Confessions of a Slow Runner
Contributed By Sandy | Published: Apr 29, 2005
by Sandy Baguskas
|
So, I am running again for the first time in about two and a half years. Yep, you read right. It has been a long and challenging road, but now my problems are typical of a beginning runner. I am sore after running consecutive days and also I am taking a very different approach to my running.
I am now excited to run at any pace or any distance. I am thrilled when I can run with all the pain a typical runner endures without back pain. My two plus years of not running has opened my eyes to how precious running really is to me. I am now enjoying just running. Recently I ran a 5k on my treadmill in 36 minutes. Two years ago I would have been devastated by a run that slow, but now, I am elated. I have run more this past week than the last two years run combined. So, I am just happy to be able to run.
I don't mind running slow anymore. I don't obsess with a consistent pace. I don't even stop my watch when I walk. Yes, I walk. I never would walk on any training run, but now, if I need to walk, I will. I don't care anymore about time. Ok, I do, but I am not going to beat myself up if I have to walk.
I am currently a slow runner. So, what can I do? I am never going to run in the Olympics, nor am I going to win a major marathon. Oh well, I am moving on with my life. I am now realizing that it is a long journey back to running twenty-six miles and 385 yards. I don't know when I will be able to run a marathon again, but I know one thing: I am a runner, will always be a runner and will never give up running. I love to run and what this whole lesson has taught me is that my passion for running will never go away, but my goals are now different.
|
Tags:
|