It is about time for my annual running blog post.
Since I am not really blogging anymore, this is more just a check-in to update this page so that the last thing here is not about my comeback from knee surgery.
My comeback is already complete. My knee seems to be all better. At the end of last summer, after spending time running with my oldest on our vacations, I realized I was in pretty good shape and I actually signed up for a race. I know, shocking.
The funny thing about racing, is that for years, I didn't want to race. A big part of this was that I had spent years racing and chasing personal records, and medals and championships and I didn't need to do that anymore. Another part of the non-racing, was that I knew, in my head, that I would never be able to race as fast as I once did. I did not have the time and the energy to commit to training, and plus, I am not getting any younger. Those speed demon days were over, but I have my PRs burned into my brain, and the thought of racing and being so many minutes away from those PRs, made racing a non-appealing thought.
But, what I did need, was motivation to get up in the morning. I needed motivation to run more than the 4 miles a day that I was running. I needed motivation to feel fit and not stuck in a rut. So I signed up for a 15k. And I mapped out my training plan. And I raced the heck out of it. And I was thrilled with my time. Not because it was a PR or because I won a prize, but because I got out of bed every morning and worked hard, and was pretty darn happy with my improvements, and was happy with my accomplishment and I remembered why I love to run.
Sometimes, I am embarrassed to post my training. Because I have a lot of friends who run and they are working just as hard, or maybe harder than me to run the times they are running. And I never want to discourage anyone. But the truth is that I am nowhere near as fast as I once was. But I do still love it and what running does for me physically and mentally.
After a couple months of a break from training for anything, I realized that again, I really needed motivation to do more. So, I found and picked out two races. They are the same distance and on the same date, both 10 mile races. One will be flat and fast, but it will be a drive away. The other is hillier with trails, and not nearly as many people, but local. I still haven't decided which one I will sign up for. It may depend on my boys' baseball schedules and Violet's track schedule. But, I have a training plan, and I am in week three of training (with a week off for some minor surgery). Last Saturday, I scheduled a 3 mile time trial, and I ran way faster than I expected that I could. I was still a good 3 minutes from any PRs.....which is kind of hard to believe....that once, I was a full minute per mile faster? But, I am at peace with that. I am just happy that I can see progress. I think, that I am finally far enough removed from those PRs that they seem like another lifetime ago, and I can create new goals to work for. And who knows where I will end up?
1 comment:
You should post your times! Sometimes I think that if I'd started running in high school or even middle school, I'd be so much faster now... because after two kids and a lot of years of not running, I'm not going to get much faster. But then I realize that the time I'm running now is just right for me.
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