Why so Serious...enjoy those walk breaks.

This past Thursday my oldest son had a field trip out to Kensington Metro park. It just so happened that my running partner "Danielle" child ALSO had a field trip THE SAME DAY!!.. Soo coincidental!
But the really funny part was that my son did NOT want me to be a chaperon. Surprise surprise.
Austin actually didn't bring the permission slip & chaperon slip home because he didn't want me to go..But because he is still in that airhead preteen stage he forgot that HE had to GET ME to sign it for HIM to go!! Lol
"Mom, I don't want you to go.." I responded very sweetly, "Austin, you don't get it..I am ALREADY going to be there buddy, you are coming to visit me!"

"Danielle" and I met there early to get our 8 miles in. Kensington has a 8 mile loop we do that is congested with rolling hills. Together we both questioned if this was a good idea after our half marathon race just 4 days prior. But it is so hard for the two of us to be capable of running and yet not run together. We enjoy this day of the week so much running together. We are the perfect match for running partners and we really compliment each others strengths and weaknesses well.
We quickly got our feet unto the path and got moving. We knew we had to take it easy. By mile 3 I was already feeling the soreness in my hips and legs. "Danielle, you think we can walk a minute?" She agreed.
We had 3 total walk breaks that lasted about 1 minute. On that last mile there was not much chatting from either one of us except the occasional."UGH...Wow, do I feel this." We finished our 8 mile loop with concrete legs and exhaustion.

What we discovered on our run:

As we analyzed our pace on the Garmin we discovered that with each walking break our mile following it was over 40 seconds faster. This is yet proof that there is nothing wrong with throwing in some walk breaks.

1. Walk breaks are good for a mental pause in the middle of exhausting.

2. Walk Breaks help prevent injury

3. Walk breaks help recover your muscles.

4. Walk breaks proved to us that we run FASTER with them following it!

Will I train a walk break. No not necessarily..But will I welcome them in a recovery run or a  "Blah Running Day"...FOR SURE.

Danielle and I have been exchanging text messages crying the blues..We are both sore. We probably should have waited a little longer to run our 8 miles. Not to mention even with walk breaks in there the path at Kensington is not flat. Today we were both feeling IT! 

"IF YOU SEE ME PASS OUT PAUSE MY GARMIN!!"

Running is fun but there are seasons that my running has gotten to serious. Times when I am so focused on my times and speed. Times when I am focused on the goal so serious that I am not even enjoying the run rather the finish. 

When Running and Life COLLIDE:

"Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart."Psalm 37:4

Life works the same. We get so caught up in life we take it so serious we loose our passion. We loose our zeal. We run so hard we run often on a empty tank not taking any time to refuel. 

I refuel with the Lord.

We run the course of life with deadlines and dates just connecting the dots. 

Enjoy life. Create your own happiness even in the seriousness of life we can take time to relax. Run the course of life a little different, add a walk break in there. Take a few minutes to catch your breath and laugh before you head back into it again~

Anita