The agony of Mile One
I haven’t been blogging for a while but fear not – I HAVE been running. And thinking. With shortening days and freezing temperatures, the ever-present autumn/winter thought of the agony of the first two or three kilometers has been keeping me busy.
I am sure many of you know what I mean: Especially now, when it is cold and dark outside, it really takes quite some convincing to kick my body outside the front door. And then it starts: the longest mile actually is the first one. My body is still stiff and my mind cries to allow us to run back home where it is warm and safe and cozy. It is sooooo hard not to give in.
It used to take me 1 km maximum to ‘get to speed’, or rather get to peace with the fact that I would be out there for an hour or so. But nowadays, the start up agony takes over 20 minutes. I need more than 3 km to ‘settle’ with the idea that it is running night again. One would think that with frequency of 4-5 runs each week which I easily cover these days, it should be getting easier every time. But it is actually quite the contrary: the initial boring and unpleasant period gets longer every time. I am not quite sure what to do about it, how to make the endorphins hit me a bit quicker.
The good thing is that once the first compulsory miles pass and I switch to the positive mode, I almost never feel tired – well, at least till I reach 8 or 10 km. It feels like I could go on for much longer. Usually I don’t have enough time to continue but perhaps I should make some and investigate what happens beyond 12 or 15 km these days. If only my runs could start with Mile Two…
April Runs 
janathon. yikes!
Now that you’ve mentioned it – it comes closer, doesn’t it? Are you Janathoning in 2014?
I will definitely join in! I haven’t been running regularly but want to get my mojo back. Janathon helps me do this.
I totally agree with that- getting in the rythym takes longer (for me anyhow) in the cold temps…Keep runnin’! 🙂
Will do, thanks!
Well — you should take it the other way around… Everything, even the 100M race starts with the first mile.. It is — IMHO — the most difficult mile.. You may start to think.. OMG, 99 more miles, how I can survive it?? 🙂
But if you stay calm.. if you continue to move.. you later find out.. it’s over.. and the best mile is.. is when you are running the last mile..:)
Despite all (possible) pain, despite the many miles behind you (or maybe because of??) .. you feel strong, almost fresh… and you can see yourself crossing the finish line..
Happy trail to you! 🙂
You are very dedicated runner.. and you know it…:)… See you at one of the famous ultra runs in the Czech Republic .. Silva Nortica Run!!!
Cheers, 12:)
Just like your granny says, my friends will bring me to tough situations… Surely I won’t be able to run 90/103 km next June but I might like to come by to smell the atmosphere (and the goat cheese…) while running some shorter distance.
Suggestie: chocolademelk met een flinke scheut rum voor je begint
Haha, not always the best way for early morning runs. Or would you recommend rum at 6 am, Marnix?
rum at 6am is good 🙂
Mam to stejny (to neni utecha, vim). Vetsinou mi pomuze cimkoliv zamestnat hlavu. Pust si do ni neco peknyho. Treba Mozarta.
Jo jo, copak Mozart – takova Mala nocni hudba by se tematicky hodila :-).
spot on! I feel exactly the same 🙂
So true – it takes me a good 2 – 3 miles to warm up when the temperature drops below 10 degrees. Sounds like you are running well – in with a chance to top the Janathon tables if you carry on!
Carla, good to hear from you! Yes, with dropping temperatures it is getting sooooo hard to kick myself out of the door. That is why I will have to join Janathon.