Running...toward or away?

January 3, 2012

This is my workout on the treadmill on this 3rd day of January.  It was a walk/run (5 minutes of walking, then 5 minutes of running and so on) at a 1.0 incline.  At first glance, this isn't a bad workout for a 51 year old who has never really liked to run.  I made a decision back in November that I was going to start training with an eye toward running the 4-mile Ringling Bridge Run on January 21st.  Hmmmm...yes, ME, the one who has always said that "me", "bridge", and "run" should NOT be in the same sentence - in fact, not even in the same paragraph!  So, here I am with 2 and 1/2 weeks to go before this event and this workout is the best one I've had so far.  The good news is that my breathing only sounds like Darth Vader for half of my walk/run now (used to be during the entire walk/run!).  But, I will persevere, will be there on the 21st, and will finish the event even if I have to crawl (not entirely out of the realm of possibility).
So, the big question is WHY?   Am I running toward the rest of my life or running away from the idea of being over 50?  Or is it just one more thing that I can say, "OK, I've done that", check it off the list, and move on?   Those are questions I can't answer right now - we'll just have to see how this plays out.  In the meantime, I tell myself, "Just keep running, just keep running...".