Running For Another...And For Myself

Yesterday, Beth of Shut Up And Run asked us all to remember her cousin and friend, Sherry Arnold, in our runs this weekend. Yesterday was my rest day, but I strapped on my running shoes this morning and went out for my run, and yes, I thought of Sherry. People like Sherry should not be forgotten...she is all of us.

It was windy outside when I got up this morning. I was not looking forward to going outside in the cold, but an hour or so after my breakfast, I dutifully strapped on my running shoes and set off with my iPod in hand.

I walk a fairly long warm-up route most days, listening to music and getting my legs primed for the run ahead:

At the corner of Spring Valley and Longspur Loop, I begin my run. Today, I was apprehensive--after having yesterday off, short drills on Friday, and a lame attempt on the treadmill on Thursday, I didn't know how I'd do out on the pavement today--especially with the wind as high as it was. But I started off at a fairly confident trot and settled into an easy rhythm.

At about the first mile, I thought of Sherry, and the joy she got from running. I still run because I have to for weight loss, and not so much because of joy, though I can feel a change slowly happening in me the more I run. I thought of how happy she would have been to be out on a sunny Sunday morning, battling the wind and watching hawks fly overhead. Maybe some of her joy, or her confidence, seeped into me. I kept running.

At Mile 2, I turned onto Twelve Bridges Drive, and the hard part began. This is always the hardest part of my run--I'm so near to the finish, and yet I can't rest. It is ever-so-slightly uphill at this point, and that is taxing on my legs and lungs. Today, I was running straight into heavy wind. My body was instantly fatigued. I put my head down and pounded harder. My arms were swinging, almost punching the air.

I let myself walk for about thirty seconds--the wind was just so intense. But I finished my route on a run, checking my stopwatch to see how I'd done.

Twenty-nine minutes, seven seconds.

Last week, I set a personal best on this route of 29:48. So today, battling wind, I bested my best time by forty-one seconds...and this with that thirty seconds of walking!

Elated, I began my mile-and-a-half cool-down walk home (uphill).

All told, I put in about five miles when I go out for a run--half walking, half running. Today, I burst through my best time, and I did it while running in difficult conditions. I feel very good about that.