Newbie

The third and last round of 28 minute runs will be completed today, hopefully. Its amazing how very much the running experience can vary day to day. Sunday I felt really good and pumped after our run. Tuesday I hurt all over and my legs felt heavy. That run was so uneven and annoying. I never really found a rhythm. In an effort to give my body a little boost, I'm skipping tennis today. I think all the discomfort was my system's way of saying, loudly, "Hey! Back off a little. You are not, in fact, a runner. You are a newbie." So I'm listening or trying to and will, for a little while anyway, try to stick to one physically demanding task a day. 

And thinking of newbies-- I do not yet consider myself a runner. I am still very much a beginner. I feel my conditioning needs to get to a certain level and I need to have run a certain number of miles both consecutively and overall  before I can comfortably wear the label of runner. I feel like it sort of has to be earned. I was the same with tennis. Other people ran out and bought all sorts of gear and tennis outfits when they first started. I couldn't do that. I felt like I had to earn the right to look like a tennis player. To me, if you're all decked out in tennis gear and you swing like you're holding a baseball bat, that's pretty laughable. Its the same with running. If you call yourself a runner, but you've never actually run even a 5k, its not only comical its delusional. 

I'm not sure I'll ever actually be a runner, but I hope to get to a fitness level where I can run regularly and feel good while running.