Runners wanted!!
Interested in running in the Los Angeles marathon?
Come, run with like-minded people!
There was contact information and all that jazz, but I was going to do this on my own terms and decided in that moment to run the LA marathon.
I had never previously been a runner.
Somehow I was diligent enough to make myself run all the time and everywhere.
Money to drop off at the bank? Run there!
Finished my shift at Starbucks (Sunset and Mohawk) and my shift at the DC doesn't begin for another two hours? Run!
Headed to the store? Run!
It quickly became a part of my daily schedule and was easy for me to continue because I was seeing the physical results (when I could run 6 laps and not my barely-one initial lap around Echo Park); when the girls I worked with commented on how thin I was becoming (admittedly, I was loving that!); and when a co-worker friend of mine decided to run with me, giving me motivation to run harder...neither one of us was kin to being the first to stop.
So now, years and years later, I begin to feel this runner's envy once again.
Mostly, I long for something mentally and physically challenging and also physically exciting! - I want to like the way my body looks. This is also incredibly stress-relieving!
So -back up- I DO like my body. I am not complaining. It is the way I feel when I KNOW I am purposeful to push myself and how it effects other areas of my life: i.e. I eat and sleep better, and I don't freak out so easily.
Three nights ago I was catching up with Nicolette (my sister) and our mutual friend, Nikki -both runners- and I was drowning in jealousy!
These two had consistently run miles upon miles together; multiple 5ks, and even a running group. They were running 7 miles up hill and down hill and through town, every which way. And they were killing it! (In all my time of running, I had NEVER hit the 7 mile mark without dying stopping .)
Both Ns had stopped running for whatever reasons and both were eager to get back into the groove. We are, all three, highly motivated by our thighs.
When I was able to come up for air out of my jealousy coma, I decided that I really REALLY want to get back into running. Just like I do writing.
Both are disciplines. But both are HUGE relaxation tools for me and -like the sign at Sonia's house read all those years ago-
if momma ain't happy,
ain't nobody happy.
Admittedly, recharging on envy is likely not the best way to do something, but, come on, at least it has me motivated!
What motivates you?
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