Steph: The Reasons

Keeping with Jill's list idea, I wanted to create a list of my own on why I really run.

But first I wanted to say, I think it is HARDER to keep running than to START running. I started under duress and peer pressure, but had fun with the camaraderie. Then I hit a stride where I was determined to keep running to matter if I hated it or not - no matter if one of my friends could run with me or not. Then, suddenly in the last 4 days I have given excuse after excuse on why not to run. I realized how bad it was yesterday, when the excuse I used would not truly have affected the running. I could have run and then continued to work when I returned, but I didn't. Maybe it has something to do with the "real" distances I am now running. They sound scary when I say them out loud. But whatever the reason, tonight I am NOT letting myself talk myself out of it. I am going to psych myself into going running all day.

THE REASONS I RUN ... AND WILL CONTINUE TO DO SO

1. Running makes me feel better afterwards
2. Running is making me lose inches (if not pounds)
3. Running makes me feel like I am not a real couch potato
4. Running is fun when you have a friend to run with
5. Running has somehow (inexplicably in my mind) brought my husband and me closer
6. Running makes it hard for my husband to keep his hands off me afterwards
7. Running is something new to do ... that I am actually O.K. at doing
8. Running hurts while I am doing it which makes me know that I am alive
9. Running makes muscles in my body hurt that I didn't know existed ... and I love learning about things that I didn't know existed :)
10. Running makes me feel better about eating that big old piece of cake later in the day
11. Running makes my clothing fit better
12. Running has opened new doors of conversation with old friends
13. Running gives me hope that I control my own "in-shaped-ness"
14. Running will make walking around European mountains this summer a lot easier
15. Running has made my husband believe in me again
16. Running makes a big glass of wine at the end of the day taste even better
17. Running makes the stresses of the day melt away (something I didn't believe was really true until it started happening to me)
18. Running has made me realize that I can do other exercises too (I started a 25 min Tae-Bo workout that kicked my arms into full gear - wow it even hurts typing this right now!)
19. Running makes my heart happy.
20. Running sucks ... but not in the way that a lot of life's real stressers suck - so it has given me perspective.

These are the reasons I run. These are the reasons I want to continue to run. Now I just have to talk myself into not falling off the wagon tonight.

:)