Today’s run: 7.46 miles, 74:16 minutes. YT: 184.65 miles. I ran both north and south on the East River path today. I enjoyed the industrial hodgepodge between 14th and 40th. Made me feel like an intrepid urban explorer. I spent the rest of the day wandering with a friend through the East Village and to the dog park. After an exuberant tour of a plate of eggs benedict, of course.

About 20 minutes into my run today, I realized that if I kept pace, I might be able to run 10K in sub1:00 – one of my goals for this year. So I did something I rarely do: I really pushed myself physically. I made a commitment to throw myself over the line (a friend’s term for taking the leap into undiscovered country) and gave it all I had.

Alas, my finishing time for the 6.2 miles: 1:00:03. $#$%&^%(@!!!! Even a last-ditch sprint couldn’t quite bring me in under 1:00. I hadn’t given myself enough wiggle room.

So no Hollywood ending. That’s OK; it’s at least a quality Indie, and sappy all the same.

Fight for your personal best. It’ll feel good.

Today’s run: 5.8 miles, 1:03. YT: 123.6. So-so run that became good halfway through. In the park I saw a tall, thin man wearing a Miss Piggy-style wig and a tan hoodie, hood up. He was being filmed with a small camera phone by a dapper, petite gentleman in a black jacket and pinstriped pants. For no reason whatsoever, I decided they must be British.

As AA is to God, so My Thousand Mile Year is to running. That is, you can substitute “running” for your own personal thrill when you read this blog. You can also read it while drinking wine, a big plus over AA.

The reason I’m so hot over running is that it brings a particular physical and mental high that I enjoy. But also because it’s a great metaphor for life. You plan your run, you run it, you push yourself, you slack, you stumble, you leap. And eventually you return to where you started. It doesn’t mean anything at all in the grand scheme of the universe, or even to the people who live next door to you. But it means something to you. And if you’re lucky, to the small circle of people who care how much air you breathe every passing day, and whether it tastes good.

I feel like giving someone a hug.

So: If you’re not a runner, and you’re reading this blog, what activity makes YOUR heart go pitter-patter and why?

Today’s run: 3.6 miles, 36 minutes. YT: 106.4. For two days running now, I’ve crossed paths with a man in a long, khaki kilt and yuppie combat boots, taking a morning stroll. Both times I’ve given him my customary smile. And both times he’s given me a look that makes me feel like he’s unsure how to interact with a woman while wearing a skirt.

* * *

I’m about to present to you an idea that’s completely illegal — which is how you know immediately that it must be a GREAT idea.

Here it is:

Hiring managers should give job-seeking runners special preference. In fact, employment applications should have an “Are you a runner?” check box on them.

Why?

1. Runners are focused. They spend hours of their week in repetitive motion. They’ll carry out their projects with precision and consistency.

2. Runners are goal-oriented. They set plans and stick to them, through cramps and sun and rain and snow.

3. Runners are accustomed to suffering. You can work a runner to the BONE and he’ll keep on going. He ran 10 miles before you even got out of bed!!

4. Runners are a little bit crazy. Creativity and plucky spark, exactly what you need in an employee!

Hire a runner today!

Also: Here’s a link I liked, 5 Counterintuitive Running Tips that Actually Work. But I will never, ever take an ice cube bath. Unless maybe there’s a million dollars locked in the ice and only my body heat can unlock it.

Today’s run: 2.5 miles, 25 minutes. YT: 80.9 m. Today’s semi-successful speedwork was really an excuse not to do a long run. Curse you, last night’s second glass of sake, you limpid, delicious fairy pool. I guess I am who I am… and that makes for a delightfully contradictory preamble to the post below.

* * *

The transformative power of running is more than inspiration. As you move from being a nonrunner, or an occasional 3-miler, to a person who runs 10K as the stretch of a leg (or heaven help me, a marathon) you are, through discipline and diligence, literally transforming yourself. You will get thinner. Your muscles will get stronger and sleeker. You will have more energy and sleep better. And if you’re me, your hangovers won’t be as bad and your blood sugar will stabilize.

