Today, I did one of the Hard Things
I'm back from my 20 mile run today - solo, laps around the neighborhood, 20 mile run. For the first time in a long time, I had looked forward to this run in some ways, rather than dreading a long run needed to get me prepared for a race.
Since moving to Wisconsin, every single run has been solo, unless you count the handful of treadmill runs where there was a random stranger next to me. I don't count those, though, because mentally and socially, I was still alone. After so many years of having the comfort of knowing there would always be a friend with whom to make it (or suffer) through the miles, it's been a pretty big shift for me to go it alone.
I had a pretty good run today; nothing spectacular, certainly not fast, but mostly steady with only a little bit of stopping and starting when the standard knee pain began. What is markedly different today though, is the feeling that, for the first time in six months, I feel like we may finally be turning the corner on winter. It was still in the 20s when I started, but the bright sunshine and little to no wind taking my breath away have me optimistic that warmer days are ahead.
The longer days are certainly already in full force; with thirteen hours of sunlight already gracing the Fox Valley, I'm no longer forced to run start to finish in the dark. Once those overnight lows finally climb out of the single digits, I'll know I'm well on my way to enjoying the spectacular summer weather everyone keeps talking about, but that I'm having a harder and harder time believing will ever be here.
Of course, weather changes or not, the ultimate goal behind the 20 miler today is the Illinois Marathon, now only a short three weeks away. I'm officially over the hump! This is the longest training run I'll do, so as I begin the slow taper to race day, I'll keep enjoying the sunshine, hoping for increasingly warmer temperatures, and continue to embrace my runs as a time to invest in me.
Since moving to Wisconsin, every single run has been solo, unless you count the handful of treadmill runs where there was a random stranger next to me. I don't count those, though, because mentally and socially, I was still alone. After so many years of having the comfort of knowing there would always be a friend with whom to make it (or suffer) through the miles, it's been a pretty big shift for me to go it alone.
I had a pretty good run today; nothing spectacular, certainly not fast, but mostly steady with only a little bit of stopping and starting when the standard knee pain began. What is markedly different today though, is the feeling that, for the first time in six months, I feel like we may finally be turning the corner on winter. It was still in the 20s when I started, but the bright sunshine and little to no wind taking my breath away have me optimistic that warmer days are ahead.
The longer days are certainly already in full force; with thirteen hours of sunlight already gracing the Fox Valley, I'm no longer forced to run start to finish in the dark. Once those overnight lows finally climb out of the single digits, I'll know I'm well on my way to enjoying the spectacular summer weather everyone keeps talking about, but that I'm having a harder and harder time believing will ever be here.
Of course, weather changes or not, the ultimate goal behind the 20 miler today is the Illinois Marathon, now only a short three weeks away. I'm officially over the hump! This is the longest training run I'll do, so as I begin the slow taper to race day, I'll keep enjoying the sunshine, hoping for increasingly warmer temperatures, and continue to embrace my runs as a time to invest in me.
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