Okay, well, no drum. Because I forgot my headphones. On long
run day…7 mile long run day.
I had a brief moment of panic (“should
I go home and get them?”), but then my pride (ego, laziness, whatever you want to call it) kicked in and I was
like “nah, I got this…let’s just go with it.” So, I ran without music, and I
thought well I might as well run without Runkeeper as well, and just see how I
do mentally without 1) distraction of
music and 2) reminders of how far we’ve gone (which for me often translates into “crap, we have ____left to go”,
except for the last mile).
I think it was the strongest start I have had in a pretty
long time, maybe ever. I attribute this in large part to the new surroundings
as well (see Sam’s post for details) and the extra rest we got during the week.
But still! It was probably mile 4 before I really started to “feel it” and even
then it really wasn’t that bad. Staci and I kept up a running commentary on the
houses we passed, and I was occasionally serenaded by one of my head-phoned
friends (“getting hot in here” anyone?
Which, btw, it most certainly was NOT…30sumodd degrees and frozen hands for
that particular song). I appreciate that my friends didn’t totally
disappear into their music and remembered my vulnerable self out in the open
(ha!), especially considering the (very)
limited breath one has available when running! But really, overall, I felt kind
of free. I was definitely more aware – of everything. Which is probably good
since I can get very tunnel-vision with music, this is okay-ish on the trace
when the greatest danger is getting squashed by a mad cyclist (ack!) but less
okay when running on the road…with like…full-sized vehicles. But I feel like I
even noticed smells more. Mostly good ones (fortunately!) like clean laundry,
and fried chicken (I have no idea why
someone was frying chicken that early in the morning but I swear they were!). And
sounds - like birds. I like hearing birds. I do not like hearing barking dogs.
But that’s okay…and I did like not having the every mile reminders of how far
we had gone. The ladies were kind enough to update me every now and then, but I
didn’t have to know every time. And that really helped me. I think I will turn
off my notifications every now and then from now on, just to make me push a
little harder. Why must running be SO mental?!? Ah well.
Anyway, so I agree that this was probably my favorite run
thus far, and I’m so super proud of all of us!!! We could have run more, and now we know that, but it’s crazy to me
that we are up to where we are to begin with. I love it. And I love these
girls! Because I would never push myself the way I do with them, or feel so
supported when I’m not doing so hot, or have the fantastic conversations over
breakfast at Southbound, or look forward to waking up prior to the sun (or at least dread it less on some days…haha)…It’s
kind of awesome. I really think I am becoming a stronger person, and I don’t
mean just physically, because of this challenge with these friends. I know that
may sound kind of strange, and I didn’t really expect it but I don’t know how
else to describe it, but it’s pretty cool, and I highly recommend it to anyone
who may wonder if they should 1) set a pretty intense goal (half-marathon) and
2) work toward it with a group of friends J
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