20 Miles
9:13 Pace
I feel really good about this past week of running. I told myself I was going to push it, and I ran every run strong and without problems. My 20mi this evening was great. Now that it's cooler outside I can start a long run at 5:30pm when it's still a little warm out, then finish strong when the sun goes down and the air is cool and crisp. I can't wait to run that half in Dallas next Sunday. I've needed a race for a while now and I feel like I'm treating myself.
Only fellow runners can appreciate what I mean by "treating myself with a race". This brings me to my next point. I've been having more and more problems in my social circles these days concerning running. I picked up distance running on my own after the cancer, and without the encouragement of other serious runners. A few of my friends didn't quite understand what I was doing then, but they got excited about it too and started running a lot more. Keep in mind that these friends are disciplined, hard military types. I live with two of them now and they get what I'm doing, and that it's a priority in my life. God willing, they will both run a 50K at Bandera in January.
The problem is that the people in my Relay for Life Committee are usually asking me about it. How do you tell a bunch of guys who barely go over 4 or 5 miles a week that you're training for a 100k without sounding (or at least feeling) arrogant, or that you're just better than them. I mean you probably put a lot of effort into training for your first 5K, and I believe it was a big accomplishment for you. I'm sincerely happy that you derive pleasure from running. Ultimately I think that's a big reason anyone runs. I keep trying to get that message across to people that what they do is just as important as what I do, but I still feel like I'm just being patronizing.
Maybe I should withdraw from these groups and just socialize with other people who have the same running goals, so what I do doesn't seem like such a big deal. My first thought was just to keep quiet and not talk much about it, but inevitably someone will ask me how they should train for a half marathon.
I say something like, "Well your long weekend runs are going to be the most important in building your endurance." They say, "Oh, well I'm doing 5mi now, how long are your runs?" "Well, 20-30."
I can just see their spirit being crushed, and all motivation being sucked from their eyes. Then I imagine it being replaced with a strong resentment towards all MY running accomplishment.
Maybe I'm just blowing this all out of proportion. Tell me I'm not the only person having this problem!
On a lighter note, I got my new "retarded runner" shoes in mail this week and I love them so far. I've always run with Brooks Beast, since I have flat, over-pronating feet and I got two pairs of the new 2007 model on sale!
I feel really good about this past week of running. I told myself I was going to push it, and I ran every run strong and without problems. My 20mi this evening was great. Now that it's cooler outside I can start a long run at 5:30pm when it's still a little warm out, then finish strong when the sun goes down and the air is cool and crisp. I can't wait to run that half in Dallas next Sunday. I've needed a race for a while now and I feel like I'm treating myself.
Only fellow runners can appreciate what I mean by "treating myself with a race". This brings me to my next point. I've been having more and more problems in my social circles these days concerning running. I picked up distance running on my own after the cancer, and without the encouragement of other serious runners. A few of my friends didn't quite understand what I was doing then, but they got excited about it too and started running a lot more. Keep in mind that these friends are disciplined, hard military types. I live with two of them now and they get what I'm doing, and that it's a priority in my life. God willing, they will both run a 50K at Bandera in January.
The problem is that the people in my Relay for Life Committee are usually asking me about it. How do you tell a bunch of guys who barely go over 4 or 5 miles a week that you're training for a 100k without sounding (or at least feeling) arrogant, or that you're just better than them. I mean you probably put a lot of effort into training for your first 5K, and I believe it was a big accomplishment for you. I'm sincerely happy that you derive pleasure from running. Ultimately I think that's a big reason anyone runs. I keep trying to get that message across to people that what they do is just as important as what I do, but I still feel like I'm just being patronizing.
Maybe I should withdraw from these groups and just socialize with other people who have the same running goals, so what I do doesn't seem like such a big deal. My first thought was just to keep quiet and not talk much about it, but inevitably someone will ask me how they should train for a half marathon.
I say something like, "Well your long weekend runs are going to be the most important in building your endurance." They say, "Oh, well I'm doing 5mi now, how long are your runs?" "Well, 20-30."
I can just see their spirit being crushed, and all motivation being sucked from their eyes. Then I imagine it being replaced with a strong resentment towards all MY running accomplishment.
Maybe I'm just blowing this all out of proportion. Tell me I'm not the only person having this problem!
On a lighter note, I got my new "retarded runner" shoes in mail this week and I love them so far. I've always run with Brooks Beast, since I have flat, over-pronating feet and I got two pairs of the new 2007 model on sale!
1 comments:
So does this mean you're gonna quit talkin to me since you don't wanna socialize in my circle of 'lesser distance runners' anymore? You're so elitist :P
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