Today’s Run
Time – 52:18
Distance – 5.7 miles
Pace – 9:08 min/mi
Elevation – 143 ft.
I got out early, before the wind really picked up, but it was still a little chilly. The sun was up, and it was a good day to run. I pushed a little bit, and did a progression run (each mile faster than the last) from 9:25 pace to 8:52 pace (for the last 0.7 miles). Felt good, legs are coming back from the long layoff. I hope that I haven’t sharpened up too much from all of the fast running as of late, especially with the marathon training around the corner. I think that it’s been enough mostly easy runs that I’m still just building fitness, and not peaking.
One Step Forward, One Step Back
I’ve come to realize that running does many things. It gives me so much, and, yet, it makes other things different.
What running gives:
- Perspective When you look down a road and realize that you have to get all the way to the end, AND turn around and come back, you figure out patience and the right mindset to get things done. (Sorry, David Allen, I’m doing this one without folders…)
- It keeps me healthy. I truly was the “fat kid” growing up. This is the lightest I’ve been since I was 14 years old, and the best shape I’ve ever been in.
- An appetite! GIVE ME ALL THE FOOD! I weigh like I’m 14, and I’m eating like it, too. This time, however, it’s getting burned off almost as fast as I eat it.
What running takes away:
- Clothes that fit Oh, they exist, just at the store. Looks like it’s time for another shopping trip.
- Warmth of any kind I never knew that the world was really THIS COLD in the wintertime. I guess when you’re wearing an extra suit of blubber, everything feels warmer. “Hey, honey, can we move to Texas? Oh, wait, they still have snow there? Nevermind.”
- The Eeyore inside me Ok, maybe not completely. Running does a lot, but it doesn’t permanently fix chemical imbalances. What it does do, though, is show me that I’ve got the ability to accomplish goals and overcome past mistakes and missteps I’ve made. The positive attitude that running builds makes me more like Pooh Bear, and less like Eeyore.
They say smiling makes you a better runner. I’m starting to believe it.
I Will Run Today 