My Old Fashioned Summer or Workout #5

I think the older I get the more I find we have the same types of experiences over and over and over and over again to learn from them, love them, recount precious memories, and teach them. I have noticed so much this summer that while I am lamenting the loss of the simpleness of my youth, in comparison to my children's, theirs is actually fairly simple too.

I know because of the situation they are in, it is not the easiest of childhoods, but I also know they have the same opportunities I did, for a simple, sweet childhood. Magic shows, puppet shows, walks to the park, homemade Popsicles, "big" trips to the coast, tents in the living room, library trips... It doesn't have to be big and contrived to be lovely.

My run today was Week 8, Day 1 of Couch to 5K. With week 8 you run 28 minutes without stopping, after a five minute warmup walk and flanked by a five minute cool down walk. I confess I was nervous. I had only run non-stop this last Wednesday and it took all I could to do that.

I started heading to the park, and toward the end of my warm up walk, there sat a young boy with his lemonade stand. "Ma'am, would you like some zucchini bread and lemonade?" I will be back to support the young entrepreneur! I know it's a big effort to get that organized, at his age. I remember...

The prompt came to run, and I did just that. I ran. I ran and ran. My legs started to hurt (specifically the backs of my legs, oy vey). I ran up the incline, and it wasn't as hard as it used to be. I made it to where the usual "halfway" prompt comes, and it didn't come. I wondered if I'd accidentally paused my program. I kept running. Today's run was both longer, and my pace was faster. I ran the entire loop of the park, and debated running its bigness again. I decided not to. I was afraid of frustrating myself. I exited the park, and decided to retrace some steps.

Sometimes it's good to do the things you've done before. Sometimes they are sweeter than you recall.

I ran the cul-de-sacs in the neighborhood. These were the same cul-de-sacs that I ran when I first started the program a couple of months ago. They were perfect for making the goals I needed to. Today I was essentially killing time. I didn't know how long my run was. Just that I needed to keep running. I stayed on the street, knowing the everyone still left things out on the sidewalk, including the big pile of rocks (I'm about ready to help spread the rocks). Each cul-de-sac seemed to pass by so quickly. It was good to retrace these steps of not so long ago, to see how much progress I've made. I loved it.

I ran back by the lemonade stand and the mother of the boy said, "Well done! Keep going!" Which was AMAZING. I had no idea how it would propel me. I ran past the stand, down another cul-de-sac, around the corner with the stop sign, down past my home, and then my cool down came.

When I plugged it into Map My Run I had gone 2.5 miles exactly. I am SO EXCITED. I'm excited to go faster. I'm excited to go farther.

A few months ago, I asked my friend, JN who just completed a half marathon and is as postpartum as I am, how long before she liked running. She said six weeks. I could do six weeks. Well, it's been ten weeks for me, and today, I like running. I think it's important for me to be able to run constantly. It has done amazing things for my psyche. I am excited for Monday, and Wednesday, and the next Friday. I am excited to be moving onward and upward.

I am glad that I have this chance in my life to do this. I have learned so much. I have overcome so much. More than most people realize. I am becoming myself because I wasn't afraid to try again after failing and failing and failing. I will fail again, but today I will remember to always try again.