I was at the Oregon Coast this weekend and needed to put in 11 miles one of the days. Saturday was beautiful (Sunny, 60 degrees - NOT NORMAL) so of course I didn't run! Instead, I ran Sunday when it was dumping rain, cold, and super windy. Yes, I'm a moron.
My route ended up being really hilly and the flat parts were along the ocean where the wind was doing it's best to push me backwards. Gotta love it! But as I ran up and down hills, along gravel back roads where I thought I might get shot at by meth dealers, and tried to contort my body into the most aerodynamic position possible on the flats, I had this thought:
The most successful people in life are the ones who learn to run consistently, at a steady pace, up the hills, down the hills, against the wind and over the rough terrain. There will be times when we just need to run hard! But if you can run up that hill again and again, if you can embrace and welcome the struggle that life is, I think you will look back over your shoulder and realize "You know what, I did pretty good, considering everything."
I want to be one of those people. I don't want to wear myself out in the first 10 miles of the marathon and crash on the back end. I want to be 65 and running marathons faster than I am today. I want to be joyfully embracing life more in 20 years than today because I embraced the struggle honestly and was willing to pace myself.
I wanted to walk up some of those hills on Saturday but I didn't! I only hope that I can do the same in life.
01/27:
5 mi, 7:48/mile
01/29
11 mi, 8:45/mile
Hilly, wet, cold and windy. Body felt pretty great the whole time except a brief spot of nausea at around 5 miles at the top of a hill. It passed quickly and never returned. Legs were good. Right foot was sore.
01/31
3 mi, 8:11/mile
This is an easy week before my 12 week plan officially begins on Sunday. Letting the legs recover a bit and I need to sleep more! Last week didn't encourage rest at all!
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