Running: Pain or pleasure?

So I'm trying to become a runner. I know, I know...running is probably one of the most easy and accessible forms of exercise around. But I'm just so BAD at it!! It's really ridiculous, you wouldn't believe all the things that go wrong in my attempts to run. Why is it that I can spend 45 minutes on the stairmaster and work myself into a dripping mess without any trouble, but 5 minutes into a run my asthma is trying to choke me and my feet threaten to stop moving if I push them any more? I just don't get it.

But I am proud (and you should be too) that I have begun to get serious about this running thing. My roommate is training for a triathlon and, being the running goddess that she is (she runs at 6 every morning like clock work), has offered to go on short, slow(er) runs with me to put in a little more training time and also to help me learn to run. We went twice last week, and I made it both times, albeit in slow form and probably not that far, distance-wise.

But the even cooler thing is that the past two days I went running BY MYSELF. Yes folks, you read correctly, I ventured onto the lonely sidewalk of running alone. And it was fanTAstic. The sun was setting, the air was crisp, my legs were somehow managing with the whole running thing...it just went so smoothly. Now, don't get me wrong, I was wanting to quit at the usual 5-minutes-in mark. But I forced myself to keep on keeping on. I think I compared myself to my roommate in my head the whole time, along with imagining how embarassing it would be to just stop in the middle of this route along the road and give all the people in cars a chance to giggle at the silly girl who can't run.

So I've been running. And as I type this, I can barely feel my quads. I mean, I'm an active girl, and I feel like I know what it is to push yourself and feel the reward of muscle pain afterwards. But this pain, oh man, this pain is just...so...real. I almost didn't make it down the stairs this morning. And forget about crossing my legs today. Oh no, just making it to class will be a feat.

But let it be known, I WILL continue. Even if it means my roommate having to drag me out of bed in the mornings because I can't move my legs. OK, maybe not to that extreme, but I'm gonna keep running. And I'm gonna get better. And gosh darnit, I'm gonna be a runner. Ready or not, here I come.