I’ve failed so many weeks at 25 miles it’s embarrassing.
This past week that was partly due to spring break camp at the Oregon Zoo, where I was yelling at tiny people all week, and then rushing downtown to see clients. On Monday and Tuesday I was able to get out right after work to run, which is really convenient when it works out because the zoo is right by the Arboretum and Wildwood trail.
Monday was extra exciting because I ran with my co-worker Michelle, and there had just been a shooting in the Arboretum about an hour earlier! I always figure that it’s best to run in a place just after a shooting happened there, because the chances of two shootings happening in the same place in the same day seem extremely low. The sad news is that we didn’t run close enough to the visitor’s center to see the crime scene or anything like that. I guess the other sad news is that somebody got shot.
On my Tuesday run, which I did alone, I had my second best running-related moment of the year. This came after eight hours of dealing with kids who run away from you, yell at you, hit each other, can’t respond to their own name, cry every time they can’t find their water bottle, cry if their mom packed raisins in their lunch and they don’t like raisins, don’t know how to use the bathroom by themselves, and in one instance, have diarrhea all over themselves. Some people are great at dealing with these things, but I was feeling overwhelmed. Nothing in particular was great about the run, but the contrast of what I just described with the quiet and foresty-ness of Wildwood was so strong that I appreciated it far more than I have for a long time.
I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned my number one running-related moment of the year, which I believe can also be labeled as my number one anything-related moment of the year, but it involves a bagel and a bathtub, after my first 17 mile run.
Despite the past month being pretty inconsistent, I have a good feeling that I’ll be able to get back into running regularly pretty easily. Mostly because I just signed up for the Timberline Marathon, which is on June 5, and it’s going to be super-unfun if I don’t start running a lot now. I’m also doing the Bridge to Brews 8k on April 18th with Chris, so I have all kinds of reasons to not be lazy.
Miles run this week: 8.5
Miles run in 2010: 237
4 Comments
If you have a goal you aren’t making, then you’re setting your sights too high. Make your goal for the next month 15 mi/week going up to 20 mi/week after that. You can always run more, but don’t miss out on the satisfaction of meeting your goal because you think 25 is the minimum you should be able to do. Work up to it, giving yourself pats on the back as you do.
That’s way too logical for my taste.
Also I’m okay with not making my goal every single week, but when it’s a decent amount I feel extra satisfied when I do.
That’s true. When my friend decided to aid the War on Terror, he traveled to a remote corner of Pakistan and defeated Bin Laden in an epic battle of heavy weaponry and resolve. I just took him off my Christmas card list.
“go big or go home”
-something someone said one time and people say a lot now and is extremely relevant to both your friend’s and my own situations.