Just Run for Fun!

Joy here...So last week I hit a low point with my running and my motivation.  It felt like each run was a horrible slog, and nothing was fun.  My knees were starting to bother me, and I really felt like I was unable to progress.  In the midst of that I made the executive decision to take last week as an "easy" week, and try to rekindle some enjoyment of running.  You see Nomi and I started running and got along well as running partners because we shared the same notion:  let's just run for fun and see what happens!  But as I've started training for this 1/2 marathon, I lost that notion.  So after last Tuesday's meltdown where I felt like I would never make it to the 1/2 marathon and never be able to run another step again, I went for a bike ride on Wednesday, and did a whole lot of nothing on Thursday and Friday.  Then on Saturday I went for an easy 10 km run.  It was a coolish morning and the pace was around 5:40min/km and it felt just fine.  Then on Sunday I did a whole lot of nothing again, and went for another easy 10 km run on Monday.  It was a little hotter than Saturday's run, but the average pace was around 5:55min/km.  I admit that I was able to enjoy both runs.  I was able to let my mind wander; I was able to enjoy my surroundings; and I was able to run without discomfort.  In fact, during Monday's easy run, we did strides during the second half of the run, and for our last stride, I just picked up the pace.  I didn't do a full-out sprint, but I ran faster than my normal strides, and I was able to get that feeling I used to have as a kid when I would run.  As a kid running was purely for fun; I'd run in the school yard; I'd run playing tag; I'd run playing with my friends; heck, I'd just run to get from point A to point B.  That's what kids do.  Somewhere along the way, we lose that love of just running around, and running becomes a chore, or it becomes a necessary evil to stay in shape/lose weight/maintain weight/train etc.  But during those brief 100m when I upped my speed at the end of a nice and easy run, I felt like I was running on a cloud.  I felt my inner kid open up inside and yell "WHEEEEEE!" at the top of her lungs.  I think if I can keep that sense of fun foremost in my mind, I'll be able to get back on the training plan and survive through to this 1/2 marathon in October.  So adult Joy is going to take child Joy by the hand and the two of us together are going to make it!