Day 114 - 3.04 miles (28:19)

"Everybody gets knocked down, how quick are you gonna get up?" - The Hours

Miles Ran: 361.63 Dollars Raised: $1,760.60

I really like when I can find themes throughout my day that can relate back to my running.

Today I left work a little bit early to go home and run three miles, then come back to school for a book discussion on the Great Gatsby. It felt incredible to continue running in the sunshine and good weather after being back from Florida. It just makes such a difference to the attitude I have when I'm running. I'm sure it will make even more of a difference when I don't have a time constraint to worry about.

I wanted to do a short run because I still feel a little bit of soreness throughout my legs from Sunday's run. It's always hard getting back into a training routine when your body just wants to relax forever. I just went down my street to Harvard Ave., and ran towards Brookline until I was a mile and a half away. Again, I was going faster than I thought, and am really happy to see I'm slowly shaving time off of my pace.

When I got back to work I was taking notes during the discussion. It was funny how we kept circling back to the "American Dream", about setting goals and then trying to achieve them at all costs. How sometimes you get addicted to this focus you have, and forget the enjoyment of the ride in achieving it. I feel like I kind of went through a phase like that right before I hurt my foot, and maybe, though I wish it wasn't as painful, this injury is like a blessing in disguise. It made me rethink why I set out to run a marathon in the first place, and how I got so caught up in wanting to achieve a certain time, or qualify for next year's, that I forgot about my main purpose--finishing! Especially after this past weekend with Disney, I realized, what's the point of reaching a certain time you have set in your mind, if you don't enjoy it? If I'm too busy being concerned with my time during the marathon, will I not notice the faces of everyone around me, or relish in the thrill of it all as much? Don't get me wrong, I still want to give my best performance, but I also want to focus more on why I run--because I love it, and it makes me happy :)