Week Eleven - Perspective

Mileage (miles per workout): 5 - 8 - 5 - 16

It was brought to my attention last week I’ve gone from walking for 20 minutes to running continuously for three hours.  That was something hard for me to grasp.  I guess I really had gone from 20 minutes to three hours.  It had never occurred to me to use the entire program as a gauge to how much I had accomplished and how many miles I was covering.

This training was an investment into my identity as a person.  Not only for me but for others as well.  My friends frequently introduce me as “Liz…she’s training for a marathon.”  Even when asked about what big things were going on in my life at the moment, the marathon training often topped the list and I had trouble remembering what else I did.

I look at training this way.  Back in March I was standing at the bottom of a plateau.  At the top of the plateau is the finish line and I started the climb by walking four times a week for 20 minutes.  I make progress with every mile I run.  Some days it’s easy, most days it’s not.  But I will reach the top of this plateau with the will of my mind and the strength of my heart.

I am definitely a different person now than I was at the start of this adventure.  But I want to be someone I am not yet.  I look towards the future and see before me an unpaved road.  Whether it will become smooth concrete or remain dusty gravel has yet to be discovered.  My training is time for me to work on me.  I get a couple hours a week to focus on myself; to put myself first.  Sometimes I wonder why I am pushing myself so hard.

Things I learned this week:

First: I really dislike the action of running but I am addicted to the feeling I have afterward.  This had led me to think of participating in marathons and half-marathons for years to come.

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