Runner's High

I used to think the runner's high referred to what one felt after a run.  A good workout in the morning can make the rest of the day can feel amazing.  I felt like I go through the rest of the day lighter on my feet, feeling more accomplished.  It elevates the mood for the day.

It wasn't until I started running more than 5 miles that I began to understand that runner's high.  The first few miles of a run always suck for me.  I start out thinking, "what am I doing out here? It's too hot/too cold/about to rain/too early.  I'm feeling too tired/too sleepy/too much to do."  But I've learned to not quit, to instead convince myself to get to mile 4.  Because somewhere between mile 3 and mile 4, those annoying demoralizing thoughts of "maybe I'll quit early" go away and instead, I'm thinking about nothing.  Thoughts are slowly drifting out my head, and I'm lulled by my breaths.  Or maybe I've found one thought that I'm casually, amusingly tossing around.  Each step has become part of a meditative rhythm and I am feeling like an efficient machine.  My speed increases and I'm feeling like this was what my body was meant to do: turn calories into energy, breaths into steps, determination into speed.

This is the part of the run that makes the running addictive for me.  It's the part of the run that makes the next 4 miles come more easily.  Sure, the lovely afterglow of a good workout keeps me still going for the longer distances when the fatigue starts to set back in, but that high at the end of a 10k run is what makes me want to go out the next day and do it again.

The last 20k race left my knee feeling sore and tender for about a week and a half afterward.  I think it was a bit of a mistake to run Crazy Legs, followed by a 9 mile training run 3 days later and then a 20k race 4 days after that.  I've been cautious with the knee and because of that, I haven't been doing any distances longer than 10k.  I can tell that the knee itself is getting better.  Immediately after the race, I felt the knee 2.5 miles into my training runs, and then it was 4 miles into my runs, and now it's right at the end of my 10ks.  Nonetheless, I worry that it's not yet strong enough for the 13.1 mile strain that I'm going to put on it this Sunday.        


In other news, I've finally at long last upgraded my phone.  My phone is internet capable with a text messaging plan.