So. Half marathon season is almost over and I couldn’t be happier. My friend, Jessica, and I were discussing the Snohomish River Run and how much the timing really seems to be a challenge. If it were in September, no problem. End of October? Not a problem either. The beginning of October, though, makes for challenging training. The end of August has the burst of end of summer panic with it, and for me, the onset of the school year. I run like a robot all summer long, then the school year hits and it’s like I have to relearn how to have a healthy private life and a job at the same time. Harder than it looks, I guess. My point being, my training hours dry up and are replaced with snuggling hours, crafty hours, recovering from work hours, prepping food and clothes for the week hours… you get the idea. I spend nine hours outside my home and tha makes running tricky. Not to mention the sheer exhaustion that comes with starting out a school year. And if they are ‘extra fancy’ students, well, I may not get a run in until Winter Break!
So, yeah, having a half marathon next weekend has me all kinds of agitated so I decided to go for a long run today. Like Jessica told me yesterday- she got the three miles in at the 5K. She just wanted to run ten miles today and she’d feel like she met her goal of running a half marathon this week. My mind clicked into gear, agreed and decided to do the same thing… And then I woke up this morning and didn’t feel like running around here. I like running different routes right now, I guess. I think I feel confident enough as a runner now that I want variety in my runs. I just knew my neighborhood’s view wasn’t going to satisfy me today. Today I needed something new. I needed to go to the dollar store, so I decided to combine my run with my errand for Google eyes and glue sticks. I told Bradley that I’d text him when I got to Wayne Golf Course and then he should hop in the car to meet me at the store with his wallet and a sweatshirt for me. By the time I got to Wayne, I had only gone about four miles. I knew I wanted at least six miles, if not more, so I took a detour around the Bothell Landing loop and then went on the Burke the rest of the way to the dollar store.
It may sound silly, but I felt like an adventurer. I’m also always amazed at how fresh the world looks when you’re not in a car, I saw apartment complexes and housing developments that we whizz past and I saw a gorgeous section of the Burke Gilman that we’ve always managed to skip. If I had run the rest of the way home, I would have made about nine miles. That’s something good to keep in mind for the future. For today, though it was shorter than I wanted it to be, I feel satisfied with today’s run. Do I feel ready for the half marathon next weekend? Not really, but I don’t feel unready either. This will be the anniversary of my first half marathon and my fourth half marathon this year. I feel experienced enough, this time, to know that it doesn’t take as long as it feels and I’ll come out the other side alright. Moxie and confidence will have to carry me through. And then, yes, I’ll be ‘there,’ at the end of my half marathon season. I’m proud of myself, but I’ll be glad when running returns to being about meditation and fat loss rather than training for the half… Until next summer.
It is so hard to train & work. I could so understand this post. I work full time too & although I would rather run in the morning, it happens in the afternoon. Finding the balance between life & exercise is so tough for me. Something usually has to give. For me it is food. I find myself resorting to processed foods. Ugh! And this week it showed up on the scale. Up over 2 pounds.
I love running too but get tired of training the closer it gets to race day. Good luck on your race. Four in over year…wow! Good job!