Runner's High

This is week eight of running four times per week. Something weird is happening to me. I'm starting to love running.

It's been a long time since I've really challenged myself - I think that's part of it - and with running, the results are measurable and concrete. When I started, I wasn't fat, but was so miserably out of shape I could barely run a lap around the track without stopping. Now I can run three miles without stopping. The first time I did this, I nearly floated all the way home on a cloud of pure exhilaration. Three miles might not seem like much, but it is to me.

And get this: I have thoughts of running a 5k in my head - just little teeny fleeting thoughts, nothing solid - but this is huge. Other people run races, not me. I am not an athlete! But suddenly the idea seems appealing.

And I can see how my running mentality is leaking into other areas of my life. The endurance! The feeling of not believing you can go any further, but then going further, the feeling of reaching what you know is your limit, and then going beyond that - it's like nothing I've ever experienced. "If I can do this, what can't I do?" is what I'm starting to think.

I haven't weighed myself in three weeks, because the last time I did, I was UP four pounds. I don't want to discourage myself again. I just want to keep doing what I'm doing, and hopefully in a while, I'll be able to see a difference in my body shape. (D says I'm slimmer, but I really don't feel it. I still need to work on getting my diet completely under control. I'm eating better, but not GREAT. I want to eat GREAT.)

I don't want to stop. I love this feeling of strengthening my body, of making it trimmer, lighter and healthier. I love feeling like I'm doing something good for myself everyday. I like the extra energy running gives me, and I LOVE the runner's high, which is 500 million times better than a coffee buzz.