Day 89 - 21

21.

Today I ran 21 miles. By myself. On the same trail (BWI Loop) that nearly killed me two weeks ago. Remember? The one where I was despondent and unable to finish 20 miles. Yeah; that one. Today, I killed it; twice.

I spent 3 hours and 8 minutes with myself. (That works out to about an 8:57 pace, in case you were wondering.) 3+ hours in my own head, all the while telling my legs they had to keep moving. And I made it out alive -- an impressive feat given the way my mind wanders. :) But seriously, I actually enjoyed this run. There were some miles in the middle where I felt so strong. I wasn't running super fast, but I was steady and sure. For parts, I ran at a very controlled pace without really focusing on my Garmin too much. I found my groove, and I stayed in it. That was so encouraging.

That's not to say this run was without trials. Miles 10 and 16, both miles in which I took a GU, were slow. They both happened to begin with an uphill, just as I was focusing on opening a GU and getting it down. This slowed me significantly for those miles. Apparently I have not perfected the art of keeping pace, opening and eating GU, and running uphill. Something to aspire to... The last three miles were touch-and-go, too. I finally started to get bored, but I knew I could make it. My legs were tired, though. I was out of GU, because my fourth packet had fallen out of my hydration belt somewhere along the way; I was also out of fluids, and I was pretty thirsty. I counted by tenths-of-a-mile and watched the seconds tick by, which only made things worse.

About two miles from the finish I got caught at one of the few intersections the trail crosses that actually has enough traffic to require obeying the crossing signal. Of course, I had the hand. I slowed and tried to bounce around at the intersection while waiting for it to change. When I started running again, I thought my legs might actually give out. I'd lost so much momentum just from that one stop. It was killer, but I pressed on, chanting to myself, "You are a powerhouse. You will do this." And I did! I even ran 21.05, because I set the goal of a particular fence post that I knew would take me through to 21. At that point, I needed a landmark, not an obscure distance.

Post-run, I hobbled to my car to take off my hydration belt and get my phone. I called my dad to tell him what I'd accomplished and that I'd worn my RoadID for the first time while doing it. (It was my Valentine's Day present. Best dad ever.) Thankfully, no one needed the information on it! I hobbled back over to a bench, laid down on the ground, and elevated my legs while watching the planes come in to land. (The loop I ran circles BWI airport, and the small park where I parked my car is basically at the end of some of the runways.) I stretched and then came home. My legs were hurting like crazy for the rest of the afternoon/evening. I think they just wanted to know what I'd put them through. Understandably so.

Still, I had plans tonight, and sore legs weren't going to stop me. A bunch of people from school got together to celebrate a friend's birthday by going duckpin bowling. That's a Maryland thing, through and through; so if you aren't familiar with it, go Google it. I had a blast, of course. Also, last week my dad bequeathed my grandmother's bowling balls to me, bag included. It was so fun to use them. She and my grandfather bowled in a league for a number of years. As it turned out, everyone seemed to think those two balls were good luck, because we all bowled significantly better while using them. Good fun!

I'm now resting and icing, reflecting on a really successful run day and reminding myself to be thankful. Before I ran, I prayed God would give me the grace to accept defeat, or the grace to give Him credit for a good run. Either way, I'd need grace. He was generous, giving me both a good run and the knowledge that He enabled every step.

Day 84 - I'm Really Bad at Cross Training

And by that title I mean that I did nothing notable in the form of exercise today, and I'm okay with that. I did eat a lot of really good food, though, which was excellent.

I'm gearing up for what I expect to be a busy week, especially after not getting everything done that I wanted to get done this weekend. Story of my life. I think it'll be a week where I retroactively add things to my to-do list, just so I can cross them off for some form of accomplishment. Is that weird?

Today was an up-and-down kind of day, but this weekend was a weekend where I was reminded of how incredible my friends are. I think I had one of these last weekend, too. What can I say? It's a time of having awesome friends who bless me so, so much. I found (and will leave you with) this excellent quote from Katherine Mansfield:

"I always felt that the great high privilege, relief and comfort of friendship was that one had to explain nothing."

Day 78 - Friends

I hope you have friends as awesome as mine; but my suspicion is that you don't, because mine are really, really, really awesome. Really awesome. Friends who read this: thank you! With you, life is half as hard and twice as good.



Thank you for reading this life-related, running-unrelated post. I shall resume with the running thing tomorrow.

Day 77 - Nothing but the Sound of My Feet

Today's scheduled run: cross-training

Today's completed run: 5 miles
Pace: 8:33 avg, with a sub-8:00 for the last mile

I tacked on these miles after yesterday's run, which was a little weird because it's been years since I've run on a Sunday. Aside from a Sunday morning race, Sundays have always been rest days. Other than feeling strong, especially compared to yesterday, there was something really cool that happened.

