"There's only one hard and fast rule in running: sometimes you have to run one hard and fast."








Sunday, January 8, 2012

Fresh Start

I made some big decisions in the first week of this year, among them some about running. For one, I'm not going to run an ultra this year - immediately, I felt a huge burden being removed. Never again will I think I have to go to bed early so I can get up early to drive somewhere to run trails for hours; instead, I wake up and head out my back door for a few miles. No more thoughts about hydration packs or gels, chafing or swelling. I look forward to my runs again, rather than dread them.

And it shows. I'm in terrible shape, but I'm improving quickly, now running closer to 8 minutes per mile than 10.

The difficult adjustment is not jumping into running too hard. It's going to take time to get where I want to be and I find myself trying to hold back. If I can keep doing what I'm doing and avoid racing until I'm ready, if I can stop a workout before it becomes a race, if I can have the patience to let things develop naturally, I think I may have a comeback.

5 comments:

Colin said...

I think you may! I'll be rooting for you.

PiccolaPineCone said...

"The difficult adjustment is not jumping into running too hard. It's going to take time to get where I want to be and I find myself trying to hold back. If I can keep doing what I'm doing and avoid racing until I'm ready, if I can stop a workout before it becomes a race, if I can have the patience to let things develop naturally, I think I may have a comeback."

repeat this to yourself every day! i think you have a comeback in you as well if you can take it in baby steps. Maybe you need to strap one of the fake pregnancy bellies onto you that they use to train teenagers in the hazards of unprotected sex in order to slow yourself down! however you manage it... keep it slow and steady and you may well find yourself in:

Comeback City
Population: You

The Triathlon Rx said...

Here's what you do:

Adopt a "one laker" dog. Said dog will run with abandon for approximately 3 miles, give or take a light post. [Insert speed work.] Then, without warning, Fido will decide it is time to sniff leaves and find the perfect potty spot every 5±2 minutes. [Insert cool down.] Upon completion of remaining miles, dog will stumble into abode and sleep the day's surplus hours away, with the occasional puppy snuggle or snore.

Problem solved!

Ross said...

Who stole Steve's blogger account?

Seriously, though, a great philosophy. If you aren't loving running you must be doing something wrong.

joyRuN said...

Sounds like a brilliant move to me, especially if you were feeling like your runs were getting to be a chore.