What Just Happened?!

Today’s Run

Time – 58:06
Distance – 6.5 miles
Pace – 8:56 min/mi
Elevation – 196 ft.

Fast. That is the only word I can think of. Ran well, felt great, could have gone longer, but I’m not sure how much. Got to run with Shawn from the Wednesday night crew, which was fun. Thanks, Shawn! New Strava records for this one. Did I mention fast?!

I May Have Blacked Out for a Minute

I’m not really sure what it was about tonight’s run. I was thinking that I’d put a little bit of effort into tonight’s run, and I’d have fun running hard. Then I’d slow down and take it easy after the first few miles. But I just kept going.

And going…

And going…

I ran with the front group. The three of us cruised along and kept up the pace as we separated from the rest. I’m sure that plenty of the people behind could destroy me on their fast days. And that’s alright. The world is full of fast people who run hard. I’m not one of them.

But I got to run fast tonight. I led the group for part of the run, enjoying the speed and the feeling of working hard with others. My legs felt great. My lungs had air. I could really feel the speed was there when I wanted it. This is why I keep running. For days like this when I get to do it right.

There’s a fat kid somewhere in my past that’s shuffling down the side of the road for the mile run in P.E. class. I thought about him in my car on the drive home. I thought about the feeling of being the second to last guy to finish. I thought about the pain of those runs, both physically and mentally, as I knew that I just couldn’t do better. I thought about how, even though I felt fast, I’m not…yet…

And that’s what I’m going to do next. I’m going to be fast. I’m going to do it through days and days, and miles and miles, of running at the right paces. I’m going to run slow when I should, and fast when I can. I’m going to find a race to do that let’s me run hard with people faster than I am to see how good I can be.

Where’s my calendar? I need to find a free weekend. The goal is not changing. I’m still gunning for Squaw Valley in some June in the future. But, until I get there, I’m gonna do this. Because I know that I can now.