Stumbling Blocks

Last night marked another evening of track workout. After last week's dismal failure, I was determined to not let injury take over. I ended up at the track on time in my old shoes. Luckily, this past week's run was at the running store in which they taught me how to properly tie my shoes. Yes, apparently I missed out on Kindergarten as I needed a lesson!

On the books for the practice was 8-10x800s at 10k pace with a 400 recovery. We all got started and it became obvious I was getting lapped. This is now super normal for me as the track is 200 yards and I run a good 3-5 minutes slower than a lot of these folks. Yes, you read that right, some of the team happily runs sub 7s. I can only stare in awe as I know I will never see sub-10. Heck, running a solid 10 minute mile would be amazing.

So, as a few groups were half way done with their 10, I realized that there is no way I would finish in time if I did all of mine. I started making excuses and decided I would skip out after 6. No one would know the difference and I would finish around the same time as those doing 8s. Something then hit me, if I cheated those 2, I would really only be cheating myself. I am so afraid of being the slow runner that I forget that I am an equal member and participant. I need to take just as much accountability even if it takes me double the time. After my mental break through, I realized that I put these hurdles in front of me that are only for my eyes to see. No one else cares that I am slow, they are just as supportive. I can almost guess too that they don't go home and make fun of the slow kid. In fact, they are probably in shock that the big kid on the team actually can run any distance. I need to take ownership of myself and my actions! With that being said, I muddled on for the remaining 2 sets and finished just in time for stretching. And you know what, it felt awesome!

On the books for this weekend is 16-18. While I don't think I am quite there, I will proudly do my 14-15 miles no matter how long it takes. Of course, I will also bring a thank you gift to the lady who checks us in to not feel guilty for making her wait for me.