Thursday, July 23, 2009

slow and happy

My pace seems to be getting slower and slower. I’m not sure why. And frankly, I don’t care so much. The only time it slightly bothers me is if I’m at a race where there are lots of people I know. Being so slow gives me less time to socialize with them afterwards. Heck, some are even gone by the time I finish! Also, sometimes all of the food and water is gone by the time I reach the finish line. On occasion it also makes me feel less worthy. Am I a “real” runner if my pace is the same as fast walkers? Of course I am. But some of those elite runners might think otherwise. But something TrailPixie wrote on my blog recently made me realize that I should be running for the pure joy of it and not worry about who is ahead or behind me. Just live in the moment of the run. I like this recommendation!!

There are many ways to improve my pace if that was important to me. But I guess I have decided that is not important. When you are trying to run a marathon in all 50 states, pace because a lot less important than the overall goal of completing the race. It doesn’t matter what your time is as long as you finish. My certificate from the 50 States Marathon Club is not going to state the finish times at each race! So as long as I finish while the course is still officially open, I’m good.

By the way, there is one route I take near my workplace that is full of rabbits! I love it! It’s a shorter route so I usually only take it on shorter runs. But I love seeing the rabbits! Sometimes I even count them; I don’t think I’ve ever gotten under 5. They are out most often after work, so that is when I try to go there. I’m sure the neighbors don’t enjoy the rabbits as much as I do, as their plants/gardens are probably suffering. But they make me smile.

I’ve got a 5 mile race tonight. It’s going to be over 80% humidity tonight. UGH!!!! My only saving grace is that it is going to be cloudy so at least I won’t have to deal with the sun, too. I should remind myself that I ran a marathon PR on a day like this. It was probably about 5-10 degrees cooler on that day, but the rest of the weather conditions are about the same.

PS--I'm now up to running 4+ miles without stopping. Should come in handy tonight at the race.

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