Time to catch up. As in get faster, run longer, and just in general, improve. Not to mention once again own up to my training, make some new goals and chronicle our adventures in leisurely athletics. So with that in mind...
Ever since the mental/physical breakdown that was the Lake Effect Half Marathon, I've been trying to fight my way out of the downward spiral of defeat. Everyone has off days, sometimes training doesn't go as smoothly as expected, and then things happen like falling down a flight of stairs 2 hours before a race. It's hard not to get discouraged when things don't go as expected. Training has been made more difficult this year as winter refused to relinquish it's icy cold grasp on the world until Spring battled it's way in with some wicked humidity. I feel like I traded a demon for the devil. My plan was to maintain what little stamina I had worked up to through spring, eyeing the Mountain Goat as the first big race of the season. I handled the Shamrock Run 4 miler well enough, but sooner than expected I had had enough of the cold weather runs, and layer upon layer of clothes that are an unfortunate necessity of winter running. Soon my desire to avoid frozen extremities had me skipping runs. Lo and behold I was back at the 5k distance, the Mountain Goat left to be tackled by stronger runners than I.
On the upside as winter slowly slackened it's grip, Boomer and I found it near perfect weather to run the Six Legged 5k. With the two legged Dan at our side, Boomer pulled me through my fastest mile time since middle school, 8:10 (I usually run a 10:00, or on a good day 9:00 at best). We slowed down a bit after, but I was still happy with our performance. Even more recently, Dan's mom's goal to run her first ever 5K was accomplished as a big group of us ran together in the Komen Race for the Cure this past weekend. She faithfully kept up with her training plan and ran the entire distance with a smile on her face. When I think back on my first 5k I seem to remember a few walking breaks...
It's a curious thing but as runners I think we often loose perspective on all that we have accomplished. It's easy to get caught up in the idea of going faster, or longer, to compare ourselves to "real runners." During the unending quest for our next PR we seem to forget that everyday we drag ourselves to the gym, run in a snowstorm, or stand at that starting line to run another race, we're working towards achieving something that started out as a fitness goal and has turned in to much more than what we could have hoped for. Taking the opportunity to better ourselves each and every day and attempting what we may have once thought impossible is a pretty impressive accomplishment in my book. Many of us have found along the way that we're capable of much more than we once thought, and the act of surprising yourself can be just as alluring... so in the spirit of attempting the impossible, and chasing down another ambition...
Bring on the Marathon!
Listening to: Red Hands / Walk Off the Earth
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