On March 30, 2014, roughly six weeks from now, I will be
lining up to start my 16th Half Marathon, The Love Run in Philly. Due to an
extremely cold and snowy last several weeks with a side of the flu, my training
program was seriously derailed. I mean seriously derailed. This is not helped
by the fact that I have a love hate relationship with the treadmill. Meaning I
love the concept of getting training miles in without having to brave the cold,
ice and wind, but after about four miles I feel like a hamster. At some point
on my treadmill runs the Oingo Boingo song “Running on a treadmill after you” starts
playing through my mind no matter what music I splaying on my iPod.
As one week of not training gave way into another week of
not training and so on until I was looking at almost four weeks without any
solid training. I began to feel depressed about losing all the off-season
ground work I had carefully laid down in preparation for my winter training. The
seeds of doubt were germinating and taking over, dark storm clouds were closing
in on my training horizon. Yes, after completing fifteen half marathons and one
marathon over the last eleven plus years, I was doubting myself. I toyed with
the idea of bailing on the race, even checked out the deferral policy.
Somewhere from deep down within me a voice said “oh not so
fast kiddo! You are not bailing on this one! Get your butt back on the training
program and make these six weeks count.” So Sunday afternoon I found myself
pulling into the gym parking lot and stepping back on the treadmill. The first
mile was tough, my legs protesting by triggering aches and pains from nonuse to
throw me off. Eventually muscle memory took over and the next three miles
became smoother, not easy but smoother. I still run up against a wall at about the
four mile mark on the treadmill, but I will take it. Monday’s workout went even
better. I guess by acknowledging the fact that I got off course was enough to
get me out of the quitting funk.
I posted on Facebook that I was feeling determined, with the
status of “It is buckle down time... 6 weeks out until the half marathon... And
I am behind in my training. Love Run I will be ready!!!! The encouragement I
got from several sources was just enough wind to fill my sails. My cousin, who
is a seasoned marathoner, provided encouragement and the verbal smack I needed
to eliminate those seeds of doubt, “You have so much experience that you'll
ramp to where you need to be very quickly.” and “You just get back to routine
and you'll start feeling better quickly. Good luck. I'll be cheering you on.” I
like to think that I am a pretty good lone warrior, but I am slowly realizing
that yes, even I, sometimes need a village to remind me that all is not lost
and if I lighten up a bit, the goal may just come back into to focus.
My goal you may ask? Originally it was to break the sub
three hour finish mark (I generally power walk the half marathons). I have been
inching closer and closer to doing that with each half marathon I complete. In
order to bust through the 3 hour finish mark, it means adding running into the mix. The
transition from power walking to running is not as easy as one may suspect. Now that I am making my way back on track and feeling happier, I
have lightened up my goal. My goal now is to complete the half, have fun (not injure myself) and set a personal
best, even if it means that my first sub 3 hour finish must wait for the
next half marathon on my schedule.
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