But I’m not talking about a physical transformation so much as a mental one – and yet they are so closely related it’s almost like staring into a glass of water and trying to see the individual drops.

I started my running believing very strongly that I was not meant to be a “real” runner. Or at the very least, not a distance runner. We’ve all got what the self-help crowd calls “limiting beliefs.” If you’ve always been athletic, yours may manifest somewhere else. (“I’m not creative.” “I’d never have the courage.” “I can’t work the DVD player.”)  But they can be particularly powerful when it comes to exercise because these beliefs are wrapped up in our physical bodies. I remember as a child always fearing group hikes. Because I was slightly heavier than everyone else, and not particularly athletic, I thought I would be the slowest, the reddest, the huffiest and puffiest.

So guess what? I never tried to lead. I purposely brought up the rear, content with being the straggler. Or I would avoid group athletics.  Years later, as an adult with a decade of regular exercise under my belt, I realized one day on a group hike that I was actually among the fittest in the bunch.

But even today, as someone running a couple 10Ks a week, I fight the mental image of myself as someone who’s most comfortable, most herself, while at rest. Even today, I have to talk myself out of that mental image sometimes to get my butt running. And, voila, I have still other limiting beliefs to contend with – such as believing there’s no fun in stopping at one, see above.

Fake it ’til you make it, people. If your body goes through the motions enough, the mind will follow.

In the meantime, what’s your limiting belief?

Today’s run: 2.9 miles, 29 minutes. YT: 62.8 miles. Back from NY. My brain was completely empty today. All I can remember is the feel of the rain on my face, the warmth of being overly dressed, and the moment where I could feel my body wake up.

Fact:Murakami smoked 60 cigarettes a day when he became a runner, and he did it first and foremost to become a better writer.

Why do you run, outside of obvious physical benefit?

Today’s run: 4.3 miles, 41 min. YT: 59.9 miles. My first New York run, ever. Also my first run without coffee in I don’t know how long. Fortunately the dramatic views of the East River – under the Williamsburg bridge, under the Manhattan Bridge – and very raw wind kept me moving.

“Let everything happen to you. Beauty and terror. Just keep going. No feeling is final.” – Rilke

(with thanks to Katharine for grabbing my iPhone out of my hand and making me reread my old favorite last night)

Today’s run: 2.5 miles, 25 minutes. YT: 51.4. I meant to do speedwork. Oops. I was much more fleetfooted last night. Today I saw a woman sprawled out in a lawn chair, lazily smoking a cigarette, while her tiny chihuahua ran in circles around her. That’s what I call a good match.

UPDATE: THANKS TO YOU PEOPLE, I RAN 5.8 MILES YESTERDAY!!!! THANK YOU!!

I used to work for this crazy, awesome independent film distribution company. We released films about Ethiopian Jews, films about blackly comic goings-on in cold Icelandic landscapes, films about coups in South America — yeah, you get it: films that no other theatrical distribution company would touch with a 1000 foot pole. And they were damn good movies, too.

Anyway, my boss hated hiring PR firms. In part it was because we didn’t really have the money. But he was also right when he always said, “No one is going to work as hard for your movie as you are.”

If you want some crazy thing in this world, you damn well better make it happen yourself. No doubt, you will encounter many caring, supportive people along the way; I’m not saying success is “you vs. the world.” It’s about you leading the world to the proper decision about your fate: Gorgeous, sick success.

Ultimately, no one is going to make it happen but you. If you’re not ready to fight for it – particularly if your idea is innovative or eccentric in any way – it ain’t gonna happen.

Likewise with your crazy running regimen, workout plans, commitments to diet and exercise, whatever. If you don’t demand the time and the space for your plans from the people in your life, it ain’t gonna happen.

So stick your ground, and get on the road!