Blogs from runners that I’ve read so far portray an obsession to running, which is understandable. They are mostly regular people who have their own goals: some use the sport for weight control, restarting running, just starting to run, others to continue streaks, or write about their training for the next race. There is also the brag factor: showing their personal bests for the races and distances they run. These bloggers run the gamut from triathletes, marathoners, short distance specialists, BQ aspirers, or ultrarunners.
Did I run the L.A. marathon last Sunday? No. Did I finish an Ironman Triathlon? No. Did I do the Western States 100 mile ultramarathon? No. My everyday running streak? Long gone. So what did I do that had made me feel so ecstatic in the past week? My contentment benchmark is not set so high nowadays. Just having run well last Thursday, Saturday, and Monday despite the dizziness problems has made me feel giddy. Or maybe it’s the dizziness itself that’s making me feel high. Of course my ecstasy can vanish at any moment if I aggravate my right ankle again. Here is my problem when I try to run a hard pace (or even an unintended one), my right ankle might not hurt badly while I’m running but it hurts worse a couple of hours after I stop when the endorphins wear out. As my aerobic capacity increases and I’m able to run a little bit faster, I’m also in danger of tweaking my right ankle with the PTTD that brings me back to agony. So it’s not a good trade-off because when that happens, I have to take a couple of steps backward to heal the ankle again. It feels so good to be able to run hard though. Your arms pumping, your legs churning, your lungs feel like they’re about to burst. God! What a feeling!
So here I am on Thursday with my right ankle still smarting a bit from the past weeks’ harder than usual runs. It was time to dial down the effort so it was an easy one hour run. It was such a slow run that I didn’t even hit my stride until after 30 minutes. Mission accomplished.
This is what my personal benchmark boils down to: neither a long distance runner, a racer, or a marathoner am I anymore. Nowadays, completing just an hour run gives me satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment. Pretty low goal, huh? What counts is I’m pretty happy with it and that’s all that matters.
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