When I'm in Naples and have track work on the training plan, I go to Naples High School. I spoke with a grounds guy there last May to ensure that I wasn't 'trespassing' and that it was cool that I use the track. On Monday nights, I get to 'borrow' a lane while the Gulf Coast Runner's Youth Group has their practice. For the most part, this means that I'm dodging kids that are clueless to their surroundings, but in some way, it motivates me to keep pushing a bit harder. Heck, if these little guys/gals can get out there to run, this old dude can show 'em how it's done, right?
This Monday night was no different. Dodging kids, but it seemed there were more of them. Maybe even a few kids that were older than I had recalled previously seeing. After dodging kids for 5 mile repeats, I was catching my breath and putting on my shirt for my run back to the hotel. All of the kids started gathering in the same general area for their next exercise. One little girl looks at me with bright eyes and a huge smile and asks, "How many laps did you do?" My immediate response was that I didn't know, but then we started doing the math together. "How many laps make a mile? And I did 5 of those and add 4 more laps. So, 24." Her eyes light up with amazement as if I've just solved world-wide hunger or something. I ask her how many laps she's done. "3", as she shows me with her fingers. Of course, I immediately think to challenge her to do more. "I think you should go one more to get to four. What do you think?" Everyone around can see the wheels turning in this little girl's head. Before she has a chance to respond I say, "If you want to go one more, I'll do it with you." Instantly the wheels land on 'Ask Mom'. We walk over to her Mom and she asks if she can run a lap with me. I explain to her Mom what's going on. The other kids are lining up to run the 100. Her Mom tells her it's her choice and I ask her if she'd rather run the 100 or run with me. "With you!", she says with no hesitation and off we go. We start out slow as I had no idea whether she was a poser or a runner. She's a runner AND a talker! Instantly she turns into 'Chatty-Cathy'. Wow! She's 9, thinks running is tiring, her Mom runs marathons, is only there to get her little sister interested, and would rather cheer, dance or sing. Oh, and she's pretty good at the cheer, dance and sing.
We run the first 3/4 of the lap relatively comfortable and as we approach the last 1/4, I tell her we are going to pick up the pace. Gurlfren dropped it like it was hot! haha!!! We jet the last 1/4 lap and finish in plenty of time for her to catch her breath to run the 100. She is now glowing with energy (as if she wasn't before). I give her a high-five and thank her. Her Mom thanks me and little sister asks why I'm so wet. Before I can answer, Mom tells her she'd be the same way if she was out there running instead of playing with an umbrella! haha! Thanks Mom! (BTW, Mom has only done a couple of 5k's. I forget the innocence a child and their concept of distance).
Perspective is something I struggle with often. I find myself getting absorbed into my own workouts or my own day and lose sight of other things. I had just finished a difficult workout and on one hand was beating myself up for finishing the last mile 5 seconds off goal pace, while on the other hand congratulating myself for working hard and pushing through the pain, when this little girl completely changed my day. As I ran back to my hotel from the track, I couldn't get the look of excitement on this little girl's face out of my head. She reminded me of the joy that I get from a good, hard run. She reminded me of the energy with which I should be running. Run like a kid at recess!!!
And seriously, how does that happen? Her timing could not have been better. Is this a case of me simply having my eyes open to this sort of thing or some sort of divine intervention? I'm not sure that's for me to decide, but whatever it is, I'm extremely thankful for this reset of my perspective. Thank you, Ms. Chatty-Cathy. You definitely had a bigger impact on me than I had on you.
Ok, so it's now less than 10 weeks until #MarathonMonday. Here's a little recap of last week's training.
Monday - 7 Miles at Tempo pace. Started out too fast, but rather than backing off, I chose to run till I almost puked. Thankful for a couple of traffic lights that kept that from happening. 5 of these miles averaged sub-6:30.
Tuesday - 7 easy miles.
Wednesday - 6.5 miles. This one turned into a 'Progressive' run with each mile getting faster. 1st mile @ 7:40, the last @ 6:47.
Thursday - Off/Travel Day
Friday - 10 miles followed by 6 innings working the plate in a baseball scrimmage. Nice quad burn!
Saturday - 19 miles, the last 4 by myself and a bit slower than I wanted, but I was spent. This was following by 9 innings on the bases of a baseball scrimmage. Legs were barking by the end of that one.
Sunday - 9 mile recovery run. Slowly I'm learning how to do these. Typically I go way too fast after I loosen up. This one was pretty steady.
I feel as though I continue to do a good job of focusing on each workout individually and not getting ahead of myself looking at the full week or even the totality of the training.
Goals Update:
2500 miles - As expected a couple of weeks ago, I'm slightly ahead of pace on this one and should be for the next 3 months or so.
Cross-training - I'm failing miserably at this. I have to get this mixed into my routine and can't be slacking. I know that this will help with injury prevention as well as being able to execute my running workouts.
New Race PRs. - No attempts and nothing on the calendar. The schedule is a bit full right now, so these will have to wait until later in the year.
No comments:
Post a Comment