running up that hill

For the last couple of Fridays when I go to the gym instead of stretching, lifting, and then running, I just stretch and run (and stretch again - stretching is my new favorite. I used to hate it because I'm not very flexible, but that seems silly now. Who am I trying to impress when I'm stretching? You can't win stretching).

Today I ran six miles. In 59 minutes. And it felt incredible. When I was done, I felt like I could've kept going, but I've only been running four or five miles at a time and I didn't want to overdo it. While I was running, I realized why the mom of the Masche sextuplets trained for and ran a marathon around the babies' first birthday. You can literally run away from stress.

When my older girls were babies, I didn't start working out seriously until they were 18 months old. Thinking about that makes me wonder what my rush was to get back into it with these babies. And, why I'm working so much harder than I usually do.

1) After the babies were born I felt terrible. I was stooped over and literally couldn't get myself to stand up straight. My back hurt, my ribs hurt, and I felt weak. I was lucky enough to lose the baby weight quickly (but it was lucky like it's lucky to get food poisoning or a tape worm - after you're better the weight loss feels like a bonus but in the moment you just want to feel good).

2) I NEEDED to do something for myself that had nothing to do with babies or work and working out was the only thing I felt like I could do without feeling guilty.

What I didn't know is what a great stress reducer it would be.

The first time I started running regularly was a little over 20 years ago. My favorite album to run to was Sinead O'Connor's Lion and the Cobra. I put it on my ipod shuffle a few months ago and I run to it almost every day. It's good to feel as good as I did 20 years ago. Better, actually. Because I'm not running away from my angst about my freshman boyfriend!

I'm not sure what my point is. I just feel good about getting stronger and faster and that I can be in this place right now. As crazy and busy as my life is, I'm happy. And, I'm glad I can run.