There isn’t much to say other than that. Yet I didn’t skip my workout.
I can’t.
It’s less than three weeks until Dopey!
I don’t like the cold…
A great way to top of my training
Like much of the country, Philadelphia is experiencing some unseasonably warm weather. It makes me itch to be outside because soon I will want warm blankets, hot tea and a good book. I know that I will curse at my first step outside the building. Cold air will freeze my nostrils and make my skin ache. Snow will drift down and get plowed into the curb cuts so it takes twice as long to get to work.
But not yet…I was particularly grateful for the temperatures in the high 60s because Saturday was my last long ride before Dopey. I was up early and on the path long before my usual time. The lingering fog made familiar sights look strange and forbidding. The fog dampens sound so I felt oddly isolated…strangely melancholy. There were other early morning people out, doing what early morning people do. They get up, get out and get productive*. I’m sure some of them had had coffee and a healthy breakfast.
The sun rose higher and burned off the fog (and my melancholy). The hour grew later and more people appeared on the path. There could be no more of the smug camaraderie of the early riser, because it wasn’t early any more. Achilles had met for their usual 9:00 a.m. start time so I started looking for those bright green shirts.
Lo and behold, they appeared! One group, two groups…and I had timed it well. I joined one of the groups as they headed back to 16th & Chestnut because it was our monthly social. There was pizza. It was delicious…and I earned my piece(s) with 20 miles done.
The next few weeks I will be tapering. I’ll be doing less mileage each week leading up to the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend so I’ll be in tiptop shape. (This is science. Trust the experts.) I feel good. I feel ready. I’m sure I’ll have a moment of panic between then and now, but right now it feels good.
*I’m not sure they are to be trusted.
What’s it all about then?
Seriously, what on earth posessed me to sign on for 48.6 miles in 4 days of riding in January. Training at this time of year is torture…it’s cold outside. It’s dark too early. I like to put my bike away after Thanksgiving so that I’m excited to take it out again in spring!
I decided to go back to basics: Athletes helping athletes. This is the video we made about Philly Achilles back when we were a brand new chapter. This is what we’re all about. This is why I’m riding to support Achilles. If you can take 8 minutes to meet people like Andrew, Matt and me, you’ll see what it’s all about*.
So, I’ll get up early…and ride with excellent people.
*aside from the Hokey Pokey.
There is still time to support my fundraising
Why do we run?
I’ve been asking around for the past week or two: Why do you run? Since I’m the one asking there are bound to be some wise answers, but there is a grain of truth in those, too. I’ll group similar things together so this doesn’t take forever.
To get away from my spouse/child/family: Obviously this was said in a joking manner (if they weren’t then I’m not qualified to address it), but there is truth to it. There are times when we are too involved in what is happening in the lives of our nearest and dearest. We have no perspective about what is happening to them, between us or just the world in general. If you stay in the house/apartment/mansion, you can’t get that separation you need. So take that hour to be by yourself, an individual not part of a unit.
To have time to think: This is just a more generalized version of the prior answer. Something always needs our attention. The phone rings, the text dings, the neighbor wants your recipe. The blessed silence of a run can be revitalizing. The only thing that matters is to keep moving. You don’t have to be fast, just keep going. If someone wants your attention, they have to be fast enough to keep up with you andthey have to want to keep up with you.
To see things differently: This one sounds absurd, but it is literally true. When you are running you notice different things. You may have driven down that street hundreds of times, but you never noticed that little garden behind the front wall of the house. You were going too fast. You may have walked down a different street a hundred times, but never noticed that all the houses have the same shape. You were going too slow.
To feel better, look better, be better: This one shows up over and over again. Someone decides that they are sick and tired of being sick and tired. They need to make a change and it’s too expensive to get that Italian villa with the winery out back and the gorgeous local that is besotted with you*. So they make one change: I’m going to run around the block tonight. It may start there, but it escalates.
Because I can: This is my reason and the reason for a lot of other people to. It is an affirmation. MS/cancer/divorce/awful thing won’t stop me. You think you can stop me? You’re wrong. because today I will run. I may not run far. I may not run fast…but I will run…and tomorrow I will do it again…I might find someone to run with or I might do it by myself…but I will do it…because I can.
*erm…that might just be me.
A picture’s worth a thousand words
In which case, this will be the longest post I’ve written.
This weekend was the Philadelphia Marathon weekend. If you’ve been following this blog, you know two things that I was planning: adding the 8k on Saturday and trying to break 4 hours in the marathon on Sunday.
Well: I did it! I did them both!
I rode the 8k on Saturday.
I didn’t breatk 4 hours, I CRUSHED 4 hours with a 3:48:51. HA!
It’s hard to express the camaraderie and support that happen during races so I’ll just share the images with you.
On Sunday you do it again…
And that is why you sleep 10 hours on Sunday night!
*I call this My Pretty Face