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"If you&amp;amp;#8217;d like this story to be about the inspiring feeling of reaching your goal, either in running or love, abandon ship now. This conversation is not for you, running lover. Or dating lover, for that matter. I started an eight-week Couch to 5K program about six weeks ago, which means I&amp;amp;#8217;ve been complaining for approximately, oh, six weeks. I&amp;amp;#8217;ve always loathed running. It&amp;amp;#8217;s not just that I&amp;amp;#8217;m lazy, per se, it&amp;amp;#8217;s that I&amp;amp;#8217;ve always preferred other forms of activity, like yoga or dancing or sitting on the couch with a box of Hot &amp;amp; Spicy Cheez-Its. However, I got it in my head that I wanted to be able to run at least a few miles without keeling over, so I&amp;#x27;ve been forcing myself to do the supposedly easy training. Surprise: I STILL HATE IT. But I keep doing it. Which kind of reminds me about how I feel about dating sometimes, especially when I was first getting back in the swing of it last year. Here are some similarities I&amp;#x27;ve found: Nobody would understand my pain as much as Hannah Horvath. Love hurts. Running really, really hurts. In fact, they both always manage to hurt in new, unexpected ways. Much like I&amp;amp;#8217;m constantly discovering new dating disasters, like a guy asking if I can hook him up with my sister, I&amp;amp;#8217;m now finding new, terrible sensations I didn&amp;amp;#8217;t even know my body could experience. Hey, what&amp;amp;#8217;s this constant sharp pain in my shins? Oh, that&amp;amp;#8217;s shin splints? FUN. Both require medication. In the form of Advil for those shin splits; bourbon for heartbreak. I have to really think about my outfits. Finding the right sports bra and shoes is proving to be as difficult a mission as finding the perfect comfy-yet-sexy combo for dates. The hardest part is forcing myself to do it. I always dread the first minutes of first dates, just like I dread getting to the gym or stepping outside to run. But once I&amp;#x27;m there, it&amp;#x27;s not so bad. Just kidding&amp;amp;#8212;the running is still terrible. Dates are sometimes good, though. Sweating. So much sweating, from nerves and/or sheer exhaustion. Feelings of inadequacy. I feel the same way about people who can just easily jog around for 40 minutes as I do about my friends who married, like, the first guy they met online. Why is this so easy for everyone else? Especially when I feel like this: People who talk about feeling a &amp;amp;#8220;runner&amp;amp;#8217;s high&amp;amp;#8221; = People who say things like &amp;amp;#8220;When you know, you know.&amp;amp;#8221; I&amp;amp;#8217;m pretty sure they are talking nonsense. Speaking of nonsense, people have tons of contradicting advice on both subjects. Ice your legs. Heat your legs. Stretch before running. Don&amp;#x27;t stretch before running. Make dating as important as your job. Forget about dating, and that&amp;#x27;s when you&amp;#x27;ll find love. You&amp;#x27;re not helping, guys! Related: People always say it will be worth it in the end but I&amp;amp;#8217;m not sure I believe them. At least as far as running is concerned. You know the end = more running, right? That sounds like a terrible reward. I&amp;#x27;m more inclined to believe it about dating. It&amp;amp;#8217;s embarrassing to do in front of other people. You know when you can feel the couple next to you eavesdropping to guess what date you&amp;amp;#8217;re on at the bar, and it&amp;#x27;s so uncomfortable? I feel the same way about the super-toned girl on the treadmill next to me I can feel silently judging my mph. (Hint: turtle speed.) I want to give up on both about a million times per second. OK, OK, even if it&amp;amp;#8217;s really bad, I&amp;amp;#8217;m always kind of glad I did it afterward. That even goes for running. OK, now that I&amp;#x27;ve gotten the complaining out of my system, I&amp;#x27;m vowing to keep it up with both running and dating. You guys know I actually like dating sometimes. And running? I&amp;#x27;ll work on it. Send encouragement below! Do you find either running or dating to be kinda of torturous too? Love and exercise: *4 Ways Exercise Has Improved My Sex Life *How to Meet Your Next Boyfriend at the Gym *Sex Tips: A Very Hot Exercise You and Your Boyfriend Will Both Love"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.glamour.com/sex-love-life/blogs/smitten/2013/05/ways-dating-is-like-running-fr>