While my blogging and working have been on vacation, my running has not been. I'll admit to missing a run or two due to jet lag, severe thunderstorms, and the ongoing saga that is my OLD car. Oh, and least excusable: delaying a long run due to a pub pedal/crawl the day before, as my nutrition consisted of beer, a bloody mary, wasabi peas, spicy salty mix and wheat thins. Runners/walkers/humans can assume this isn't ideal pre-run fuel.
To catch up without detailing every run in the past few weeks, here's a takeaway lesson from my Summer Safari group. My team lead gave us this quote: A very credible running coach, Alberto Salazar, was once asked "What is the biggest mistake average runners make?' He answered 'Running the slow runs too fast and the fast runs too slow."
So I've slowed down, especially on the long weekend runs and it's made all the difference. I can't bring myself to discuss how slow my pace is, but it's comfortable, I'm able to finish the increasing distances and I don't have cramps, side-aches or feel terribly out of breath. It's glorious.
However, my consistently slow pace and the runs that I have missed have left me feeling unsettled, especially when I stack myself up against the mileage and pace of others. It's time to step back and let some wiser people take the reigns.
"It is our choices Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities." -- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us." -- Lord of the Rings
I have many natural abilities, and I could list them all here, but you would then see that like running, humility is also not one of them. However, as my favorite Headmaster said, it's not my innate abilities that prove my worth, but how I choose to work what I have. I don't have long legs or quick turnover. But I can choose to spend my time pounding the pavement, trail and track to build strength, stamina and perhaps even speed (all things are relative, m'kay?).
Gandalf's onto something. Despite a bad situation or our lot in life, we can't squander the time we've been gifted with. So I dragged by ass out of bed at 5am and chose to spend that time running in the muggy summer heat. Because I can. Because I want to. Because these moments and choices are proving who I am.
I'll sign off here, with the promise that I have a bit more to say on this topic.
Coming up next time: a runner's body and becoming an achiever.
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