no promises to keep

I’ve taken to crossing days off my training calendar with a red sharpie.  It is immensely satisfying.  Today I crossed off August 31, the last day of my first full month of training.  I was about to chuck it in the garbage (and no, I have no idea why I felt the need to cross the date off if I was just going to throw it away), but then I decided to save it.  I want to put it on the fridge, with a big fat A for awesome.  Because that calendar is a perfect reminder of the best lesson I’ve learned so far about running (and yes, like all good lessons this pertains to other aspects of life as well).  I call it the 59th Street Bridge Lesson:

  SLOW DOWN.  [You move too fast.]

I am not claiming to be an exceptionally fast runner.  In fact, I don’t think I have ever actually claimed to be a runner.  I am not.  But I am in the habit of attempting to do too much, too fast.    My highly ambitious August training schedule listed all sorts of adventures, like yoga and squats and sprints and tennis.  I managed to accomplish nearly none of these things.  My calendar is a disaster of crossed-off items, shifting dates, and last-minute changes.  Looking back on what I had originally planned for, I suppose my schedule could be considered a total failure.  I managed to squeeze in weight training twice a week.  Almost.  I did not attend yoga once.  I’m not sure where my tennis racket is.  What I did manage to do was run. 

Even more surprising was the fact that when I slowed down my running pace, I started to LIKE running.  For the first few weeks, I spent a lot of time worrying about how much slower I was running outside than I had on the treadmill.  But one day it hit me – if I run a little slower, I think I can run a lot farther.  Suddenly I found myself kicking down the cobblestones and thinking, I could run like this FOREVER.  (I assure you, this was my crazy mid-run brain talking.  But at the time, it felt like truth.)

Crazy mid-run brain thoughts aside, slower runs clear my head.  They give me a chance to be still, while in motion.  I don’t have to worry about getting anything done, or checking my phone, or making a list of things I don’t have time to do.  Just one foot in front of the other.

Sure, I still do faster runs, and intervals.  I’m going to try really hard to make it to a yoga class in September.  But the slow runs are my favorite.  Like Ryan Hall said in Running With Joy, “When I am working out, I constantly ask myself, Am I making a deposit today or a withdrawal?”  Long slow runs are my deposit.  They relax, they refresh, they center.  In short, they leave me feelin’ groovy.  

Posterous theme by Cory Watilo