I did it: today I ran further than I have ever run before.
After the inital wave of tiredness and exhaustation, I felt really proud. Despite taking one or two walking breaks and encountering some nasty hills, I kept my pace under my goal pace of 9:00--even if only by two seconds.
What is even better/more thrilling is comparing my run today to my first Half-Marathon. I was destroyed after that race: I could barely walk, I had multiple blisters, I was absolutely tapped dry of energy (I even took a two-hour nap...a TWO-HOUR nap, I never do that). I told my wife (at that time, my girlfriend) that I would never run again, ever. But after today's run I stretched, bought some Powerade, and hopped on a subway home. That's it. There was no agony, no torturous walk on quarter-sized blisters, no cursing of the running gods--and I think that's great. I'm really proud of how far I have come. I mean, in the vast hierarchy of runnners I'm no great success story and certainly no speed demon, but with tons of determination and a dash of stubborness I've improved a lot over time.
I'm happy.
On a side note: as a result of today's run the hills in Prospect Park are on my shit list. I hate them. I hate them so much.
2 comments:
Just found your blog site and enjoy reading it. Great post! Love it when a runner is optimistic and determined about improving. I'm happy! Music to my ears. Seems like you get enormous satisfaction from your running, and that's what many of us enjoy. It's fun watching runners progress. Good luck with your marathon in every state goal. I do one in the same state every year--Chicago, and Boston every other year. I post with another running friend, Amy. We discuss everything about running, just fun stuff. We’ll look forward to reading more of your site and following your progress. Keep up the good running and posting! Tom
http://blog.runnerslounge.com
Hi - I just found you too. You give me hope that this is going to get easier. Did my first 10 miler over the weekend and it was a little rougher than I had hoped, although I am doing pretty well now. I had some similar hill issues at the end, there is just no way around them here.
Thanks for giving me hope!
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