Friday Feelings: It Takes More Than a Few Seconds

Friday Feelings, Inspiration, Running, Starting New, Training

The 29-degree windy, snowy conditions reminded me of getting up early every weekend to go downhill skiing with my mother and sister. As a single mother, she taught ski lessons and besides getting paid, she received free ski passes for her daughters. We skied until we graduated from high school with a love/hate relationship of the weekend activity.

After getting home and jumping in the shower to warm up after today’s freezing run, I remembered how it felt after skiing. My cheeks were rosy, my legs and arms slightly achy, my mind cleared of any stress, and a bit of jolliness from joking with my sister on the slopes reminded me of the fun of winter sports.

Today I felt the same way after running only 3.5 miles outside in windy conditions with snow pelting my face. “How can you run in the cold?” my friends ask. “I bundle up, put on my favorite music, and enjoy it,” I say. It’s the truth. It is also true if I wasn’t a child and teenage skier, I probably wouldn’t find winter running so enjoyable.

If you are a marathoner with a race in the Springtime and live in the Northeast, you either have to run inside on a treadmill or gym track, or bundle up and get outside. I ran all winter training for my first marathon, the 2017 Boston Marathon, and learned to toughen up. I swear in the Summer when training for a Fall race, I think the heat is too much and start dreaming of ice hitting my face.

I’ve come to believe the first two miles of any run or race are the hardest. It takes the body, and more importantly, the mind to settle in. Perhaps it is the time it takes for endorphins to start pulsing or the music to get us into a groove but by the time I’m at the 5k mark, I don’t want to stop.

Whether you are a runner or not give yourself more than 15 minutes to settle into any new endeavor. Creative writing takes time. Running distances takes miles. Getting over the fear of public speaking takes practice. Cooking a new recipe doesn’t taste good right away. You have to savor the fresh beginnings knowing the best is yet to come.

It’s a reason to keep pushing through anything new. You will eventually succeed and you will enjoy it. Just give yourself time.