Chasing my mojo

So we’ve all had them.  THAT run.  You know, when all is right in the universe, your body feels strong, your mind feels strong, and you own the road.  Today was most definitely NOT that run.  It was hard physically and probably more importantly, mentally.  I felt tired and unfocused.  I was fortunate to have Scott and Martyn with me, but even that didn’t seem to help in its usual way.  I spent the first hour trying to find my mojo.  Chase my mojo is more like it.  But I refuse to focus on the negative, because long training runs aren’t supposed to be pretty.  I like to save “pretty” for the marathon finish photo!

In retrospect, the strong shin twinges I felt during my morning walk with Bella messed with my head.  There’s only one thing worse than heading out for a 20+ miler and feeling unsure if you can finish it.  What’s worse?  Not being able to run at all.  Being well versed in perspective, I talked myself off the ledge, tried to temper my inner shin dialog, and headed out with the guys.

I was worried about my shins, I was worried about not being able to finish.  I was worried about Scott and his injury.  You name it, I had it covered in the “worried” department.  But then somewhere around mile 9/10, my patience paid off.  I started to fall into a more comfortable pace and stopped worrying about everything.  Martyn left us at around mile 11, so Scott and I fell into step and ran a few quiet miles side by side.  That’s when Scott started singing his chant, “1….2….chugga chugga choo!”  I don’t know if it helped my pace at all, but it sure made me smile.  It turns out we were perfect company/support for each other today. 

Slogging through today’s run is symbolic of so many things we experience in life.  I think that’s why I relate so well to the distance.  Each tough long training run like today signifies another obstacle I acknowledged, conquered, and celebrated.  Running teaches me patience in all facets of my life.  My recently attained “dream job” is proof of that; I slogged through my time at my previous job, trying to be patient enough to make my next move.  Today’s 21.5 miles was not pretty, but patience paid off in a successful completion and the long awaited post-run feeling….”Aaaaah”