So...I have been absent from this blog for some time. Couldn't write about my runs if there was nothing to write about. I mean, what runner wants to write about being injured, losing heart due to injury...and subsequently not training the way they should because of feeling discouraged?? I sure don't!
BUT, I've heard some strange definitions of what it means to be a runner lately. I'm not sure you can call yourself a "runner" if you just pick yourself
up off the couch and waddle for 30 minutes after a warm-up of walking
for 10. Even if you do this every week for months. People might call me elitist. They may call me judgmental and scream that I should be more open-minded in my definition of "a runner." But that's because they hide the discomfort of the truth by being offended at my un-PCness. To me, a runner is someone who gives it their all, pushing themselves to run harder, longer and more frequently. Being a runner takes experience and drive. The hunger that develops from watching people do what you do, but so much better that you are discontent with your own meagre standards. So, you raise the stakes.
When people see pictures of runners, most pick out the ones who look like what I've described in my personal definition, even though they continue to defend that a runner can look like this. Even Wikipedia defines jogging as "a form of trotting...at a slow or leisurely pace." There's nothing wrong with jogging. Runners do it before and after a workout/race. But when we're running, we DON'T jog. We lay down the gauntlet and just GO.
So, that's why I am starting to write for this blog again. Because I don't want to be a trotter/jogger/someone who can laugh and chat while "running." I want to be held accountable for my training. I want to improve by leaps and bounds like I was doing in 2007/2008 before my surgery in 2009. I don't want to be injured, so I want to be held accountable for preventing that too. I want to post great times in my races, but in order to do that I will have to post some not-so-great times in my first races. But every race should be better, because I will be training honestly, so that when I look st this entry, I am not ashamed of the promises I made to myself, and really to my team. I have a responsibility to live up to my own expectations and when I joined GBTC in 2006, I set myself up for some very high ones. I should not be afraid of them. I should not be afraid of setbacks...they are always temporary, if there is someone strong enough to knock them down. This goes for ANYTHING you want in this world.
So, with that in mind, I will write that I've had some good workouts. Last week at practice, I ran 38 laps (~7600m) around the perimeter of a 200m oval. I ran 23 laps continuously. Then I divided the last 15 laps into 3's. For every 3rd lap in the set, I was to sprint along both straightaways. In the last set, my goal was to do the entire 200m lap this way, not just the 100m straightaways on both sides. I knew it would be painful, especially after running in ellipses for such a long time, but that's the point. To get used to running hard on fatigued legs. This is what we all do in a race. At least those of us who actually race when we enter A RACE. I was exhausted, sick (I was battling a bad cold) but happy.
With that in mind, I am now going out for a run in this white wasteland we call Boston. I'll have to see how ice-free the pavement is, but I am going to find a stretch where I can at least go out there for a few miles.
Until next time!
