6 Reasons to Run

Women's Health recently wrote about 6 reasons to start running.  Here they are:


1. It's so easy (no new skills to master, no fancy equipment to buy...all you really need is a decent pair of shoes and a supportive bra to keep the girls locked down and you're ready to go! )


2. Yet so hard (you'll get a real workout)


3. Your knees will thank you (it's good for your bones)


4. You'll stress less (you can run off your frustrations, plus can you say "runners' high?")


5. It can prevent disease (it's been linked to less cancer)


6. You'll probably live longer (see #4 and #6, among other things)

1,000 miles a year

I've read about plans to get kids running that focus on goals like getting them to run the equivalent of a marathon in a specified time.  It seemed to be a great motivator.  But recently, when I read about a women who plans to run 1,000 miles this year, it really touched a chord with me.  What a great incentive to get out the door every day!  And if you break it down, at less than 5 miles a day, 4 days a week, 1,000 miles is easily do-able in a year!

Marathon on My Mind

Due to a combination of travel and injury, my running has been sporadic.  On a routine 4 miler about 3 weeks ago, I experienced terrible pain in my right hip - as if my hip bone was pushing inward.  I could barely walk home.  For the next few days, I took it easy.  My first attempt back on the road was an easy 1.5 run along the river - I made it halfway and walked the rest.  I did better on my next time out, but in terrible pain at the end, and then, after sitting in a cramped coach seat on a transcontinental flight immediately afterward, experienced intense pain that only disappeared when I slept.

I didn't run for more than 10 days, and then had some success with a slow 3 miler.  I followed that with a day of yoga, and now am considering whether I want to try to run again or maybe do more cross-training with some Wii Fit strength training.  We'll see...

Meanwhile, I received an email from the NY RoadRunner Club alerting me that the all-new Get Started Guide will be arriving in the mail by early August; to be followed by the Official Handbook, a complete guide to the marathon, in the mail in September. The handbook will outline the race in full detail, including any changes from last year.  This all helps get me excited for my November race, but I do worry that by this time two years ago, I already had a half-marathon under my belt...