"You have to forget your last marathon before you try another. Your mind can't know what's coming." - Frank Shorter
Apparently I'm in training for another marathon starting today. I blame Kate, and thank her, because I really don't want to go through life not having broken 4:00 in a marathon.
The Richmond Marathon calls itself "America's Friendliest Marathon." Katie ran it last year and said the crowd support was unbelievable. There's no limit on the number of entrants, but the price does increase as race day approaches, so I need to make a real commitment (i.e. register) sooner rather than later.
Kate put a lot of thought and time into the development of an awesome training plan, which should get my bum back in shape if nothing else. A highlight of this training is Tuesday night speedwork, organized by Kate and held at a high school track in conjunction with the running club.
Last Tuesday was an informal speedwork night and I never would have guessed how good it felt to be back on a track! One aspect of high school that I really miss is being part of a team. I think I played at least one sport every season of every year, and of course I loved the sports themselves, and competing, but I also loved the way you bonded with people you probably wouldn't otherwise have even been friends with.
Anyway, Tuesday night speedwork. It was awesome to stretch, warm up and cool down as a group. I felt warm and fuzzy when we lined up on the track for group sprints. Even the sprinting itself felt good, and not just in a "misery loves company" way. In recent years I've been all about long, slow distance, so it felt great to really make my legs move.
It would be amazing to qualify for Boston this time around, but my best strategy for that might be to wait until I'm around 80 years old and the standards are much lower. Plus, I'd be carrying on a proud family tradition of racing long after your former running partners have taken up golf, landed in a nursing home, or dropped dead.
2 comments:
this is really exciting! i am forever impressed with you, running-girl. my friend mimi at school is trying to convince me to learn how to do the short, easy triathlons with her. she is a long-time runner like you. a, i have no bike. b, i am scared. do you think i could do it?
Lib, you could definitely do it and I think you would love it! I know you hate running but that's such a small piece of the sprint triathlons -- it's almost like an afterthought. You're a great swimmer, and you can borrow a bike or, like me, find one at a yard sale.
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