Run, Forest, Run

So this is a kind of celebratory post, and later, there will be an update into the wild and wacky world of Jeanine. Celebratory because I've finally kicked my fear of running (yes, as weird as that sounds, I, lover of all sports, have suffered from a fear of running since the days of my sadistic grade nine PE teacher). Runners have actually always been a huge enigma to me... almost like otherworldly roman gods or something.
So the story there, from the beginning, is that since October-Novemberish (post bronchitis.. blech) I've been swimming about three to six times a week, for an hour each day. Mostly because I love swimming - so much I can't do without it now (stress relief!!!) and develop a strange nervous twitch after a couple of days without pool time. My favourite stroke is butterfly, and since last spring one of last year's assistant varsity coaches has been coaching me on it. I found out the hard way that the traditional way of doing fly (with the keystroke underwater pull) is actually harmful to your shoulders, and will eventually cause your shoulders to pop out of joint. Which is exactly what happened to one of mine (while playing volleyball, but it happened because of the weakened joint). So Andrew, fantastic coach extraordinaire, has been helping me completely rework my stroke. Way harder than it actually sounds, but my shoulders have already thanked me for it... I can no longer get them to pop in and out of joint, which might have been a cool party trick but it's pretty painful and something I can do without. Anyways, back to swimming, I didn't really start out with a goal but eventually I decided it would be to be able to do a kilometre (88 lengths/44 laps in our pool) of front crawl without stopping (aka, only flip turns). So now, I can do this.... WOOT!!! (but only on a good day... and when I eat pizza).
I'll keep swimming of course, but now I'll try and focus on building up my endurance for my fly and work on sprinting too instead of just distance. But how does running tie into all of this? Well... As many of you know, I happen to have a bike (I know, I know, bike ≠ running, but there is a segue, I promise). And my average km cycled per week is about 70 (I installed an odometer). Sounds like a lot, but it's really not that much when you think about it. So here I am, I have swimming, and biking... everything needed for triathalon, except *gasp* the dreaded running.
So for a while now, since I met my goal for swimming, I've been thinking of moving up in the world of physical fitness, to something I've said I would never do (yup, you guessed it).. run. And this spontaneous and strange desire has come from two of my great buds from work, Amanda and Lisa... Amanda, who apparently was just like me (running phobe) but has become a super runner in the last year, and Lisa, who is part of the triathalon club (which is something I've been contemplating, and now planning to join next year). But the most influential thing has been, of all things, my dreams. For the last week, I've been dreaming of running almost every night, and waking up in the morning itching to run. Now, if that doesn't make you cave in, nothing will.
Hence, I am happy to report that I have now started to run, and plan on making it a regular thing, starting with three times a week and hopefully bumping it up to six by the end of the summer like I did with swimming. So, it may not sound like a big deal, but to me, it seems almost miraculous, something I never thought I would be capable of doing. And I'm doing it. Not very well, of course, I haven't ran since grade 11 PE and my legs feel like j-e-l-l-O! but I have the most undescribable feeling of satisfaction that only comes from fulfilling a deep, secret dream I've always had but somehow always thought was unattainable.
So, this post might be about something so small to most of the people in the world, but it means more to me than most of the people in the world could ever imagine. And so, I am challenging all those that read this: Find something, anything, that you want to do but never thought yourself capable of. It doesn't have to be today. Could be tomorrow. A week, a month, a year from now. And just do it. Because there is no joy like reaching for something you never thought you could touch and actually achieving your goals.
Good night, and sweet dreams.

Picture: And what if I do?
Song: Broken Road - Rascal Flatts