Finding my running groove again!

My blog's been pretty quiet lately.  I've said it before, and I'll admit it again right now: when my blog is quiet, things aren't great.  It doesn't mean they're necessarily bad, but they definitely aren't clicking completely, and I'm certainly not feeling very inspired.

Lately, I've been loving my bike rides, but as for everything else, meh.  My swimming has been horrible because of the muscle cramping issues (which I might actually have solved!  More on that in a future post.)  My running has just been unexciting.  I've continued to do it, but it's varied from "meh" to "I'm dying!"  Not very much of the zen runs or feeling great pushing myself type runs.

Today, I was running at the track (I test for garmin sometimes.  On one hand, awesome because I get paid for running.  On the other hand, not so awesome because most of the testing is at the track).

Often testing sessions are start and stop.  Today, I was told to just run for as long as I felt like.  So, I did.  I had my ipod and made use of it.  Music isn't needed for all runs - unless they are solo track runs, then it becomes compulsory.  I pumped up the music and ran.

The first ten minutes were exactly what I expected.  Not great.  Even when things are clicking for me, I rarely love the first ten minutes of any run.  It's just a hump I have to get over.  As I continued to run though, it started to feel better.  Then all of the sudden, I switched gears and I was there.

Just running.  No longer caring about how long I'd gone for.  No fighting to make my legs move.  I felt like I'd moved from a slightly fast shuffle to a smooth, comfortable stride.  My legs just carried me.  I wasn't even hearing the music.  I felt amazing.

On the track.  Go figure.

This is why I run.

This is why I still run even when I'm going through a stage where I'm not liking it.  It's for these moments.