Should I give up or should I just keep chasing pavements? --Adele

I've been running for about two full months now, having started at the end of January. The first week was pretty awesome. I was exhausted, but I felt good. I had tons of energy, and was startled by the amount of time I could give over to the pursuit of... whatever it was I was pursuing. Previous hours spent looking at Facebook, blogging, or whatever-ing were now spent at the gym. And with good reason, winter in Chicago is brutal with a capital B. So I was happy to get endorphins at a time when I normally consume every sweet in site and turn into a mini Jabba the Hutt. Tasty.

Yet after that first week I didn't really get any kind of "high" like I was anticipating. I wasn't as sore, which is a plus, don't get me wrong, but running is hard. Hard like, I always feel like I'm going to fall off the treadmill (this did happen). Hard like, I really hate this. Hard like, omg am I even older than I anticipated, I can hardly run a mile!

Last week I ran two miles straight every day that I ran. And I feel better than I did before, as long as I keep my pace. This week I was supposed to up it to three. But then Spring Break happened, my running buddies all went home, and I can't seem to get out of bed in the morning to save my life, and I just kinda stopped. This morning I went to the gym, but only for a shower. I'm hoping this week off will jump start the feelings I had when I first started and keep me going strong until the date of the Shuffle (April 10, eek!). I know I can do this, it's just keeping motivated is really hard. And when I feel like crap all the time even though I've been going to bed at about 10:30 every night for the last three weeks (high school all over again!) and not eating sweets at all, minus one day, for my birthday, where I had a piece of cake. And yesterday, where I had a mini cupcake, but that was to support the kids, all right??

So we'll see. A small break. Maybe it's a sign. If I start feeling better I'll know I have made the right choice. Here's to next Monday and new beginnings.

Meanwhile, here's a picture of something I cannot have: