My legs still work. After a week of being in bed and coughing my guts out and waking up in the nights with some weird fever and sweating like a hooker in church, and doing nothing remotely athletic, I ran today.
And it was a good one.
The plan way back was to sign up for the half marathon portion of the Brainfreeze event, a local fundraiser for the university cross country team. I did the 10km last year. I got sick this year and could not shake whatever had a hold of my body. Was feeling better near the end of the week so decided to sign up at the very last minute on Saturday. We were at a hockey tourney out in Allan, SK and the organizers changed the schedule on us a wee bit and that threw out the window any chances of getting back to S'toon to register. Sometimes you just have to say "The Universe has spoken. I was not meant to do this run." But it was a gorgeous day and I needed to run today. I think only runners understand the need to do a long run. Almost like a drug sometimes. I needed to do it and I needed it to go well.
I took lots of nutrition with me this time. I think my previous long-ish runs have sucked near the end because I have not paid attention to what I was putting in my body. I had two goals today...listen, listen, listen to what my body was telling me. And feed it!!! Keep my head in the present....I sometimes tend to start thinking of what is coming, like a hill or a tough stretch or just how many more kms I have left to run. Then I get discouraged. Then my mental game goes out the window. Then it turns out to be a dissappointing run. I hate that. Today was just, literally, one step at a time...pay attention to how you are feeling, stay present.
I know this sounds very cliche but I do have trouble with this. Even in races I am constantly thinking about what is next. I needed to practise just paying attention to me...in the now.
Being sick all week and not doing anything, I had zero expectations. I just wanted to put the miles in and I did not care how long it took. Well,,,well,,,well....I did just over 20kms in just over 2 hours!!! This? For me? Is very good. A huge confidence booster. And I learned a little bit more about what I feel like and when and what to do about it. My legs feel very good and not sore one bit. I am tired but not nearly as sore as I thought I would be. Finally....
1 comment:
When did you sneak this one in? Missed it the first time.
BTW hookers don't sweat in church. They've already paid the bishop. And besides, if it's an RC church, the priests are more interested in little boys. oooooohhhhhh!!!!! that got non-pc in a hurry!
Learning to stay present, all the time, is huge. HUGE! It's very difficult, but the rewards for even just having an honest go at it are also huge. Keep on it. You get bonus points if you can do it around kids.
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