Do you believe in miracles?
YES!
OK, so clearly there was nothing miraculous about the performances of the U.S. hockey teams -- both men's and women's -- at the 20th Winter Olympiad. My runs the past two days? That's a different story.
However embarrassed I was after gushing in yesterday's post about the small signs of progress I experienced in that day's run, I now find myself even more uneasy about what I wrote.
After all, the achievements in yesterday's run were so minor. Were they worthy of even mentioning? I have run so much faster. I can run so much faster. Unfortunately, after months and months of nuisance injuries and serious lack of desire, I was beginning to doubt I could recapture the speed -- relatively speaking, of course -- I once possessed.
Then, today, I put yesterday's feats comfortably in my rear-view mirror. Somehow, miraculously to me, I managed to surpass them. I lopped 27 seconds off my best four-mile time this year and shaved 9 seconds off my best final mile. I finished Wednesday's run more than 2 minutes faster than Monday's. Unbelievable.
It's inexplicable really. What's the reason for this sudden improvement? My level of training hasn't changed. Nothing has changed. Nothing I can pinpoint, anyway. Except maybe I'm running with renewed vigor. I'm not sure why that is. But it's like I've rediscovered the fire I lacked for so many months. I feel like pushing -- really pushing with every stride -- myself again. And I'm doing it easily.
All of this is resulting in regained confidence, which, undoubtedly, will lead to greater determination. Faster times, I hope, will follow.
There's still a long, long way to go before I'm running at the pace I once did -- I'm not running any sub-8-minute miles now and in June I intend to again string together 26 of them -- but I'm getting there. One run at a time.
OK, so clearly there was nothing miraculous about the performances of the U.S. hockey teams -- both men's and women's -- at the 20th Winter Olympiad. My runs the past two days? That's a different story.
However embarrassed I was after gushing in yesterday's post about the small signs of progress I experienced in that day's run, I now find myself even more uneasy about what I wrote.
After all, the achievements in yesterday's run were so minor. Were they worthy of even mentioning? I have run so much faster. I can run so much faster. Unfortunately, after months and months of nuisance injuries and serious lack of desire, I was beginning to doubt I could recapture the speed -- relatively speaking, of course -- I once possessed.
Then, today, I put yesterday's feats comfortably in my rear-view mirror. Somehow, miraculously to me, I managed to surpass them. I lopped 27 seconds off my best four-mile time this year and shaved 9 seconds off my best final mile. I finished Wednesday's run more than 2 minutes faster than Monday's. Unbelievable.
It's inexplicable really. What's the reason for this sudden improvement? My level of training hasn't changed. Nothing has changed. Nothing I can pinpoint, anyway. Except maybe I'm running with renewed vigor. I'm not sure why that is. But it's like I've rediscovered the fire I lacked for so many months. I feel like pushing -- really pushing with every stride -- myself again. And I'm doing it easily.
All of this is resulting in regained confidence, which, undoubtedly, will lead to greater determination. Faster times, I hope, will follow.
There's still a long, long way to go before I'm running at the pace I once did -- I'm not running any sub-8-minute miles now and in June I intend to again string together 26 of them -- but I'm getting there. One run at a time.
posted by RTG at 6:26 PM
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