After years of avoiding running like the plague, I am now an avid runner. On my average run of around 5 miles, I find my mind sifting through my ever changing thoughts. I thought I would share a small portion of those thoughts with you:

I have to do this- you are not going to be able to eat doughnuts or drink Starbucks forever, so get to steppin’.

There’s no going back now- only a quarter mile in and I’m seriously debating just turning around and sprinting back to my car. There’s water there.

I can do anything- by this point Pandora is on point and getting me pumped to tackle the rest of my run.

My headphones fell out- am I really breathing that hard? Is this a sign from the universe I should stop?

Paranoia- Is there someone running behind me? Can they see how goofy I look trying not trip over my own feet?

Oh Look! A mile! - I feel invincible as I push forward and see the distance increasing; so invincible I feel like I could easily take on military basic training. I pick up the pace.

Oh my Gosh, I’m dying- This is it. This is how I go. That invincible feeling is fading quickly.

Here we go again- Pandora pulls through once again with a song that gets my adrenaline pumping, and somehow my legs keep moving. I start to make mental goals of how far I will go before a break.

Dying, again- Heavy breathing comes over my body again, and my lungs feel like they’re on fire. I try to push past it and focus on something else, like what was floating around the twitter sphere earlier that day.

I can do this- I can see the final straight stretch and I set my final mental goal. I pick up the pace, and use every ounce of energy left to finish strong!

I am Awesome! – An overwhelming feeling of accomplishment comes over me as I begin my cool down. That’s right, I just finished my run for the day and now I can just soak up that wonderful feeling.