Running Take Two...

I have revisited running.

Yes, after giving up last summer at the three week mark, I have now decided to give this whole running thing another go.

Mostly because Andrew and our friend Steph are doing it. I'm a sucker for peer pressure.

Also because I bought sneakers. It seems like a colossal waste of money not to use them.

Finally, I am revisiting the possibility of becoming a runner because I no longer work M-F and can go running at the same time as Andrew and Steph on Thursdays and Sundays.

Tomorrow is the last day of WEEK TWO OF RUNNING (couch to 5k interval training). We're considering the Zombies, run! running program. Yes you heard me. You can do interval training while running away from zombies, collecting gear and saving the world. BADASS! Andrew feels that the couch to 5k version isn't as good as our regular program... So we're thinking of trying it once we're good to run for longer than 3minutes at a time.

Unsurprisingly to those who know me well, I have an ability to sleep directly after running. The first day I got home, crawled into bed and slept for another hour and a half. No really, I need 10 hours of sleep to be happy.

What I hope running will give me:

• Better cardiovascular health. Yep, this is all about getting the cardio to help keep my heart healthy. Yoga just isn't enough cardio, especially since I'm walking so much less.
• Stamina and strong legs. I really really want strong, muscular, kick ass legs that will be strong foundations for all my yoga asana.
• A relatively cheap way to be physically healthy. I don't need to buy anything new or pay any fees. I just need to be ok with waking up so early...
• Motivation to not quit. I'm really enjoying running with three people- it assures that neither Andrew nor I are easily persuaded to punk out when we know Steph is waiting on us...

What I accept running will NOT give me:

• Happiness. Honestly, running does not make me happy. Admittedly, it makes me feel pretty terrible and a bit angry. I'm going to have to work extra hard to replace sleeping after running with yoga after running. Since yoga makes me feel Le Happy.
• (However, there is something to be said about running with two people who LOVE it- makes the running more bearable. Thank you Andrew and Steph!)
• Meditation and stress relief. This kinda goes along with the above "Happiness". Running makes me tense, out of breath and a bit grumpy. The added upper body tenseness, which coincidentally is where I carry a lot of my stress and anxiety, only adds to feelings of dis-ease. Again- will have to yoga it up to counterbalance this side effect.

I'm fairly hopeful that round two, in a cooler time of day (morning), coupled with the fact that my IBS is under control, twice a week (so not replacing my yoga practice) with TWO people to keep me from punking out will be successful! (croisez vos doigts pour moi!)

Hears to a healthy heart!