Does anyone actually like running? I'm serious.

As I was driving to the bike store the the other day, I noticed a few runners along the road. It made me realize why I hate running, and the thought of running so much. It’s a depressing thing to do. Every single person I saw running looked like they hated their life in that moment. I know I do when I’m running. I've never seen anyone smiling, peaceful, zen-like, or even in deep thought while running. Just pure utter hatred for life. So why is it so popular? There are more fun ways to exercise right? Especially since there is so much talk out there about people having "bad runs". Isn't exercise supposed to make you feel good?

I had a "bad run" about a week ago. My legs felt like blocks, my hamstrings were tight and my knees were making strange noises. It was depressing. I tried to get myself back into the game by doing 10 and 20 second sprints at 5 and 6 miles per hour, respectively. It didn't really make me feel any better about myself though. I was already spiraling down, and fast.

I've read about bad runs before. Seems that everyone has them. The advice is to just get over it and do it again the next time. The problem there, is I’m a self-sabotager. I’ll remember this the next time it’s a run day and I’ll tell myself that I can’t do it all over again. I had planned to bump up my intervals to 3 minutes running, 3 minutes walking. Before I even got started, I actually said, "I won't be able to do it". But I still tried. Or maybe not. I got to 2 minutes and just couldn't do it. Then I was pissed at myself and couldn't even do 2 minutes on the next interval. This is why I don’t like running. Because I can’t do it well and I don’t like that weakness.

Who invented this running business, and why?

I was sick for 2 days this week and wasn't able to work out, so I knew I had to do something today. A co-worker stopped by my classroom before going for a walk at lunchtime and I convinced her to walk with me after work instead. I need that motivation. I was afraid I’d get home after work and veg out and not get back into a routine, because it’s so easy to slack off once you've done it for a few days in a row.

She said yes, and tonight I did running intervals OUTSIDE! I know! It was exactly as people had told me it would be. Hell Hard. I used the SportyPal app on my phone to track time, distance, speed, etc. At first glance, my stats sucked, but they weren't just lacking a little bit from the change to outside vs. being inside on my treadmill; they were downright depressing. They were embarrassing, sad, pathetic, poor, and any other negative adjective you can think of. I was mad and discouraged, and upset, and even more adjectives. It showed my fastest speed running as 3.6mph and my average speed over all as 2.9mph. Seriously? I walk 3.0 easily on the treadmill. How is my average slower than that? I know I can do better than that. It pissed me off.

I don’t care if it was outside.

But then as I was looking for a picture to showcase my first attempt at outside “running”, I went to the SportyPal website and saw my stats in a new light. Apparently the app didn't show me everything. My fastest speed actually was 6.75. WHAT? I must admit, I also doubt that one, because the velocity box at the bottom only shows the fastest speed as 5.8. But still…5.8. I’ll take that!

I feel a little bit better about my first attempt at outside running. Only emotionally though. Physically, I already hurt. I hope to be able to move tomorrow.