 I ran downtown, which is usually pretty busy, or at least carries with it the ambient noise of city life. Today, however, there were some points during my run that the only things I could hear were my breathing and my feet hitting the ground. Baltimore was absolutely silent, void of cars and other people. Much of this happened while I was running along the water. It was so serene and peaceful. Really, it was a gift. This run gave me the chance to think and pray and be silent. I'm so thankful for that.

Day 73 - Goodbye, Slump; Hello, Power

Today's scheduled run: 8 miles

Today's completed run: 8 miles
Pace: 8:25 avg

There are several important things you need to know I need to remember about today's run:
1. It rocked.
2. I wore shorts. In January.
3. I hit a personal record (PR) for my mile time - 7:41 min. And I did it on mile 7.
4. I ate well all day leading up to the run.
5. I got enough sleep last night.
6. Matt Chandler's sermons on Ecclesiastes continue to rock and challenge me to think deeply. I listened to the second one today.

Numbers 2, 4, and 5 are a magical combination of wonderfulness (yup) that lead to numbers 1 and 3. First of all, running in shorts today made me realize that I may have been overdressing. Suiting up for winter runs is hard for me, because I spend most of winter being extremely cold. My internal thermostat is wonky; I wear leggings under my pants as soon as it gets to be 45 or below. This constant coldness likely has been leading me to wear too much while running for fear of being cold. Today, it was 48 degrees - the temperature where I never know what to wear. But it wasn't windy, so I went with shorts; and it was the best decision, as I kept a wonderful body temperature the whole time.

As for numbers 4 and 5, I know what you're thinking -- Duh! And you're right; these things are obvious to most people. If you eat well and sleep enough, your performance will improve. For some reason, I'm still learning this.

Number 1 is most important because, as of yesterday, I felt like I was in or heading into a slump. Apparently, I just needed some sleep and some fuel. As for number 3, well, it's just exciting. I've really enjoyed improving as a runner this year, but I don't have aspirations of being ridiculously fast. I don't have the body type (i.e., long legs) that runners who were clearly born to run possess. I'm okay with this; I run for distance, not for speed. Still, it's exciting to run a sub-8:00 mile, on mile 7 of 8, no less.

I needed today's run to propel me forward in training. We all have days where the run is miserable, but the days where the run is amazing significantly outweigh those. A run like today will carry me through several miserable runs in the future. (Please remind me of that after Saturday's 20-miler.)

Day 32 - Charm City Runs

Today's scheduled run: 3 miles

Today's completed run: ~4.9 miles
Pace: ~8:38 (avg.)

Tonight I had the opportunity to run with a group from Charm City Run, a local running store. It has four outlets in two of the surrounding counties, and they are opening a store in the City (Federal Hill area) in April. I'm so excited, because I've been waiting for a quality running store to open downtown. My wish is their command.

I learned about their Wednesday night group runs via Twitter and knew I had to check it out. Plus, it was a warm night, downright balmy, if I do say so myself. It was 58 degrees when we left, with 70 percent humidity.

Charm City provides 3 mile, 4 mile, and 5 mile routes, but it's pretty informal -- a show up and run kind of deal. It was so much fun to run with other people! There was that awkward initial phase of figuring out who would run with who based on distance and speed, but it worked itself out. I hung out with the front of the pack for a good two miles before three of the six took off at a sub-8:00 pace. I'm not ready for that, so I settled in around 8:40 for the remainder, running with two others.

It's good to meet other runners and talk about running and life in general. I really enjoyed it, and it made the run go so much faster. Good, good times.

For tomorrow, a rest day, I'll finally get to talking about that whole bald thing. :-)

Until then...

Day 15 - My Favorite Season

Yesterday was the start of my favorite season.

Well, that might be a bit of a misnomer, because my favorite season proper is actually Summer; but my favorite season is Advent. The expectation and anticipation, the active waiting -- I love it all. I am in awe of what we celebrate at Christmastime -- God Incarnate. I have to pause every time I think of that just to meditate for a few moments on what that means. Just as I did last year, I'm using readings adopted from the Book of Common Prayer. I'm also going through a book called "Watch for the Light," which has daily readings from a variety of writers. I strongly recommend both.

