It's a Beautiful Day

This morning, against all my body and mind's will, I woke up early, geared up, and met my friend Kristen for our weekly Thursday morning run. It turns out that both of us had come thisclose to texting the other to cancel!

I say "It's a beautiful day", but I am not talking about the weather. It has actually been grey and rainy all day, including during our run! But the runner's high I got today has just made me sail through the hours at work. It's the most incredible feeling and it's what keeps me coming back.

Kristen had victory selfie duty today. Turns out it's a better angle for both of us since she's the shorter of the two. ;) I really like this photo!

Excelsior! (Rainy days = foggy glasses)

There was an older lady (on the larger side like me) out who I passed by a couple times doing some walking. As I was about to leave the park, I saw her run a few yards and I couldn't resist going up to her to cheer her on and just give some encouragement. When I had said hello to her earlier she looked like she had a kind face, so I took a gamble on coming off intrusive. However, our exchange was really great. She was wonderful and I think appreciated my encouragement. We ended up hugging (!) and she sent me off with a "God bless you!" to which my atheist self replied, "YOU TOO!!! and I really meant it for her. I hope I see her at the park again doing our thing one day. 

Anyway, I wanted to do 4 miles today. Officially, the training schedule has 3.72 on the docket, but I figured, whatever. I like those round numbers! I thought it was going to be extra hard because I ended up forgetting my earbuds for inspiring music, but I was just able to enjoy my surroundings and have the music playing in my head be enough. At the very least I wanted 3 miles, so I followed the same route I did last week – and then I ended up exploring the path I was on beyond anytime I've gone before. It turned out to be lovely and I'm looking forward to doing it again, taking me back behind the History Museum where there is a Japanese garden and pond! Wow! By the time I got back to our starting point, I'd logged 3.25 and was OK with that. I met up with Kristen and we cooled down a bit when she decided to push herself a bit more, and with that, so did I! All told, I'm pretty sure I ended up with another mile total, though I made the mistake of forgetting to un-pause my app. But all the running and walking combined, it's definitely somewhere around there. Super excited about that, especially with the 5 mile race coming up on Saturday. I'd love to run the whole thing, but without someone on my tail and pacing me like I have in NoBo sessions, I'm not sure I will do that... but I suppose if I can under those circumstances, I should be able to by myself, too, yes?

Whatever. I just want a strong finish. 

Well into this adjustment week of getting back to regular exercise again, one thing I can say definitively is that my mood and overall attitude has improved noticeably. Note to self: Keep exercising a priority, if only for that reason! I feel happier, more confident, all that good stuff.

I know they say that exercise isn't necessary to lose weight, but if you ask me? It is a real game changer as far as your outlook goes. It makes your body and your mind feel good, and once you have that, the rest follows.

I love how that even after almost two years I am still figuring things out. Never lose the desire to learn and explore, inside and out.

This post brought to you by Runner's High.