Ankles, hips, knees, thighs

...all hurt. BUT. I have started running! I didn't want to write about it until I had actually committed for more than a few runs because my track record with starting things like this is terrible, but I feel like it's time to fess up. Oh, how I am loving to run!

It started this summer when I heard about a fundraising run for the children's hospital which is scheduled to be built here. We've definitely experienced the frustration of having to go to a whole different province to obtain proper child medical care and I feel very strongly about supporting the future children's hospital here. We moved out to camp shortly after I heard about this and so me and my friend who was also living out there decided to murder our bodies get up early and run the gravel road full of hills and dead snakes every other morning (or so...).

The first day I wanted to die. I did exactly what they tell you not to do on your first attempt at running: I ran until I couldn't run anymore. Which was about 1.5 min, but still. It was up a hill, ok? I couldn't recover and thought I would pass out. However I had purchased running shoes and promised the bold promise to my husband that it would NOT be a waste of money, so I dragged myself out of bed two days later and tried again. This time we brought along my sister in law who happens to be a personal trainer. She gave me a good routine to follow and I ended the run feeling fantastic (once I recovered from not being able to breathe, that is).

Yesterday I ran for almost 4k straight without stopping. I know it's not much, but it felt amazing. I am not really a physical activity kind of person. My body seems to be put together wrong for any sort of hard usage, so this is a bit of a push for me. Admittedly I have to ice my ankle every time I come back from a run and it takes a day or two to stop limping, but it's getting better and I feel so. good. It helps that every time I feel like giving up I remember what I'm training for.

I've heard from other people who run how addicting it can be but I didn't believe them until now. I mean, we'll see just how addicted I am when the snow falls and I don't feel like running on ice, but until then I will keep enjoying these beautiful post summer/pre fall evenings running in the evenings through the wonderful little paths in our town.