Today's "Watch for the Light" reading was a piece by Henri Nouwen -- "Waiting for God." Nouwen writes:

"Hope is trusting that something will be fulfilled, but fulfilled according to the promises and not just according to our wishes. Therefore, hope is always open-ended. I have found it very important in my own life to let go of my wishes and start hoping. It was only when I was willing to let go of wishes that something really new, something beyond my own expectations could happen to me." (emphasis mine)

It's a good reminder that the things we so often wish for pale in comparison to the things God has for us. That is humbling. In this way, hope is risky, because it means we relinquish our control, our intentions for the circumstance. Still, we know the certainty of God's promise and have it "as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain." (Heb. 6:19, ESV)

We live our lives waiting for something. I want to live in hope and trust.

Day 9 - Presbyterian on a Treadmill

Today's scheduled run: 3 miles

Today's completed run: 3.1 miles (a nice, even 5k)

The yucky side of fall -- rainy and cold -- has descended upon Baltimore, so I took to the treadmill once more. I felt good and figured I'd bump my 3 miles up to 3.1, just for fun. I kept a pretty steady 9:14 pace; I'm pleased with the run.

Rather than music, I tried a new form of "entertainment" today -- podcasts. I know people have been talking about podcasts for the last decade, but I never quite got on the bandwagon. Well, I'm on it now. Today, I listened to a Timothy Keller sermon, titled "Praying Our Tears." My only regret was that I couldn't take notes while running! It was an excellent sermon, just as I'd expected, and it kept me going. Of course, I'm an "mm-hmm"-er, so I'm sure people thought I'd lost it.

Here are a few things that really caught my attention:
- Religiosity tells us to stuff our tears (feelings), and secularism tells us to dump our tears. What are we really to do with our tears? Expect them, invest them, and pray them.
- Becoming a person of faith will cause you to weep more. [Ezekiel 11:19 and 36:26 - "I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh."]
- Planted (invested) tears produce joy. [2 Corinthians 4:17 - "For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.] The knowledge of this frees us to involve ourselves in the messiness of the world, as well as others' lives, because we can expect joy if we plant our tears.
- Keller notes that the psalms, a majority of which are laments, end with psalms (146-150) of pure praise. He quotes Eugene Peterson: "What the psalms are teaching us is that all true prayer pursued far enough will become praise. Any prayer, no matter how desperate its origin, no matter how angry and fearful the experience it traverses, will become praise. It does not always get there quickly. It does not always get their easily. In fact, the trip can take a lifetime! But the end is always praise. This is not to say that other kinds of prayer are inferior to praise, but that all prayer pursued far enough becomes praise. Don't rush it. Don't try to push it. It may take years, it may take decades before certain prayers arrive at the hallelujahs of Psalm 150. Not every prayer is capped off with praise. In fact most prayers, if the psalms are a true guide, are not. But prayer is always reaching toward praise, and if pursued far enough, will arrive there."

I'm certain I'll be listening to more of Keller's podcasts, as well as some TED Talks, to make the miles fly.

Day 4 - Encouragement = Speed

Today's scheduled run: 3 miles

Today's completed run: 3 miles (woot!)

Today was not quite as yucktastic weather-wise as yesterday, but it was blustery and cold. The forecast called for rain, and the skies looked ominous; so I took to the treadmill once more. Of course, as soon as I got on, the sun came out for a beautiful sunset. Alas... I completed my three miles at an average 8:38 pace, which was great, though not a speed I could have sustained for much longer than that. Still, it's good to get in some speed runs. Hal Higdon always says you won't race fast if you don't train fast.

Running tunes included the same three "top hits" stations I mentioned yesterday. Today's cool down song was "Sweet and Low" by Augustana.

EmBz and me, circa March 2010

The most notable part of this run was the phone call I got .35 miles in from my friend, EmBz, who lives in faraway Cleveland. Okay, it's not that far, but it sure feels like it sometimes. I told her I couldn't chat for too long, so she told me she just needed to say one thing before we hung up. That one thing was one of the best things anyone can say to a bald girl: You look really good without hair. She said it in more words than that, which made me blush and grin terribly; but you get the picture.  I was pleased that I didn't start crying. Instead, I was grinning; by the time the two-minute call was over, my jaw hurt. EmBz, you made me run fast today; and I love you for it and many other things. (Since she mentioned her sister had a part in it, too - here's your shout-out, KBz!)

I promise you that no matter how much confidence someone appears to have, they need to be encouraged. I think it's fair to say that most of us don't encourage people as much as we should, or even as much as we want to. The encouragement burns on our tongues, but we feel weird saying it, or we don't want to offend, or we don't want to sound condescending. In my experience, genuine encouragement very rarely does any of those things.

So, go. Go be encouraging. Tell someone what they are good at, or why you like them, or even how beautiful they are. You'll feel great; they'll feel great. Win-win.