Run 28, 2010 …ah, the miles…the endless miles…

By rights, I should be saying “the kilometers, the endless kilometers,” but somehow it just isn’t as poetic. I had a fantastic training run today. I ran 19 km with an average pace of just under 7 minutes per kilometer (6:58). My goal was to run it with a pace of 7:30 per kilometer, but I just couldn’t help myself. I have no discipline. I kept having flashbacks of past runs down the very same roads I was running today. I was thinking about how endless the miles were, are, and will be – if that makes any sense. As I ran down the familiar road, I remember struggling here on the same road in years past. I remember having to stop and walk that same path many times because of bad knee pain, and other injuries. I remember feeling very angry at my lack of fitness, my poor health, and my limitations, and I felt really bad about my inability to run at a reasonable pace. I remember wondering if I would ever get past the pain and the difficulties I was having in my quest to become a runner. The cacophony of external and internal voices mocked me and said I was doing something which was impossible and that I should just take the easy way out and give up.

As I ran the same road today, I wondered where I would be today if I had let the pain get the best of me and if I had quit running. Where would I be if I had given up at the first sign of difficulty, sacrifice, pain, and effort? I know where I would be, and it is not a good place. Instead, I am where I am and I worked damn hard to get here. I am not a fast runner by any means, and I probably won’t get much faster, but I am a runner nonetheless. If I had given up all those years ago…

But I did not give up. I knew that at some point in the future, I would wake up, and realize just how far I have come and where I am now in terms of being a fit person. I am grateful that I did not give up.

Which brings me to a point I like to state and restate as often as possible. Where will you be in terms of health and fitness five years from now if you do not do anything about it? Therefore do not focus so much on ultimate goals – instead, focus on just doing a day at a time. Focus on being consistent. That is the key. Then look back at yourself as you were five years ago and make judgments…

So today I ran two kilometer intervals, and walked for a minute in between. I would say that at least for today, the run/walk method worked very well for me. Remember: It is better for you to do less consistently than to do much inconsistently. When you race, race hard, but in the end you realize that races are short and transient. What is permanent is what you do every day in a consistent manner to maintain that healthy lifestyle and to improve upon it. I know I am being preachy and pedantic, and I’ve said some pretty obvious things, but if it helps even one struggling person out there, then I’m willing to live with that embarrassment.

Train hard, run hard, and live gently…