This week I hit 1,000 miles for 2013. I started running here and there in the summer
of 2011 and 2012 was my first year of
actually deciding I liked it. My 2012
mile total was 546.
So, with a new year, I’ve almost doubled last year’s total,
and ran a few more races. Within those
additional few hundred miles, I’ve learned many a lesson, had many a memory,
good and bad…
Mile 1 – this was in January, obviously. I started a new trend of Sunday morning treadmill
running. I remember turning on “Buckwild”
on MTV (RIP Shain) and plugging away at some preset workouts. These were tough! I went slow.
Really slow. I had completely
lost running fitness last winter and I had gained a few pounds. Treadmill running is always more difficult
for me anyway, but I remember those first few workouts being killer.
Somewhere around mile 62 - my life changed. My Nike GPS Sport Watch arrived. This was a huge milestone, and a major
turning point in my running career. Last
year, I ran with my iPod and Nike +. I
calibrated it for accuracy, but it would never be quite right. I finally had a REAL tool to know how far and
how fast I was going. I remember my
first run with it, it was in February. I
through on a sweatshirt and some capris and headed out after work. It was a really nice day for February, and
the fresh, cold air was the first runner’s high of the year!
Approximately mile 147 - March, my first race of the
year! It was so miserably cold and
windy. But I was determined to plow
through those 5 miles and
score a medal.
I placed 2nd in my age group, which at the time was a real
bummer. I knew I could do better, I just
had to work for it.
Longest mile – Well, it was still the exact length of ONE
mile, but the longest mile of the year award goes to the HILL mile of the
Yankton RiverRat half marathon. Mile
10. I focused my entire race strategy
and pace around having enough gas in the tank to get up that stupid hill. It was long and tough, but reaching the top
was the greatest feeling, and I cranked out the rest of the race much faster
than I thought it would.
 |
| Finishing the RiverRat half |
Fastest mile – 6:55 first mile of the Governor’s Cup in
Lincoln. Nothing like starting too fast.
“I love life mile” – somewhere in the Omaha Half
Marathon. This was just perfect all
around.
Slowest mile – 10:09 in the middle of a rough morning
run. I had some sort of issue with my
quad and IT band. It was a bad knot, not
sure where it came from, but it was quick to go away. I was 3 miles from home and needed to get
back there quickly to have time to shower and make it to work on time. It was completely devastating for me to see
the 10 on my watch.
Hands down most miserable mile ever, like please shoot me
and put me out of my misery – ok, there have been more than one of these. They are always the last 1-2 miles from home,
and the reason I’m asking to be shot is because that would be less painful than
my stomach at that time. So these are
the “runner’s trot” miles. You know
EXACTLY what I’m talking about.
Most painful mile – Mile 11 of what was supposed to be an 18
mile training run for my marathon. This was when I finally stopped and walked
limped home because of my hip. Bawling
most of the way.
 |
| I still refer to this as Mary Decker day |
Whether it was fast or slow, rainy or dry, dreadmill or road,
windy or calm, race or a 5AM weekday, every mile has a story and a memory. If my brain could spit out a transcript of
every thought that’s gone through it in those miles, lord knows it would be
long, and no one would probably want to read it… Here’s to those wonderful,
painful, miserable, glorious miles, and thousands more to come.
No comments:
Post a Comment