Last Thursday’s 10 mile run was much like the story of my running to date. It started off nice enough, though my legs were tired. On most mornings I wake up think ‘how am I going to run tonight?’, but by the time I have to run… they are OK. Last night… not so OK. The weather was nice though… 50 and not raining (dark of course), and I started out at a nice clip. Sweet I thought… maybe I was just running slow because the weather was always around 35 and raining.
About the 5 mile mark my legs started to burn and I got that shaky week feeling that my body was running low on energy. Figures… since I had to skip a proper dinner the previous two days in order to run. The second 5 miles were into the wind and about the time I turned around, it started raining. Just a drizzle at first, but the fine misty kind that can cover you whole body in minutes… and render my glasses useless.
The rain continued to come down… and the mist turned into small drops… that turned into bigger drops… that turned into a downpour. At one point my glasses were so covered with water and the glare from oncoming cars was so bad I ran into a tree branch that was sticking over the sidewalk. While I didn’t poke my eye out… the jarring reaction my body made in response, was even worse than the branch. I don’t remember what swear word I invented… but it was something creative.
My cloths started soaking up the rain and I became heavier and my pace slowed to sloth-like. Because it was so dark and my view was so limited, it was like the rest of the world didn’t exist. Just me, the 5 feet of my path I could see, and the rain and wind. After stepping into a few water puddles soaking my feet… but sad state was complete, and the only thing that would improve my situation was finishing the next 3 miles.
It was there in the dark downpour, highlighted by the headlights where the passing drivers where probably wondering… ‘what the!’ or ‘idiot!’ that I too pondered just what I was doing out there… just where I was going. I seem to be running slower than I was at this time last year, despite having two marathons under my belt since then. My beautiful (inside and out) pregnant wife was at home without my help. Perhaps it is time to do some re-evaluating. As much as I’d like time to stand still until I finish my running… it does not, and if there is one thing marathon training requires a lot of… is time.
3 comments:
After doing just one marathon, I realized that training for a marathon is like having a part-time job. And juggling the non-paying part-time job and everyday life is tough!
I second that! When I started training back in October (at fifteen miles a week...) I thought "this isn't so bad!" Now when friends want to get together its all "Monday's no good, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, nope, Friday I have to go to bed early because I have a long run Saturday. Saturday I'll be too tired to anything but sleep after 6pm. Um, I'm free on Sunday?" And I don't even have a family to worry about, just my cat.
Cats count as family. =) (Mine do at least) Ever notice how they know what is going on when you reach for the running shoes...
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