Too Much of a Good Thing

Two weeks ago I was complaining about 2 things: My lawn dying (we need to fix our sprinkler  system- it’s mad at us or something) and it being too hot to run outside.

And then, it rained. And rained. And rained. and OMG it rained (and stormed). My lawn is thriving, but I think at some point this weekend I thought I was going to go insane. Or maybe I did go insane.

To avoid the heat and the rain (and the lightening) — I did ALL of my runs on the treadmill. ALL. This girl, who 8 months ago declared a full on HATRED of the treadmill sucked it up and treadmilled it.

At first, it was kinda nice.

I loved pushing myself and running faster. And not having to worry about it being 85 degrees outside.

And then it started to wear on me.

Runs got tougher. Staring out the window got boring. Mentally it was killing me.

And then it got to the point where I hated every effing minute on that treadmill.

Which pretty has been every run since last Wednesday.

Every workout has been a struggle. Every run I’ve had to remind myself that I post stupid motivational quotes almost EVERY Saturday for this very reason. Every run I had to tell myself to SUCK IT UP.

I’ve also been skipping my morning runs because I cannot for the life of me go to sleep at night (as in, I’m laying there in the dark, at a normal time, wide wake FOR HOURS). So it’s forcing me to run after work/after dinner, when it’s raining. Whine, whine, whine.

I thought tonight was going to be yet ANOTHER treadmill run. The clouds were rolling in when I got home from work, and it was POURING when we were eating dinner. And then, some kind of running miracle occurred. The stormed passed quickly and it was actually PERFECT summer running weather: 75, moderate humidity (which is like 90% – ha, and a small breeze. And did I take advantage of it.

So I might have found that love again today. I enjoyed every single one of those 4 miles. I loved knowing that when I ran 2 miles one way –  I HAD to run 2 miles back  (and that I couldn’t quit at 3 like I would have on the treadmill). I loved the air, the sights, and smell of of wet grass (which at times smelled like dog poop, but I’m willing to look past that).

I’m not giving up on the treadmill (especially after spin class — gotta get that HIGH!), but I am not cut out to run on it every day. Once again gotta go with one of my favorite mantras: Everything in moderation. Even exercise.