This weekend we all got up at the crack of dawn, packed up the van and headed out to “our” race. Every year, we do the emergency services run in our town. It’s mid-October and fah-reezing. Every time. Last year, it snowed. For serious. The temperature, though, makes for perfect running weather.
The race is relatively new and this is the third year I’ve run it. Always the 10km distance because while my heart wants to run half marathons, my head doesn’t have the room to take on the training required. At some point we’ll get there, but the boys are too young for that right now. A couple more years.
For a multitude of reasons, I haven’t had a whole lot of space in my head to train this year. And last year was just as bad. And for a multitude of reasons, that’s an excuse that doesn’t hold when I start digging under the surface. The fact is that I haven’t made running the priority it used to be. Rather I spend my time on the couch zoning out.
Ugh, that’s no fun to admit.
With all this in mind I toed the line at “my race”. And I ran for the first five minutes. Then somehow the wheels fell off in spectacular fashion and I basically walked the ten kilometres.
I don’t know why I expect any different. It’s not like I actually trained, much as my brain wants to protest it.
So, where do I go from here? Because between you and I, not running the 10km at this race is not an option. And if I’m really honest with myself, I want to run a half marathon. Well two. There are two half marathons that I love in our area. One supports military families.
What can I say? I’m a sucker for uniformed personnel. There’s something about putting on a uniform that makes it more than a job. Anyway….
Right now, my 2017 calendar has two half marathons and my end-of-season 10 kilometre run. Nothing insane but it’s going to require some prioritizing. More than I have currently been putting on it.
The upside, right now, is that I have plenty of time. For the remaining part of 2016, my focus is going to be on getting that 10km distance as a base. If I start 2017 out with a solid, comfortable 10km, then what’s another 11, right?
Just agree with me for now. I’m not ready for reality just yet.
There are 11 weekends left to the year, and I’m going to run 10km every weekend as a gauge on where I’m at.
Right now, the time to beat is 1hour and 30 minutes.
Quit laughing. I never claimed to be fast.
Leave a Reply