Thanks to all my friends for your support and encouragement from the last post. It has truly fueled my return to something more normal (and lookie here, two posts in a week!)
It's been a good week back on the exercise wagon. A workout every day including a nice bike ride yesterday for 23 miles in what might have been absolutely perfect weather.
Last night, I was chatting online with my buddy Dave and he suggested that I join him today for a FREE 10 Miler, including a free t-shirt! Now, free always gets my attention, especially with the lure of a t-shirt.
Only issue was that little 10 miles part of it. I've always been up for a challenge, but man, I'm totally untrained. I've run only 11 miles in all of March and just 22 in all of February. Not exactly "In Training".
Dave was there when I was in a panic before my first 10 miler three years ago. (See my very first blog post to read about that.) He got me through that one, so, of course, I said yes. A reluctant yes, but the peer pressure worked.
I arrived at the shoe store that was sponsoring the event and I ran into my old Team In Training coach, Mohan. Was this a mirage? Mohan and I had always been pretty close in speed. The guy just enjoys the events with no expectations. I knew I wouldn't be alone. (Especially looking around at all the "hard core" runner types that had just finished six or eight miles BEFORE the ten to get in their long runs. Okay, not so long ago, that was me, but I'm just sayin'.)
After the instructions, we just started down the road. Quickly Mohan and his friend and I settled into an 11 minute pace. It was comfortable, but for how long, I didn't know. We ran through parts of Columbia that I've not been through before, so that was cool. By four miles, there was some walking, but mostly running. By six miles, I knew my endurance was about gone. I struggled to seven, but then walked much of the last three miles. Mohan stuck with me the whole way and, as always, I was appreciative of his sacrifice. We finished.
It was good to finish, though there were few options. No SAG support to pick anyone up. I felt good about finishing, but it certainly reminded me of how far I've got to go to get back. But I'm on track and I look forward to sharing more successes.
What's next? I just signed up for the Pikes Peek 10k. This is my favorite race and it will be my third time running it. Just three weeks from tomorrow.
L'Chaim!
