Tuesday, May 29, 2012

A Weekend Without a Finish Line


On Friday, I ran into a neighbor on the Riverview Park trail and then saw her again that evening at the new yogurt shop that had just opened.

She was so excited because she had run 10 miles for the first time. I was quite impressed and asked her what race she was training for.

Imagine my surprise when she said she hadn't signed up for anything!

The thought of running 10 miles just for fun without it leading up to a goal race is a foreign concept to me.

I couldn't imagine spending all the hours I do training without having the chance to both perform and socialize on race day.

Some runners enjoy the solitude of running and/or don't think they are fast enough to participate in a local race.

Having recently finished dead last in a track event, I know firsthand that being the final person to cross the finish line can be just as exciting and fulfilling as winning.

For me, the destination (race) is equally important to the journey (training).

I decided to count the number of times I've toed the starting line this year.

I've competed in 20 races (well 21 if you count the 4k race I walked with my daughter the day after running a half-marathon!).

That means this weekend was only the 3rd weekend I didn't have a race in the past 5 months.

Yikes, that's a lot of racing!


I enjoyed the weekend away from a finish line by spending a couple hours in my complex's outdoor pool with one of my best friends and running 10 miles on the treadmill while watching old episodes of Mad Men (love love love that show!).

This break is short-lived. I have at least 8 events planned over the next 2 months, shorter races (800M - 10K) that will be more like speed workouts than all out races.

I'm hoping for a new PR at the mile, 2 miles or 5K, but even if I finish last, I'll enjoy the challenge!


UPDATE:
Next race is the 2nd Annual 4 The Wounded 5K on June 2


2 comments:

Bert said...

Hi Leah! I don't know if you read these comments, but anyway I was in the C10M training and posted a few times on the FB group. I never made it to the 10M race because of PFS in my right knee that came out of nowhere. I've only been running for a year and injuries are still new to me, never had this before and wasn't sure what it was, and I've been healing it and working with physical therapy since then. It's now coming around and I'm running again without pain (knock on wood!).

I follow your blog and am an admirer of all the races and mileage you do, it's incredible. I thought I'd ask if you're doing the YMCA 5k in Farmville on Saturday? It's the first race I've done since my injury and I'm excited to check it out.

Also, I have my own blog if you're curious, a lot of it is about running but also weight loss (I've lost 100 lbs in the past year), over at bertshealth.blogspot.com

All the best,
Bert

TWINS RUN in our family said...

Hi Bert!
Thanks so much for reading our blog and for taking the time to write! We really appreciate your support and we'll check out your blog, too! :-)
I'm going to run the 4 The Wounded 5K on June 2!
http://www.4thewounded5k.com/
Take care,
Leah