The bad news first
The 14 miles I ran last weekend took 3 hours and a few minutes to complete. This is not a good time. If I run this pace in the marathon, I won't be meeting my dreamed-of but not-worried-over goal of 5 hours. It'll be closer to 6 hours, and that seems just sad. Not to mention hot - it'll be 2 p.m. by the time I cross the finish line.
Ah - but the GOOD news
I ran a half-marathon! In November, when this time-sucking, energy-draining, nutrition-baffling endeavor was but a gleam in my eye, that was my entire goal: to run a half-marathon. Not only have I done that (and few months earlier than my goal) but I've demonstrated a principle that can be observed everywhere you look: whatever energy a task requires, is the amount of energy you'll have to complete it. However much time something needs, is how much time you'll find to give for it.
I could have chosen to run half the race in May, and I would have trained for those 13 miles. I would have worried over it, planned for it, worked at - and I might have believed it that those 13 miles was the biggest goal I could possibly accomplish. I might have believed it and lived it and finished the race and been very, very, very pleased. Instead, I will go through the same thoughts, the same worrying, the same planning - only for a much bigger goal.
Let me correct you: You've run MORE than a half marathon! A Half Marathon is only 13.1 miles and you made it .9 miles further! That in and of itself is a huge accomplishment, and who gives a flying fig how long it took! With time you will definitely speed up a bit (perhaps to the enviable, lightning fast 10 minute miles that I accomplish when running - Dare to Dream!) but as long as you can keep on chugging, the pace you are at is the pace you need to be at. The speed will come the more miles that you log.
ReplyDelete-Katy Ott
Patti,
ReplyDeleteHow many people in this world do you think can wake up tomorrow and run 14 miles? I'm thinking if you line up 100 randomly selected people out of the 6.5 billion folks on this planet, we'd be lucky to find 5 of them who could do what you did. You've put in hard work and you deserve to take a lot of satisfaction from that.
You should also take satisfaction in the fact that you can eat guilt-free big macs and gelato. You are in an enviable place...
When Nelson Mandela won the Nobel Peace Prize, the Order of Merit, the Order of St. John and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, he said the same thing in each acceptance speach; "I wish I could run 14 miles."
Boy, did he hit the nail on the head. I couldn't agree more.
Bill