The beauty of running

Okay blog, 


I bit off more than I can chew. Posting on you every day is going to be a challenge. I know there's no bad repercussions if I don't post, but I'd be letting myself down. I mean, if you can't keep a promise to yourself of all people, what good are you?
I'll attempt to continue this trend, but it is only January. I don't think I'll run out of things to post, but...I'm going to not count weekends as days to post. Fair compromise? I think yes. Since you are just a webpage, you must agree. 

Onward to my post for today.


Today is my running "rest day". Psychologically, rest days are hard.

I feel like if I'm not training, I'll lose what I've worked for. This isn't true, but still.

I easily see how people become exercise addicts. But I AM TAKING this day off so my body can recoup from the past week of exercising.
You probably know the plus sides of working out (it seems obvious enough) but here's why I love it:

• endorphin high = feeling so chillaxed; nothing really fazes me. 

• I can feel that my muscles have worked, and it's a lovely thing.  You know that feeling when you haven't worked out, and you feel sloppy like a potato? It's the inverse of the couch potato. It's super-rejuvenating energy. 

• I feel like I've done something fruitful. I force myself to push past that "threshold" (the point where I feel like I need to either give up or die). Strangely, if I can hold out for a bit past that point, I get an energy spike and I can keep on trucking. It's sometimes insanely hard, but so rewarding.

• I don't feel bad eating a bit of junk food since I'm burning all of those calories. heh, as if.  Junk food cravings begin to vanish though. After running, I crave wholesome-good-for-you-full-of-nutrient stuff. I still have chocolate and coffee vices, but running makes me feel better about that. 

• Running is like pushing a reset button. I feel ready to face the day. 

• I see so much beauty. Running gives me much-needed outside time. Looking around and soaking in the gorgeousness of the day is great. 

I'm sure there's plenty of other reasons why running is great, and I'd take the time to list them out, but I have PHYSICS homework calling my name, and there's no time like the present.

I'm attempting to get everything done now so I can go dancing tonight!

...I'm excited.

Be excited for me.

I'll post about the awesomeness of dancing later.

And here's a picture that makes me glad to be alive (I hope you feel that way, too):
(I think from here on out, all of my pics will be hi-res and clickable)