Habit

Between the long run on Saturday, not getting to bed until late Saturday night and still waking up early to go on a hike Sunday morning, I was absolutely, but pleasantly worn out by the weekend. Despite my best intentions, setting out my clothes and picking out a workout, I decided to sleep in this morning and skip the morning cross-training workout I had planned. I reset my alarm and as I rolled over to go back to sleep, it struck me, if this morning has been a planned run, I would have gotten out of bed in an instant, sleepy but without a single thought of rolling over and sleeping in.

The thought came back in to my head as I headed down to the gym over my lunch hour; what is it about running that motivates like nothing else ever has?

Growing up I was always active; playing organized sports like soccer and softball, taking ballet and gymnastics lessons, playing hide-n-seek or kick-the-can with the neighborhood kids. By high school I gave all that up but maintain my active streak through cheerleading and occasionally working out. In college, I occasionally ran and did work out tapes or bopped over to the gym for a half-assed attempt at strength training but nothing ever really became a habit and I gained weight. This lack of habit carried over to my first few years out in the "real world" and I occasionally ran or went to the gym or hiked.

Yet again, nothing really stuck as a habit until I got it in to my head to run a marathon in celebration of my 26^th birthday. What was it about this attempt at fitness that stuck? Why did running finally become a part of who I was instead of being something I was sporadically motivated to attempt? To be honest, I'm not sure. Maybe it was the fact that I had a tangible goal – get to the starting line of the marathon on this day and be able to run until you get to the finish line – or maybe, it was that I had a plan this time – run 4 days a week, build up mileage, each weekend the long run gets longer per Hal Higdon's Novice 1 plan?

Occasionally, as I am running, I wonder what would have happened if I had found running earlier. What if I had tried out for the Cross Country team in high school? What if I had run throughout college? I know it is useless to regret these things but it is interesting to imagine what, if anything, would have been different.

Although, no matter what, I am happy to be running now and am excited to see what the future holds. More marathons? Certainly! Maybe an ultra? Could I really run for 12 hours straight? Intriguing (and a little scary)! Running with kids? Maybe I'll pass on my love of running and my kid will be a track star!

The only way to find out if to keep running.