Learning to fly...er, race

I had a great weekend. I got to spend real time with the Man. We got the house cleaned, not scrubbed clean but much improved. I pulled off a tasty meal over 100miles away (post on this tomorrow). I woke up this morning, ate a little breakfast and not only did the right thing by my body by not upgrading to the 10k, but I managed a PR in a 5k. Yup, things are looking up again for old Liz Lemon....

I was nervous this morning, that my legs would hurt, that I would be slow, that I would look silly. I started out waay too fast but managed to keep it together and finish strong. I told the Man that I think I am learning to "race". I am learning to push a little harder and stronger than I do in training runs. I am learning to be more comfortable being uncomfortable. This is not to be confused with pushing too hard or over doing it. On the contrary, it is just a transition from "lah lah lah, fat kid on a run. Just feeling lucky to finish..." to "what am I capable of? What do I really have in here anyway? Can I dig a little deeper and push a little harder?" And when I am trying to do those things it is not about being comfy, or taking it easy. Anyway, it felt good even if I did start too fast (9:27 min pace to the first mile woops!). I got the side stitch/hiccups and took 2 half minute walk breaks but mostly I spent my run today settling into feeling uncomfortable. In meditation they talk a lot about making friends with one's self, getting familiar with the ups and downs, getting comfortable even when physically you are uncomfortable. One great teacher once said to a room full of us on day 4 of a 30 day retreat "Stop fidgeting. Moving around is just another distraction. Your mind will do anything to distract you from stillness. Just stop. It isn't about being perfectly comfortable. It takes work." Well, the same seems true for running faster and racing in particular. It isn't a slumber party...it is work. Quit expecting it to be easy and you won't feel so upset when it is hard. I quit expecting it to be easy and oddly enough, it got easier. There was less mental struggle. I felt calmer. I shaved 3minutes off of my last 5k.

The other, very cool, thing that happened was in the Man's race. I sort of shanghaied him into running. He started taking his meds again and is a focused, driven dude again. He has been running and for the first time since beginning to run as an adult, he is curious about his personal potential. I sort of backdoor convinced him to "consider" running the half marathon this weekend and he did! He not only considered it he ran it in SUB 8MIN PACE!!! He is a FU%$ING MACHINE! I am so proud of him. He is so proud of him. He came through the finish line and was totally vacant. I think he got a little hungry at the end and was not totally with it. When he finally came around he was pretty proud of himself. He finished about 4 min faster than his goal time for the day. I can't wait to see what happens this winter! We have some good races lined up.... Hagg Lake 25k, Shamrock Run 15k.... Eugene....As long as I can keep losing weight, getting stronger and staying injury free, I feel like this could really be my year! Or maybe I should say this could be my first of many years....