Life's little adventures, accompanied by a running watch

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Walking/Running the Talk

My ultra training has begun and that means no more shenanigans.  Shenanigans?  Me?  Yes, as in "well, I'll just skip my run today because...." or "another rest day isn't so bad..."  I've always struggled with the Monday-to-Friday runs.  Always.  Work gets the best of me and often bleeds into my lunch time when I might run, then I get home to find Bella ready and rearing to play, and lastly, all the household stuff like cooking dinner, picking up, fixing the roof, retiling the bathroom, building an addition, etc seem to take over.  Before I know it, the opportunity to run has passed and my weekly mileage plummets.

No more!!!

The last two weeks have been an exercise in commitment and discipline for me.  I haven't been a high mileage runner (even when I ran StoneCat 50!), often excusing a mid-week run day here and there from my training calendar.  But these last two weeks, I've kept EVERY important running date I made with myself.  Today was a bit more challenging because today's run called for 6 miles.  So, I coordinated my schedule to best fit a 6 mile run at lunch with time to shower and emerge back to my desk looking relatively put together. 

I had a fantastic run!  I ran around the lake and, at the 3 mile mark, turned around and headed INTO the wind to return to work.  Although the wind added some resistance, it also gave me a different perspective since I rarely run that direction around the lake.  I wondered if I'd have any kind of kick in me after running 6.5 miles yesterday at a decent clip.  And I did!!


When I returned, a girl I met recently (and ran the lake with once) stopped me in the foyer and struck up a conversation:

Girl:    "Hey good run?"
Me:    "Yes, and so nice out finally!  No mittens!!" 
Girl:    "Hm, I should get out there...it is still officially lunch hour afterall" 
Me:    "Oh you totally should!"

We said our "see ya's" and I hit the shower.

On my way back to my desk, I saw her again, but this time she was headed to the bathroom/shower carrying HER gym bag and, with a big smile, said "I'm getting out there!" 

Nothing like walking/running the talk and then realizing your walk/run inspired someone else.  Good feeling!



3 comments:

  1. Awe, that is such a great story! I love seeing others running and knowing I can go out and do the same thing.

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  2. It always feels good when you inspire someone to get out there and get active.

    I'm going to be "swimming" the talk next week. I have a half ironman in just 10 weeks - yikes! And this once a week swim isn't going to cut it. Time to get busy next week...no more excuses!

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  3. This is great! Consistency is key for the long distance races and it's awesome that you are committing to running during the week. And great that you are inspiring others!

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