Grete Waitz

Grete Waitz was recently featured in Runner's World magazine. I've considered actually getting a subscription since I buy every issue now (especially on days where the commute home is not the easiest), but I really liked this article. Waitz was a Norwegian runner who won the women's NYC Marathon back in the 70s. No one had heard of her and she didn't train for the marathon... she just went out there and ran it. What struck a chord with me was an interview from one of her training partners, who said that she went out there and gave it 110% in every training session. I decided tonight to be like Grete Waitz. I know that I'm not going to run at a goal pace every time I practice (or else it wouldn't be a goal), but I CAN give it something more than "Oh, the schedule says 3 miles tonight... I'm just going to maybe do a run/walk. Something chill. Whatever."

Tonight's run was a 3 miler. I did 3.2 miles in 30something minutes, but that was including a warm-up and a cooldown in there. It was a run/walk and probably my first challenging running workout since surgery. One of my surgery scars felt a bit itchy and, as I approached 6.5 mph, I got a few cramps on my upper right side, but for the most part, it felt good. The 10 lbs I lost (mainly in muscle, I've determined) made a positive difference in my gait and I found that, despite the lack of training for a month, running was fairly easy. The cardiovascular endurance was not entirely there yet, but I will build up. I'm going to start timing my Monday 3 milers starting next week so that I have a good idea of what I can expect from my race.

I've been really anxious lately and tonight's run made a big difference.. if only for the 30something minutes I was on the treadmill. Keeping an eye on my knees in the mirror (it's how I judge my gait) and running with "and it feeeeeels like jealousy... and it feeeeels like I can't breathe" playing in the background, I felt like everything had just come together, if only for that short while. I came off the treadmill completely content with life. Some things are not quite right just yet, but I had a feeling of "everything will be okay" come over me.

In other news, I'm hoping to sign my house lease tomorrow, making BF and I's move-in date December 1st. I'm very excited about the home. I'm not a fan of the streets in that neighbourhood as many people park outside their homes on the road and it makes the street pretty narrow, but we're in a good spot to slip in and out onto the main road. I'm looking forward to spending time in the kitchen experimenting with some neat recipes I've been finding all over the place from Men's Health to RW. Even though I've lived on my own before, I feel like this time I'm doing it as a grown up. I'm a grown up girl with a grown up life in a grown up relationship. Everything just feels like it's clicking together. I sent a text to my BF pretty much declaring my undying love for him which was, admittedly, a bit cheesy and even slightly unwarranted, but inside I feel like I'm jumping up and down going "We made it! We made it!"... I don't find that at specific moments where people should get excited that I become very happy (getting a new job, finishing a race, etc), it's the moments like when I'm driving down the road in a car that I own from a gym where I was training for a 5K, past the house that I'm about to move into with a guy that I am absolutely madly in love with and with whom I have overcome incredible obstacles, to a grocery store where I'm buying lunch for my workday in a job where I get to be surrounded by wonderful people and aviation. There are things in my life that need major improvement, no doubt, but tonight, I was blissfully happy.

-A