Runner's high

I don’t run.  Not that I’ve never tried.  Back in high school and college, I made a few attempts.  I couldn’t get past the burning in my lungs and the stitch in my side.  I didn’t know then about starting slow, building up your endurance; run a bit, walk a bit, etc.  So I wrote myself off as not being a runner.

Over the years I have watched with admiration those people in my life who run:  a high school friend, who was on the track team and continues to run today; my sister-in-law, who discovered running as a weight-loss tool and is in fantastic shape; neighbors, who run at varying paces but are faithful to it; Facebook friends, who go to different cities to race and spend time with their friends.  So inspirational!  But we must walk before we run.  And so I walk.

What intrigues me about walking and running is the “high” that you get from it.  The body produces those feel-good chemicals that cause the addiction we feel.  I call it “the zone”:  after finding my stride, my body propels me forward without my thinking about it anymore.   What I love most is the feeling in my legs and A$$ that assures me I am in fat-burning mode.  And after my walk is done, I feel cellulite “popping” and melting away. 

It took a few weeks to get to this point.  During one walk in the second week, my neighbor (who is a speed walker but takes it down a notch for my benefit) accompanied me and about halfway through, I wanted to stop and cry - my knees hurt so bad.  Each day after that, I told myself to walk through the pain, and it eased up more each day. 

Anything worth doing takes effort.  It takes effort for me to get up an hour before I actually have to.  It takes effort to walk two miles.  But the high lasts through the day and my body craves it by the next morning.  It is this cycle that I must not break.  Yesterday, Mother’s Day, was a day of rest.  I did not walk.  I missed the high.  So I walked this morning.  And I’ll walk tomorrow.