Day 2: 9.24 miles, Location: LaPorte, IN, Miles to go: 984.01… Great start to things… There is not much that compares to the sun on your face combined with that runner’s high. Currently icing my bad hip before I shower up to meet an old friend for lunch. It’s a good day!!!
Now you may wonder what motivates me to try an endeavor of this nature. It all started in 1996, the year of my 10 year high school reunion. To prepare for the event, I decided to start walking. A half mile a day turned into a mile a day and eventually made its way up to 12-14 miles a day (usually split between lunch breaks, evening walking, and getting out on breaks). I had such a great time that year that I decided to set a quantifiable goal the next year. So 1997 was the first time I tried and succeeded at meeting a 1,000 mile goal. I was shooting for doing it in under a year, and I met the goal in 8 months.
Because I know the goal can be met, this year I would like to do it in 6 months. This will have me ending in late SEP while the weather is still nice as there is nothing that I enjoy less than when it’s too cold outside to run!
What I do enjoy is the runner’s high. Coming off the winter season where tanning keeps me from seasonal blues, I always look forward to the day that I can consistently get back out and exercise (For more information on the runner’s high visit: http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/features/runners-high-is-it-for-real). For me, that is when the weather is consistently in the 50’s. However, this year, the date has dictated my running schedule since it is almost April, and the weather hasn’t warmed up yet. Enter my trip home to LaPorte…. two consistent days in the 50s (although not quite so when I would set out each morning), and it is here that my journey begins…
So day 2 is now in the books, and I have over 15 miles logged. A bit sore, but tremendously happy. Mentally preparing myself for the 6 hour drive home in the morning (a bit concerned about stiffness, particularly in my right hip), but I am determined to work the kinks out from the drive with a walk later that evening with the hubby!
“Everyone who has run knows that its most important value is in removing tension and allowing a release from whatever other cares the day may bring.” ~Jimmy Carter
P.S. my freckles are starting to make their first appearance of the season!
1000 Mile Mom 
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