Yesterday's run was one that I'd love to bottle up and save forever. The sky threatened rain as I headed out, but no rain fell until hours after my run, and the cloud cover made for a cooler run. My legs felt powerful, my core was strong, my heart and lungs clicked along without any protest. I ran several of the hills in my neighborhood, which have sometimes
loomed large in the past. Yesterday, they were easy as pie. It was a run where I felt like I could go forever feeling free, energized, and strong.
When I set out, I had no firm plans. I wanted to run 5 or 6 miles, and I hoped to achieve negative splits. I felt good about my negative split goal through mile 4. When I realized I had run that one in 9:24, however, I wasn't sure that I could continue to speed up for 2 more miles. I thought I'd be lucky to just hang on to that pace. Mile 5 felt surprisingly easy (another 9:24), and I glanced at my watch as I began mile 6. It read 8:03AM, or 3 minutes past the hour I'd promised my husband I'd be home. Not only did I need to beat a 9:24 mile to continue my negative splits, but I also had to book it in order to relieve my husband of kid duties. I cranked it up, finishing out the run with an 8:41 mile.
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| A work of art that only a runner would appreciate: perfect negative splits :) |
Elated doesn't even begin to describe how I felt at the end of this run. This was my longest run since I admitted that I was injured in early April. Running 6 miles, feeling strong and healthy throughout, left me with an incredible sense of accomplishment. As I stood in my kitchen, stretching my quads as my kids filled me in on their morning, I felt invincible and ready to conquer the world. It's a feeling I need to commit to memory so I can draw on it in the future when running - or life - feels like too much to handle. The
struggles will always come, but if I can remember this incredible feeling of triumph, I will survive the low points and return to victory.
