I wanna go fast!

I love receiving Notes From The Universe from TUT.com.  A fellow blogger buddy told me about them, and I'm hooked (Hi, M.!).  I actually look forward to reading them every morning.  Today's note reminded me of this big old weight management journey I've been on for 9 1/2 years.  Too many aspects to just blurt out here on the blog, but trust me when I say there's a lot to see as I stroll down memory lane. 

Changing what you have, Heather, comes from changing who you are. And changing who you are comes from changing what you think. Which is why I made the latter so easy.

Hey, I think it's Friday...
The Universe

As much as I said I didn't want to change who I was....I really needed to change.  Change can be a good thing.  The most recent thing / thought that needed to change was my thought pattern toward running.  Here are my thoughts:

• I'm a slow runner. 
• I will never be fast. 
• I do not have the build of a runner.
• I am too heavy to be a runner...no wonder my knee is killing me.

There are more, but I'm sure you catch my drift. Yesterday was a run day for me.  Even though it was hot, hot, hot out....with 96% humidity (blahhhh!).  I decided I didn't want to deal with a street run and the traffic and noise that goes with it, so I drive to the trail & started from there.  I stretched.  Warmed up.  Then, out of the blue, I took off running at top speed.  Over half a mile into the run, everything just seemed easier and faster.  I looked at my Garmin, and noticed my pace time.  Normally, my pace time during that first mile would say something like 10:04 at best.  Most of the time, I'm doing good to see 10:30.  Yesterday, however, it said 8:17.  I almost choked on my own slobber when I saw that number!  Before I knew it, it said 8:14.  About 3/4 of a mile into the run, I could feel myself slowing down out of pure exhaustion.  I had never, ever run so fast in my life.  My body was letting me know I need to build up endurance for such a run.  But I did it. I did it!  I ran an entire mile with an average pace of 8:35!!!!!  That's very, very different than my typical pace.  It felt as though someone had picked me up by my sports bra straps, and carried me over the trail.  My feet were going so fast, I literally looked down at them a few times just to see what fast moving feet look like. I made it one mile, and stopped to catch my breath.  Then I pinched myself to make sure I was still alive, and not in some sort of funky dream-like state.  Nope, it was for real.

I made up my mind that I was going to run fast.  As my Note From The Universe eluded to, it was an easy decision.  Quite frankly, anything under a pace of 10:00 would have been stellar in my book.  It's almost as though once I let go of the thoughts, I was able to fly.  I'm not going to sit here and tell you every run from here on out will be like this, but it sure was nice to go fast for a change.  For the record.  Mile 2 was fast, too.  Also, my knee felt a lot better running faster vs. slower.  Note to self.  :)

During that run, I had a hard time breathing because I was laughing to myself.  (Side Note:  I cannot laugh, breathe and run at the same time.)  A couple of quotes from the movie Talladega Nights kept streaming through my brain, "If you ain't first, you're last!" & "I wanna go fast!".  I might not ever be first, but I sure do wanna go fast!  Good thing I changed some of my thinking.  Some of my thoughts were for sure slowing me down.

Anything need to change for this journey to be a little easier for you?  No need to answer me.  I'm just planting a seed for you.  Now, go water it.