It's been about a month since my last post, and today is a rest day for me, but i got a lot of support on this site and I felt like doing a progress update. i started half marathon training this week, with plans to run a half in october. on sunday i ran for about 53 minutes and covered a little over 4 miles, my longest and furthest run ever, at least until sunday when hopefully a 5 mile run will break that record. if i finish this week as planned, having done 3 miles each tuesday, thursday, and saturday, and 5 on sunday, it'll be a new high for me on several levels. i've been running about 7- 7.5 miles a week this last month. 26.2 is the drumbeat in my head. it's why i get up and run in the morning and every step in that vague and distant and shining direction is something i thrill over. i'm going to try for a marathon next summer, and i'm optimistic that by then it'll be possible.
I was talking with my mom about why i want the marathon so badly. "i just want to do something that's hard and takes time and feels impossible, like the peace corps but ...not" i said to her, and she replies "you went to college, you're in grad school". and those things are hard, and they take sustained effort, and they hurt sometimes and make you feel like you've got it together at others, but they have never, ever, really felt impossible or avoidable in any real sense. when 3 miles feels hard and i rush the first half and feel like i'm dying near the end, 26.2 really feels impossible, and avoidable, and insane, and the crazy of it is a lot of what i need right now, so of course i'm signing up for a half marathon in october and thinking of 13.1 miles as a mile marker and not the finish line. of course my training plan has me running 5 miles the morning of my comprehensive exams in july and 10 the next day, and of course the sheer madness of that makes my heart jump in that funny way that might be joy or fear.
Part of being a runner must be acknowledging that sanity dropped off and walked home in shame behind you somewhere.
I've been hanging out on runner'sworld.com and devouring running documentaries every couple of weeks, and loving the craziness of distance runners in general. I'm gonna read some posts after i end this one. any documentaries/ websites/ youtube channels on running to recommend?
Thanks again, and keep pushing, and happy running,
P_M