Table of Marathons

11 MCM (not for time) 11 Wineglass (950/1442)
10 MCM (not for time) 09 MCM (348/1076)
09 Washington's Birthday Marathon (22/44) 08 MC Historic Half (51/210)
07 Frederick Marathon (32/60) 06 MCM (394/1076)
05 MCM (547/1047)

Sunday, June 18, 2017

Week 24: Challenges


 My mind struggled on my long run this morning. The humidity seemed to sap my will and, with it, the strength in my legs. I understand well that where the mind cannot go, the body has no hope of going, but I plodded on. My psychology has a strange inversion from what I would expect. The first miles are a listless challenge. When going long, the goal seems so far away when I'm in single digits. But, as I pass ten, with the sun rise and my body wakening in its circadian rhythm, my attitude, energy, and pace elevate. Mile 19 may not feel as good as mile 1 was numb, but it is often at a pace that is 2 or 3 minutes faster. Today, the weather certainly did not help. As the morning sun burned off the fog, the heat index went from 71F to 87F. 

My mind struggled this morning....but the struggle is good. Each time you overcome the inertia, you grow. Each time it defeats you, the humiliation of the memory is fuel to overcome it the future. The one thing I cannot allow is to live in an air conditioned bubble, far from the cycles of the sun and the summer and all the life that lives within and by it.