Yin and Yang
September 10th, 2009 by greg
People say the only constant is change. I’ll add to that to say that things change in cycles. A few months ago I was super excited about working my butt off to qualify for the Boston Marathon. But things happen. Things change. I haven’t given up on this goal but I was close. Some things changed in my life that not only made running a lower priority but also made it less enjoyable for me. Running became a chore when it had been something that caused me extreme joy. I don’t think I’ll ever forget running the Miami Half Marathon in January of 2009. I felt pure ecstasy during that race and I continue to run searching out another high like that one.
I haven’t given up. I’m still running. I took about a week off while I was on vacation. I took a break from everything. I ran only 6 miles, I ate whatever I felt like at any time of the day. I didn’t exercise. I tried not to worry about anything. It should have been refreshing but I started to physically feel like garbage.
But things happen in cycles right? Last Sunday I went went for a long run even though I badly didn’t want to. It was late at night (7:00 PM), I was tired, and I wasn’t in a good mental state. Mary encouraged me to get out the door and I did. I’m very glad I did. I had a fantastic run. It was supposed to be 20 miles with the last 10 at marathon goal pace (7:15 per mile). The first 10 miles were effortless and went by quickly. The last 10 felt great too. I ran faster than I thought I possibly could on a 20 miler. My average pace for the entire run was 7:16! If I could run 7:16 during a marathon I can qualify for Boston! I didn’t think I could hold such a fast pace and feel so good for so long. When I finished I felt like I could have kept going strong for another 3 miles.
I am hoping that there will be more ups than downs and that the ups will be steep and the downs gentle. I’m hoping I can hold on to my motivation long enough to achieve my goal. I think I can. It won’t be easy but if it were it wouldn’t be worth trying.
This entry was posted on Thursday, September 10th, 2009 at 7:44 am and is filed under 2009 Vegas Marathon, Running. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.