A day of revelations

Yesterday was long and busy, but a very great day.  I did my last long run before the half and took the kids to the zoo (and no flat tires this time!).  It was also a day of epiphanies about running, my relationship with running, and where I want to go with running in the future.  I had all kinds of deep thoughts yesterday.

My revelations began on Facebook of all places.  Someone posted a picture that totally got me thinking about success.

Okay, so it wasn't this picture, but I did see this one too.  I don't care what your political flavors are, this is just funny.  Success= figuring out before you go to print that this headline is bad!

Here is the actual picture:

I love this graphic.  This is me with running.  I went into this half marathon thinking I was going to kick butt and run so much faster than last time.  The truth is I am not up at the top of the arrow.  I am in the tangled mess.  I have been struggling with running lately and I am afraid that I might be slower than last time.  I was really upset and devastated.  As cheesy as it sounds, looking at this made me realize that progression isn't always a straight line.  There are twists and turns and set backs.  That's life and you have two choices: you can cry about not being on top or you can make peace with where you are.  I made peace with my pace and ran my last long run.  I was kinda slow but I enjoyed the run and I was happy at the end....and that felt really good.


My next revelation was at the zoo.  Since I was a science teacher, going to the zoo isn't just fun it is educational.  And yes my kids will probably be total dorks because of it.  While viewing the cheetahs, my 4 year started asking questions about how fast cheetahs can go and how far they can run.  I explained that cheetahs are really fast but they can't maintain that speed for a long distance.  A horse or a dog are much better at running for long distances.  He asked why (he's 4 so of course he asked why) and I tried my best to explain that some animals were made for speed and some animals were made for distance.  It seems to be an either/or type of thing.  A cheetah can't mate with a horse and get some new animal that can run super fast for a super long time.  Although if it could I am sure it would look something like this:

As I am explaining this I am realizing that I have been committing the cardinal sin of running-trying to work on speed and distance at the same time.  This has not made me a better runner, it has left me burnt out and slower.  I should just stick to distance now and work on speed after my half marathon (too bad this revelations comes a week and a half before the event).  Again, I made peace with my pace.

My last revelation came when a friend asked me what race I was going to do next.  I have really been pushing the idea of a marathon on myself.  Why?  Because I read blogs and it seems like everyone has run/is running a marathon.  I guess it was just the next step and to be a "real runner" I needed to do one.  But when I really start to think about what it is I really want to do, the answer is not a marathon.  I am not saying that I won't ever do one, but I am saying that this spring I won't do one (and I reserve the right to change my mind).  I have a great opportunity to have a tri coach and I would love to focus on triathlons (sprint and Olympic) next year.  I totally made peace with postponing a marathon. 

Yesterday was a great day and today I can say I am more at peace with running than I have been in a long time.