Starting week 8

I can't believe I've been doing this for 8 weeks.  Today I ran for 28 minutes without stopping.  It took me 38 minutes to do my 5K.  I spent my run reflecting on the experience.  I still am not in love with running.  It hurts.  Things jiggle.  A lot.  However, I find myself in a panic if I miss running.  I worry that all the hard work I've done to this point will be lost.  That I'll gain a pound overnight (not such a far-fetched idea...I swear it has happened).  That if I miss one day, it will be easier to miss another and then another and then suddenly I'm not doing ANYTHING again.  So even if I don't enjoy the act of running, I enjoy the benefits.  I dig having a program to follow so that I don't do the same thing over and over (which is what I do when I work out on the elliptical).  I like that I have goals and that there is a way of tracking my progress.  And I am completely addicted to that feeling of accomplishment.  It is a rush.  Dare I say that it does more for me then chocolate in any form?  The happy endorphins that are released when I run are so much more powerful.  I come home after a run and discover that I still have energy, that I find my family easier to deal with (I have 3 little kids and a husband...who actually counts as 2 kids so it feels like I have 5), that I've had time to think and organize my thoughts and often times come up with a solution or new motivation for a particular challenge.  I don't know if I will ever LOVE running (well, maybe 30 more pounds and a marathon from now) but from this day forward I will LOVE the benefits.  That's a good enough reason to keep going.