A Run Down Memory Lane

As I’ve been unpacking and organizing our new home, I recently came across my past running logs.  Honing in on years 2012-2014, I recalled fondly what a great three years’ worth of running I had.  2012 represented my leap into the ultra distance, tackling my first 50 miler at Stonecat.  2013 was my prep year for even farther distances, bringing me into 2014.  2014 was the year of Ghost Train 100.  All of those memories neatly documented in my running logs.  All of those memories now haunting me.

The last two years have found me less and less focused on running.  In fact, I just hadn’t been enjoying it much.  I swore last year was the year I’d return to Ghost Train to improve my time and run it with less pacer support.  But almost from the beginning, I didn’t have the hunger.  The usual badass Lisa wouldn’t have thought twice about heading out in wind/snow/blizzard/locust attack, but not this time.  Eventually, I admitted to myself that I was sorely lacking the mental fortitude needed to train for (let alone complete) a 100 mile run.  So I downgraded my race day distance to 50K, allowing a more manageable distance and the privilege to run with two different friends attempting new distances.

Now that I’m living in Florida, I no longer have any cold weather excuses.  I’m happy to say that, more and more, I WANT to run again, but now I feel like I’m starting over.  This is where the “memory haunting” comes in.  Knowing where I’ve been is something I celebrate often, but boy it’s hard when a 3 mile run feels like torture – both in the legs and the lungs.  Yet, memories remind me that I once gutted through a 100 mile race.  But that’s what happens when you stop running.  It’s part of the process.  So what am I doing about it?

I’m getting out.  And I’m running.  It’s slow, but it’s still running.

Not a morning person, I’m trying really hard to get out at least twice a week before work.  I gain a special viewing of the sunrise, beat the heat, avoid the afternoon thunderstorms, and don’t get caught up in the “shiny object syndrome” of finding other things that just have to be done after work.  Scott’s been a huge inspiration, getting me up and out.  The other inspiration comes in the form of how I feel on those days I get up and out for a run before work - happy.  I’m even feeling inspired to register for a race…

Time sure is flying.  The time is now to get moving again, to enjoy this beautiful SWFL outdoor living, to explore the trails, and to create a 2018 running log that makes the top #3 running years the next time I “run” down memory lane!