Wow! Looks like I haven't updated my blog in more than five years! I'm acting surprised about that but I'm really not - when I stopped writing it was a conscious decision just like today I'm making a conscious decision to start doing it again.
Back in 2009 I decided to stop writing here because so much of my blogging was about my running life and I was taking on a leadership role in my local running group that made me feel very uncomfortable about putting my feelings about running and the group out into the world. I felt like I had to keep all that buttoned up. Times have changed, that group doesn't exist anymore, and I'm finding that I'm in a bit of a running rut and I think that this blog might help me get out of it.
What have I been doing in the past five years? Running a lot! I've continued to do marathons and half marathons and I've also taken up cycling although I haven't been quite brave enough to tackle an organized cycling event. I am hoping that might change this summer. I'll have to go somewhere official to tally up my running stats for the blog bio but I know I'm closing in on 30 full marathons and I crossed the 50 half marathon milestone a couple of years back. I still talk often about retiring from marathon distance running but I love it too much for that and I'm reminded of my how much every time I'm out there on race day.
I've been lucky enough to become an Ambassador for Skirt Sports (my long time favorite apparel company) and that's one of the reasons I wanted to resurrect the blog. Lots of the other ladies on the Ambassador team have blogs and I thought I might as well join the mix.
But I mentioned a running rut earlier and then I changed the subject. (I don't like to talk about my rut.) I'm not tired of running but I've lost my focus. I don't know what I want anymore. I've long known that chasing PR on the clock doesn't really motivate me most of time -- I'm much more of a social runner -- but I think the urge is coming back. This winter has been a tough one around here with lots of bitterly cold weather and icy trails and that combined with my mother's illness and death combined to give me about a month with no running at all. I feel like this spring I'm going to be starting from scratch with my training and that makes me want to REALLY reboot what I've been doing. That's not so easily done though because I belong to a training group that follows a specific training plan (Galloway) and while I want to run with my BRFs (Best Running Friends) I'm not sure that I want to follow the group plan and that makes life a little difficult. Maybe not so much if I push myself more in my weeknight workouts. We shall see. Plans have yet to really form.
I'm also trying to choose a fall race to focus my attention and training on. I've entered the Marine Corps Marathon lottery again with a bunch of friends and I would love to run it again but I know that's not the race for me to set a marathon PR. I will need one in early October where I can run solo and push myself OR I might just try again at Philadelphia, a race I know like the back of my hand and the course that I set my current PR on. I don't know what to do but I'm glad to be thinking about it all again.
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