Bring It On

Part three of the running journey that got yours truly off the couch and pounding some pavement.

Change One.  Moving more.  This is from a girl that can sit at Panera for hours at the computer, or just knitting.  I am not breaking those habits entirely, but merely adding some activity to balance them out.

My husband and I stopped at Fleet Feet, our favorite store for getting shoes and accessories. The team working there are awesome people that are runners themselves, and it's obvious they love what they do (no commission).  I already have the shoes-the most important thing of all (they have shoe fitting down to a geek science!).
They had all kinds of helpful information for me, and helped me select clothing that is designed for ventilation and wicking sweat.

I was told that "Cotton is Rotten," which was somewhat an awakening.   My beloved natural fiber--the cotton I spin and knit with--holds moisture that can cause chafing and blisters.  It made perfect sense as I recalled a particular afternoon at Six Flags, spent in water-soaked jeans that took ALL afternoon to dry after a ride at the water park. Time to swap the cotton-spandex for the light weight synthetics that are SO much lighter when soaked with sweat.  It makes a huge difference!

One other piece of gear that tracks distance, pace, speed, and more is the GPS watch.  It totally  ROCKS! The device knows all and TELLS all.  The software plugin that I downloaded from the Garmin website will chart and graph all the information from the watch.
My first run with the watch was on a two mile flat.  It seemed like an impossibly long way.
I dared not stop, with the knowledge that this watch was recording everything.  It will record any slowing down or stopping, so my goal was just to finish this thing that I started.   Just when I felt that death was near, the run was finished.  Then something strange happened. There was a euphoria at the end of that run that made me want to dance with joy in the parking lot.  This, along with the desire to do it again.  I told my sister, "is that normal?"  She said YES, having experienced what is called, "the runner's high."

We like to reward and encourage each other with motivational catchphrases and tokens of inspiration.
I particularly like the Dosage Instructions on the chocolate bar, and the bracelet, which I now wear on the days that we run.
"So," I asked Sis during a two and a half mile run.  "Are we still Warrior Princesses?"  "We are Warriors...Warrior Lionesses," she replied, in a moment of runner's euphoria/hysteria.  "Anyone who gets in our way will be hunted down and EATEN."