But I LOVE pain!

I realized this past weekend how much I love pain.  Please don’t report me to a psychologist!  I’m sure you will agree that you do too!

As I ran the Boston Prep 16 miler, each hill I came to, I thought “Why am I doing this again?”  I also thought “Why am I running when it is this cold out?”

I remember my last marathon.  There weren’t as many participants as in my last two marathons.  I often found myself alone on the course.  When I got to mile 13 where the half marathoners broke off from the marathoners, I thought “Why did I do this?”  I got to mile 20 and thought again, “Wait, tell me again Jessica, why did I do this again?!”  I had reached a point where I had said out loud to myself “Come on! You can do it!”

Then I got to mile 26 and I put all my heart and soul into that last .2 miles.  And I had people cheering for me and finished in my PR time (3:23:42).  My friend who got me into my running club was along the finish line screaming “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! YOU ARE GOING SOOOO FAST!”  And after I crossed the finish, he gave me a huge hug in excitement for how much I improved.  Then I thought to myself “THIS is why I do this.”  I feel SO amazing after a race.  I remember the months of dedicated training-each early morning that I woke up to get my run out of the way when all I wanted to do was sleep.  I set myself a goal.  I worked hard.  And I completed it.  This is what I thought this weekend after the Boston Prep.  I thought “I conquered those hills!  You just wait Boston ’til I come for you!”

When I run, I completely zone out and focused on my body.  Running can be a complete mental thing.   Sometimes I go for my long runs on the weekends, and I forget where I even ran.  I don’t even know what I thought about.  It’s some time to myself to forget about all worries and the real world.  It is GREAT!
In addition to this…I LOVE CHALLENGES!  I think running takes patience and discipline.  A lot of my friends say they can’t see themselves runners.  They wish they could do some more involved sport or something more fast paced or they just don’t have time.  The patience, dedication and discipline to become a runner is definitely a challenge.

Do you ever wonder why you run?

Have you ever talked to yourself to get some motivation?

Do you zone out when you run?