I felt my calves’ hearts breaking.  They were crying and it was serious.  Their little calf muscle chests got all tingly and tight and everything. But we persevered, my sobbing calf muscles and I.

I tried very hard to keep myself distracted.

Know what got me through to the top?  The song, “Let’s Get Retarded (In Here).”  I know.  That is not good Christian music, kiddies and I’m not endorsing it!  I am saying that the song has a bad attitude, and by this point in my run SO DID I.  My thoughts went something like this:

“Why am I still running?  What am I trying to prove?  This is retarded!“

But I made it to the top, and then I KEPT GOING.  I kept going until I could not go anymore, and when I walked in the door I told David,

“If I didn’t just achieve a personal best in distance, I may actually quit running.”

And you know what?  We went back and drove it, and it was a personal best!  I made it 4.3 miles without walking, and that mountain was almost exactly in the middle.  Am I bragging?  Yeah, a bit.  But I am also saying that THIS is what I love about running:  99% of the reward comes once the run is over and your body parts aren’t crying anymore and the happy hormones are flooding your brain and you feel like you have really accomplished something – even if it’s something as small as breaking your personal record by a measly 2/10’s of a mile.

Do something you have never done before – even if it’s just by 2/10’s of a mile!

Becki