August 1st has been etched in our minds since YaYa started playing Pop Warner football. Football and cheer leagues all across the country eagerly await for the arrival of this date as it is the office GO date for the beginning of practices. From this point on, it’s practice, practice, practice.
I’ve been rather pleased with the way my speed work has progressed. The long run build, however, has been rather difficult. While I shouldn’t be surprised, I must say that it is humbling.
On Saturday, I set out late morning for a 14-16 mile run. My targeted 16 miles was quickly reduced to 14. The run was hot, and boring, and LONG. Can you believe that: A long run felt LONG? To make matters worse, the people out were the most unfriendly lot yet. Well, with the exception of Betty (my neighbor’s mother). I slowed to a walk for a few minutes to say Hi and catch up briefly then returned to my plodding.
It was all I could do not to walk the entire return trip. Instead, I stopped on a bench to whine to the Twittosphere and started up again. A mile later, I got word that a dear friend was heading to the running store. It just so happened that my car was parked there and I really wanted to be able to say “hello.” It was just enough motivation for me to fight the urge to walk.
A short while later, as I was complaining that my level of fitness was comprised of far too little FIT than I wanted, I felt a little déjà vu. Could it be that this is all a part of the plan? Maybe we are supposed to be beaten down so that we can learn to fight back. After all, isn’t that what happens on race day?