10 Things I've Learned From Running

1. MapMyRun is a lying whore.  I was suspicious the first time it tried to tell me I walked a mile in 13 minutes.  But then I got my Garmin and saw just how off it was.  Seriously.  For every 3 miles, it's at least .25 miles off and sometimes more.  That may seem trivial until you are attempting to get 9 miles done and realize it's off by a full mile.  That's a lot to a girl that huffs and puffs as much as I do when I run.  And the byproduct of it being off that must is that it gives you the illusion that you run faster and burn more calories than you actually do.  Not cool.

2.  You should wear decent socks and shoes.  I've always had running shoes and they've been pretty decent.  But I'm an idiot and started out in thin crappy socks.  After I kept running out of clean, thin crappy socks, I decided life was too short to be doing laundry just to have clean socks. First, I bought some thicker, less crappy socks.  They felt better.  The next time, I found some in a package that claimed they were better for running.  The package was right.  They sell them at Target and they don't even cost a lot.  I bought a bunch.  Total upgrade.  And I buy ones with pink on them so my husband doesn't try to "accidentally" throw them in his drawers.

3.  If you are running and your sock is sort of out of place and you can feel it sort of moving, stop and fix your sock even if stopping annoys you to no end by throwing off your pace, your breathing and your pathetically limited attention span.  Because you know what's way more annoying?  Getting a blister and having to tend to that blister for the next two weeks.   Babying a blister blows.  Fixing your sock is 30 seconds of your life.   

4. I sweat like a pig.  I require a sweatband on my big sweaty forehead at any temperature above 40 degrees.  I have run in 42 degree weather and am here to tell you I had actual sweat on my brow.  I am clearly a beast.  And if I don't have a sweatband, the river of sweat coming down my face gets in my eyes which makes them sting which requires me to wipe them with my shirt which requires me to remove my sunglasses which requires me to put the sunglasses on top of my big sweaty melon of a head which means I'll have to wipe off the sunglasses before I put them back on.  It's like a whole If You Give a Mouse a Cookie vicious cycle. Life is easier if I just make sure I wear a fugly sweatband.

It was cool enough that I was wearing a long sleeve shirt layered over a short sleeve shirt but still managed to become a sweaty mess. 

5. Sweat can, in fact, periodically roll into your ear if you sweat like a pig and forget to wear a sweatband.  It's gross.   It's also hard to get completely out while still in motion running.  You will be forced to live with it.   And that will suck, too.

6. Compression shorts are a good thing.  I never understood all those people wandering around town in spandex.  I mean, seriously.  As if anyone wants to see that.  Except, I'm here to tell you pulling your shorts down repeatedly is annoying.  There's also no cool way to pull them down out of your crotch where they have bunched up because your thunder thighs have been slowly rubbing them upward.  Seriously.  There's no way to play that off.  You eliminate that from your life if you wear compression shorts/pants. I have even worn them to the grocery store after a workout in a pinch.  If you had told me a year ago that I'd ever be caught dead doing that, I would have laughed in your face.

7. At some point during every single run, my brain will try to tell me to stop.  I have been running for over six months now.  I have told myself since the beginning that I wasn't going to give myself permission to stop and that I'll have to just literally fall out on the sidewalk.  But I've never once fallen out.  I'm not saying it can't or won't happen at some point.  I'm just saying my brain is prone to being over dramatic and trying to avoid difficult stuff.  I'm expanding my brain's vision of what is possible.  One run at a time.  I don't know if your brain telling you to stop is what other people refer to as "hitting the wall" in running.  But for me, getting past that moment is my challenge.  I consider any run a success if I make it past that moment without giving in.

This is the definition of every run I've ever been on.  I have to talk myself out of quitting Every. Single. Time.

8.  Some runs will be great and you will have visions of marathons dancing in your head.  Some runs will be awful and you will be convinced death would be preferable and that your were a fool to even try running at any point in your life.  Some runs will be just okay and you'll appreciate how many calories you burned and that it could have been a lot worse.

9.  Anywhere between 50 and 60 degrees is my preferred running temperature.

10. I can do hard things.  I'm not a girl that lacks in confidence.  When I know I'm good at something, I know I'm good at it and don't get swayed from that.  But when I suck at something, I'm the sort that doesn't generally care too much and chalk it up as something that's not my cup of tea.  As a kid, I never liked sports or even activities that involved lots of running.  And I never cared.  It just seemed hard and not worth the hassle and who cares anyway.  I never in a million years would have thought I could run a half marathon.  When I started C25K back in September, I was a huffing puffing mess just trying to last for 30 seconds.  I was amazed every time I successfully got through it.  But I did.  And I continue to amaze myself.  I'd forgotten I could do that.  I don't ever want to forget again.  Just because something is difficult doesn't mean I can't do it.  Sometimes it may take me longer than other people.  And I'll probably complain more than some people along the way.  But I can do hard things.  And if a lazy wench like me can, anyone can.