"I've always been good at putting things behind me- I fall apart, do my crying bit, and then put it away and move on." Paula Radcliffe
Lacey, Chris and I.
This weekend Lacey and I were supposed to run Wisconsin Marathon in Milwaukee. They cancelled it weeks ago. I was actually in Florida the day after my A1A epic failure when Lacey called me with news. I was so bummed.
Truth be told, between her schedule, marathon schedules that were not virtual or cancelled, we really didn't have many options left.
But I kept training like something would just show up in the books. "Run the Mitt" has offered a fun way of keeping the legs moving but no marathon for us.
Yesterday, I made a last minute decision.
I had a long run with Lacey and Chris for 15 miles but had not yet confirmed my little idea with myself so I never verbalized it.
Lacey dropped me off at home and I told her I was going to keep running to find Andy. Andy was somewhere running.
I still wasn't sure what my plan was. I headed down the back roads to Holly Rec to meet Andy. I thought it was roughly 7 or 8 miles to the park and through the park to the Wilderness loop.
As I reached the parking lot, I saw Andy, he never saw me. He was coming off the trail, I just followed about 30 yards behind him.
He hit his watch to shut off his Garmin and looked up, "OHH Hi!"
I was laughing.
"Anita, how did you get here?" Andy asked exhausted.
"I ran.." I giggled.
"You've gotta be freaking kidding me!" Then asked what I was doing.
"I don't know, I think I will run a marathon today." I smirked.
And that is exactly what I did. It wasn't fast. It was 2 runs combined to make over 27 miles. I actually had Andy come back to pick me up on Grange Hall Rd. He didnt get there as soon as I was done so I just kept running till I saw him driving towards me. I was out of water, down to 1 Gu and out of electrolytes. But I felt pretty good overall.
It wasn't Wisconsin Marathon but it was my marathon. The last 4 miles is mostly downhill. I think I smiled the whole time. That cheesy grin that you feel yourself almost blushing with excitement.
Today, I woke up and nothing hurt. That does not mean I didn't "feel" 27 miles. My body was very fatigued. I had some tender parts. I knew I wasn't going to run today.
Truth is I did an active recovery. I walked 2 times and biked to find Andy doing his long run.
I felt like sludge!
Tonight, added my miles for the week.
Over 80 miles. This is where if you are not careful you will get injured.
This week I got a massage, drank extra protein smoothies, didn't run fast just steady, stretched and rolled and had a very grateful attitude.
I am so grateful. I am grateful I had the courage to go big this week.
I am grateful I was able to be realistic in my approach. Go slow, take it easy and you can be successful, I told myself.
I am grateful I has been patient, doing the work controlled.
I am grateful I could do the long haul. I have been trying to train wisely. I have been training more like the tortoise and not the hare. I know I can not sustain high intensity workouts.
"I've always been good at putting things behind me- I fall apart, do my crying bit, and then put it away and move on." Paula Radcliffe
Anita~
No comments:
Post a Comment