3rd Times the Charm

A lot has happened since the last post: Tuesday's bridge run with Gilly (that's the name decided upon between us) was canceled because of torrential downpours. I went to my sister's house to pick up my dress for the December wedding (we both have it and they got switched somehow) and her roommate and my friend Curly asked if I wanted to go to the gym with her, so I obliged. Put in a good 3 miles on the treadmill and went home and watched The Biggest Loser, because it always motivates me. Last night, Gilly and I ran the bridge again. Neither of us has found the perfect balance of what to eat, when to eat, how much water to drink before, etc., so we are still learning in that aspect. Overall, a great run.

I am beginning to see that some issues that I used as excuses before are not issues at all. For instance, I used to blame my dad for my "bad knees" and the fact that I "couldn't" run. In reality, they were still caused by my dad (sorry, Dad!) but not from a genetic perspective. Growing up and running with him, a few things stuck with me from our runs around the neighborhood: 1) Girls always run on the inside, lest we fall in the path of oncoming traffic; 2) Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth; and 3) Your feet should hit heel first and they should never make a sound. Well, Dad, thanks for the first 2, but that last one is crap. My entire running career since those days with my dad, an approximate total of 30 days prior to last week, was spent running this way, and I always had knee pain. Well someone told me recently that running should be very natural, you shouldn't really have to think about it, which I have found to be true. And when I don't think about how my feet are hitting and if they are making a sound, no knee pain.

Another "issue" I've used as an excuse to stop while running: side stitches. I get them very frequently - so frequently you could say that that is one of my talents. Again, Dad's advice to 13-year old me sticks around and this time, helped me out. He told me to "breathe out hard" to alleviate this pain. I was doing this, but would often give up if it didn't go away in, oh about 10 seconds. I know, I'm a huge wimp. Running with Gilly, though, has taught me that if I just keep going and concentrate on my breathing (sorry Gilly, I know my heavy breathing is annoying!), that pain will go away. This has been crucial in allowing me to run for much longer periods of time at once.

Tonight, Gilly and I will run the bridge for the 3rd and final time this week. The title of this post alludes to tonight being the night we (hopefully) will be able to run the entire bridge without stopping. Once that happens, who knows where we'll go from there - the world is our oyster, as some would say. Just kidding, we'll probably just continue to run the bridge at least 3 times / week. I'm heading home again this weekend to visit with my Memaw, who broke her hip and wrist earlier this week. Will update after the weekend on how much running I got in while home - hopefully its better than last time.