I joined this running blog, instead of another running blog, for a few reason: 1. I've spent years estimating. I am the flakiest at recording my own physical activity. I tend to think it is enough just to do it, and I have no interest in typing up my splits (or even recording them) or giving people information about my athletic tendencies other than "I am pretty good at soccer," and "yesterday I ran ___ miles." 2. I agree completely with the philosophies espoused by the founder. That is, the running philosophies. As an Episcopalian, I am of course not on board with the whole LDS thing, but that is entirely beside the point. I read Sasha Pachev's "Top Ten Excuses for Missing a Run," and I thought, exactly. Exactly. Then I read the most common training mistakes article, and realized I am making one. No, it is not the cigarettes (though they, while infrequent, are obviously also a problem). I spend all of my life in a state of maximum stress. Today, I am so stressed I feel dizzy. I am worried about the following: my car, the jerk I thought I was into, needing to buy christmas presents, the project I'm doing at work, spray painting t-shirts for the soccer team I coach, the four tournament games said team has this weekend, whether I slept enough last night, my friend Ashley's birthday on Saturday, the work-related dinner I have to rush to tomorrow after the soccer team party at Cici's Pizza, my weight, the fact that my room is a mess, the fact that my car is a mess, whether I am capable of finishing my half marathon, how far I should run today, whether it is a bad sign that I hate timing myself, my ankle, my back, Christopher McDougall, and whether or not I need to go on a diet. I don't think this habit is really helping a lot with my training. Or, you know, my sanity. So I just put it down. I put down the fabric spray paint, picked up Mindy Kaling's book (which I bought for myself yesterday) and I am laying in bed, in my running clothes, reading it. I feel like a dead person. When I finally perk up a little (give it half an hour), I'll lace 'em up, head over to the middle school track, and run another five-miler, easy. I will tape my sprained ankle and run my miles and then I will come home, record them, drink a glass of red wine, spray paint the shirts, and go to sleep. But see, I'm planning again! Just doing that makes me freak out. This is why I don't keep a running log; it makes me insane. But maybe it's time for me to shift my focus and simplify. Maybe it's time for me to read Mindy Kaling, then go for a run, then just wing it for a while. We'll see how it goes. UPDATE: Yeeeeeesshhhh ankle pain. But I ran my wimpy little two miles and came home. Something is better than nothing.
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