Honeymoon Suite

On Wednesday it was cold, dark, and rainy.  In other words, it was a trifecta for killing any get-out-the-door-and-run motivation.  I was sitting at my computer wrapping up some work and looked at the rain coming down and sighed while I packed up my belongings to call it quits on my work day.  As soon as I hit the fresh air, I smiled and felt ready to take on the challenge of getting myself out running on this dreary day.  In fact, as I drove to meet a few people for my run and turned my windshield wipers up a notch, I found myself really happy and excited to go running in the rain.  Perhaps I'm still in the post-injury honeymoon stage, but I'm starting to think it may be more than that.

On one level, I am excited to be back running--it's simply an activity that I find pleasant.  It creates a time and space where I feel alive and at peace.  A time and space where I feel both stretched and comfortable.  A time and space where everything is simplified, yet welcoming to complex philosophical and theological pondering.  A time and place where I feel stimulated and soothed. 

On another level, it is exciting to feel like I'm starting over in some regards.  I have the opportunity to build towards a challenging goal and test my will, discipline, physical and mental self as I work toward qualifying for the 2012 Olympic Marathon Trials.   It is comforting to know that I did it before and am familiar with what is needed to achieve that goal, but I am also mindful that I am trying to do it in different conditions.  Running with Hansons-Brooks was a huge gift and one that I will always be grateful for receiving.  It was an ideal training ground with ideal coaches and ideal teammates and ideal preparation.  I may not be in ideal training conditions this time around, but I am enjoying the challenge of creating them and dealing with it when not.  Rather than looking at what I don't have in terms of that ideal training setting, I am really appreciating what I do have (and doing what I feel I am "supposed" to be doing with the rest of my non-running hours).  Running in the wind and rain on Wednesday, I was all smiles as I ran around the first turn of the track, as I was so happy to have great people running alongside me, sharing in laughs, effort, and goals. 

I started to write another paragraph but I was getting into a whole other topic, so I'll save that for another day and just stop short here and say there's at least one more reason I want to share as to why I think this is more than just a honeymoon-stage.  Instead, I'll say that my workout on Wednesday went well...I've stuck with doing stuff at 6:00 pace and letting my body adjust to that in small doses.  The first time I was on the track, my achilles was pretty tight after, but this go-around I only had a little calf tightness.  The pace feels comfortable and I'm ready to start doing some longer intervals and being a little bit more aggressive.  My body has been responding really well to what I've thrown at it, so I'm going to stick with this gradual, progressive plan and let things develop in their own time.

Good luck to my Michigan girls (ahem, women) at Chicago this weekend!!