Epiphany

Today I had one.  As I was running the 3 miles around the lake I was thinking about how slow I felt like we  were going. Clearly I can run 3 miles in 30 minutes and it's well referenced that I do not enjoy it much.  Today I finally realized why.  Generally when I run, I am trying to outrun myself or the others around me. I don't do it on purpose, I guess it's just ingrained in me from high school track.  The whole point was to win, even though we rarely did.  I guess it just finally hit me today that the point of running, at least now, is not to win, but to go further.  I'm not in a race, I'm not out to prove anything and really, the time isn't as big of a deal as the distance is. (Within reason of course, I'm not going to run 3 miles in an hour, that's crazy.)  But I do want to extend my distance.  So today, even though we were going slower, I felt better, to the point where I was actually enjoying my run.  We did about 3.5 miles, which is not the most I've ever run, but today it was somehow, easier.  I didn't feel like I was struggling to catch my breath and I was actually enjoying myself.  In fact, if we had decided to keep going, I know I could've gone at least another mile or two.  This is big, because usually by the end of the 3 miles I feel like there's no way I could make it another step, let alone another mile.
Due to this epiphany, I am revamping my workout goals.  Which were probably not very clear in the first place but here it goes.  When I run, I am no longer running to beat my time, I am running to extend my mileage.  This means that I will slow down, I will run further, and I will enjoy the scenery as I go.  Sadly, the worst part of my run today was that my music app isn't working to the best of it's abilities, and died in the middle of the run.  In my opinion, there are very few things that are worse than running without music to guide you. I don't mind the rain or the cold, but I absolutely hate being able to hear my own breathing.  With music going, you can drown out the noises you make, but when it's quiet, I find that I end up focusing on the sound of my feet hitting the ground or the loudness of my breathing.  I think I got that problem all straightened out, so hopefully for the next run and those thereafter my music will be in working order.  Here's hoping.