It was my second race of the year. Six months and only two races. For someone used to running several races a month for many years, it's been an unusual period to say the least. Because of an injury, I went weeks without running. It took it's toll on my cardio fitness. Now I often struggle to finish what used to be easy runs.
Running friends tell me how my fitness should come back quickly. I'd like to believe that's true. So far, it's not coming back quickly. So here we are. July fourth. It's the traditional mid-point of the year for me, even though the actual mid-point was a couple days earlier. Half a year has gone by, and I've missed many races on my traditional calendar.
In honor of The Grateful Dead's farewell concert in Chicago, the lyric about "a long strange trip" comes to mind as I consider my running for the last few months.
My progress has been slow. I can relate to the experiences of a lot of new runners as they take up the sport and start to get faster and try to run longer distances. Where I used to not think twice about running anywhere from 10-13 miles every weekend, I now am worried I won't be able to finish that distance.
The two races I have run so far this year are the Soldier Field 10 miler, and the Elmhurst 4 on the 4th, two races that hold strong personal connections for me. I entered both with the objective with finishing in an upright position.
The Elmhurst race is in the town where I live, and is organized by my running club. Most members of the club volunteer and do a wonderful job. My work schedule usually prevents me from volunteering, but I try to run the race anyway. And there is another bonus. I can literally roll out of bed, throw running clothes on and be there in five minutes. It is a runner's race, part of the CARA runner's choice circuit, and it draws a strong, fast field.
In the last few years, my goal was to run about 6:45/mile pace. In my current condition,
however, I decided I would be very happy if I could get under 8:00/mile pace. So instead of being toward the front third of the pack of runners, I ran more toward the back half.
I felt like I was giving the same amount of effort as most other races over the last few years, but my legs weren't moving as quickly. And when I finished, I saw runners I usually finish in front of already lounging with bottles of water. But I did manage to run 7:58 pace.
While that is a modest accomplishment, at least I'm grateful to be over my injuries for now. Simply being able to run is much more important to me that How fast I am able to do it.
Halfway through the year, and I'm not setting the world on fire in races. But I'm able to participate in the sport I love. That's a lot to be thankful for.
See you on the roads............