I get this question all the time. If you’re a runner, chances are you do, too.
The answer is simple: I run because I love it, of course! And because today is Valentine’s Day, let me shout it out:
I ♥ Running!
There are many reasons why, but these are my top ones… I think. (Don’t be surprised if I do at least five follow-ups on this with “just one more,” OK?)
1. First and foremost:
2. The pasta dinners before long runs
3. The post-race parties with bagels and coconut water — and sometimes chocolate and champagne!
Happy Friday! Or, for some of you, Saturday morning. I can never get around to writing these things before 9 p.m., and what do you know, that’s midnight on the East coast.
The East Coast is about to get some more snow, by the way, not to mention the cold wave hitting the Midwest (brrrrr), while here in Cali it’s all sun, warmth and cloudless skies:But it’s been a looo-oooong week, lots of work, some running, yoga, and a nagging pain in the butt that, contrary to what I thought, was not helped by the yoga in the very least.
So today, after I limped through seven slow and painful miles, I finally dragged that butt to the chiropractor. Love the chiropractor! The verdict: no butt injury (yay!). But my lower back vertebrae are compressed or something (or other), most likely a result of the plenty-hilly Coyote Hills half marathon I ran last Saturday. When you run hills, your alignment goes all off-kilter, and if you’ve become well too used to pancake-flat routes… oh well. Regardless, those views were worth it.
So now I’m lying down on a gigantic ice gel thing. You know the Sesame Street boo boo buddies? It’s just like that, but a boring ol’ square for grownups. BabyRuns decided I should have at least some fun, so he gave me a pony. Ponies help. Don’t ask me why we have them in the house, I don’t know.
Speaking of BabyRuns, he is now officially:That’s right, KarateKid! Loves it, too. I never thought I’d see him meditate but yes, he does it.
I can’t lie, I feel a little hurt that he seems to love something else more than running, but I guarantee you, Mr and Mrs Mickey and Minnie Mouse will not show up at karate practice, while we all know who’s running with them in the Disneyland Half (and kids’ run) this September. Oh yeah.
Today’s run: Good thing it was supposed to be an easy one, I limped for about five miles, then decided to run on tippy-toes (i.e. try some forefoot striking; no heel touching the ground) for the last two. It was actually fun and hurt less. I’m sure I gave quite a few passing drivers a good laugh, too.
Don’t get me wrong, it was strictly for work. It wouldn’t even occur to me to voluntarily give up food and drink coffee so I can rid my body of toxins. Toxins, mind you, that shall reenter the minute the cleanse is done and I go back to good ol’ meat, carbs and caffeinated drinks. >>I tried giving up coffee once, in college. It was bad.<<
But now I’ve wizened up on the health benefits of kale — did you know just a cup of the stuff has a smashing 1,328% of the recommended daily value of Vitamin K and 354% the RDA of Vitamin A? — and I’m thinking of trying a juice cleanse next year.
As, you know, one of my juicier resolutions. If not the juiciest. Ha! Ryan Gosling, are you trying to tell me something?
The shortest juice cleanse is only three days and can be done (in the case of a serial long-distance racer) during an in-between races period. Don’t quote me on that, I just made it up.
Say, theoretically, a runner finishes a marathon, gives herself a few days to recharge the batteries fatty cells and liver, then does the cleansing stuff for three days. Goes back to normal; runs scheduled half marathon two weeks after that. Sounds like an OK plan to me. Yes?
Notice how committed I am already; penciling it in on a post-it!
–> Must research juice cleanses between now and March 17. <--
Have you ever done a juice cleanse? How’d it go? Where did you get the juice?
Today’s run:
Faked an interval workout today on the trail/ road behind our house. Does it count as intervals if you don’t do it on a track but still run six four-minute repeats at seven- to eight-minute mile?
? It’s just like that, but a boring ol’ square for grownups. BabyRuns decided I should have at least some fun, so he gave me a pony. 
