Waxing Poetic about my Bad-a$$edness

I am terribly behind in posting.  So sorry - as I know that people all around the world are waiting in front of their computers for an alert that a new post has come.

 Part of this whole endurance training is preparing you to keep going when everything in you says to stop.  I think the reason "normal" people get into it - is not to WIN - but to REMEMBER.  There isn't much in our lives that takes us to the brink of what we can bear, and I think that there is something innate in humans that craves that sort of thing.  We live pretty cushy lives - at least here in the US.  We are far away from the "survival mode" of our ancestors - and there is something sad about that.  Living is hard, and I think that we forget that.  So, maybe we need things like this to remind us.  Granted, it is manufactured - but it's something.

We'll start with my 7 mile run on Wednesday the 16th.  It was ludicrously early in the morning, dark, cold, and rainy - AND my audio book putzed out about half way through the run.  Frustrating!  But, I got through it - that was key.

The 15-miler on Saturday was something.  I felt good almost the whole way.  Thanks to a lot of good tips and encouragement from friends, I felt really prepared.  For food, I went with a couple of Stinger Honey Waffles, and some Margarita flavored Shot Blocks I got really tired after 13 miles, but when I saw that 14 mile tick by on the Garmin - something kicked in.  Going further than I'd ever run before, it became exploration - of me - of my resolve.  It was getting to know a different Me- a Me that could run for 14 miles.  That probably sounds weird... and I'm not very good at explaining it - but it was doing something that even I didn't think I was capable of doing.  It sort of makes me rethink other things that I don't think I am capable of doing.

Last Wednesday, I had an 8 mile run - another character builder - 19 degrees!  The water in my water bottles froze!  So, I'm proud of myself for doing these uncomfortable things - because it's not in my nature.  I'm proud that maybe my nature is beginning to change.

Tomorrow, I'll do my 16 mile run, and then begin a step-down week, to 12 miles next weekend.  Then the week after that, that long run jumps up to 18 miles!  We are getting close!  Only 7 weeks from tomorrow!