Today was the start of my fifth week of training. I’ve now been running regularly (as in, 3 times a week) for more than a month now, and I think I’ve turned a corner.* Running makes me feel good. It made me feel good before, but only in the “I’ve done something I hate and now I’m all tired but at least I feel kinda virtuous” way. But this morning, after another 25 minute non-stop jog with hills, I actually felt MORE energized at the end of the run than I did at the beginning. I felt like I could’ve kept going. I was actually happy, you know, in my head. It was seriously weird.

I finished reading Jeff Galloway’s Women’s Guide to Running last night. Quite a lot of the book is devoted to pointing out WHY you should run, which was wasted on me (since I’m “already there,” so to speak). I bought it for the practical information, and I found a few tips in there that I think are going to make an immediate impact. One of them is the recommendation that you have a cup of coffee about an hour before you run. THIS IS GENIUS. I feel so much more “peppy” and alert with a little caffeine. Another mindblowing idea for me is the admonition to take smaller steps. I’m tall, so my natural inclination is to take bigger strides when I try to speed up. This is a bad idea, and it often leads to injuries. (This is how I hurt my hamstring last year.) But by taking smaller, faster steps, I can speed up without overstriding and hurting myself! I’ve also stopped feeling guilty about not stretching religiously. Galloway says he thinks stretching tends to hurt more than it helps, so unless you’ve got a specific injury that requires it, you don’t really need to do it. I like that.

Oh! And I recorded a new “personal best” in the mile on Saturday. I broke eleven minutes! I know that’s not fast for most of you (and my teenage self would’ve laughed), but I felt really proud of that. I’ve been trying to run a ten-minute mile for more than five years now and I haven’t reached it yet. This time, I really think I’m going to get there.

* This morning’s euphoria may have been partially due to it being a much cooler and less humid run than I’ve had in the past month. I think it’ll only get better as we head into Autumn…