twenty-three

Today marks the 2 week anniversary of the day I became a runner. It also marks my accumulation of 40+ miles run since I started (41 to be exact). A good day.

It may seem funny, that I’m so excited about this new running business, but I can’t help it. For a number of reasons, big and small, this has been quite an achievement for me. I’m already setting goals, making plans for when it starts getting colder outside, wondering when I should buy my second pair of shoes. So, I thought it would be appropriate to share some of my highlights from the last two weeks.

1. Getting off my butt.
The first highlight is probably the most important highlight. By getting out and running, I am actually taking a break from sitting on my butt. It’s kind of like reverse relaxation. I find that when I’ve been sitting at the computer all day, staring at emails, HTML, CSS, and designs, it’s nice to get up and move a bit. Not like, ‘get up and get more coffee from the kitchen’, but actually getting my pulse going. A novel idea.

2. New discoveries in Bellingham
When I was an orientation adviser at Western, I used to prattle on about all the great trails that Whatcom County has. But really, all I’d seen were the ones along the waterfront. I’ve begun to explore some of the more "inland" trail routes and I am very impressed. We live right next to a connection to the interurban trail that runs from Western’s campus all the way to Larrabee State Park, so I’ve been hopping on and winding through some brand new places in South Bellingham and Fairhaven that I’ve never seen before.

I’ve also been finding new routes from the City of Bellingham’s trail guide website. But the best part of exploring my neighborhood is actually tracking my distances when I find a new route. I’ve been Gmaps (Google Maps) Pedometer to track my routes and distances every day, so I have a pretty accurate mileage count going. This is fun and motivating, because I can actually see the places I’ve been and watch the distances add up.

3. Music
I’m kind of a sucker for laid back, coffee sipping, rainy day, depressing music. You know good stuff. But when I’ve been running, I can’t really get hyped up listening to Rosie Thomas or Damien Rice. Selections on the iPod for the runs have included: MxPx, Anberlin, Thrice, Underoath, and Jimmy Eat World. Sometimes it’s just good to go back to something with a little more energy, angst, and reminiscence of high school.

I hope this is something that will last, because I’m really enjoying it so far. I’m the kind of person who gets really excited about things for a short while, tells everyone about it, and then let’s it fall off when I get lazy, so I’m hoping to fight against that…We shall see.

4 Responses to “2 Weeks, 40 miles. Running is kinda fun!”