Month: March 2019

When I discovered it was going to snow in the wee hours of the morning ahead of my scheduled 20 mile training run, I told myself I had several options. First, I could reduce my mileage. My physical training would suffer very little if at all. I would just have to deal with the mental aspect of not running the prescribed distance for the day. Second, I could run it on the treadmill and pray my neighbors would not pull me, kicking and screaming, from the machine after my allotted time. I’ve done 20 on the treadmill one other time; it was dreadful. Finally, I could get in what I could outside and then finish inside. Standing outside my building in the freshly fallen snow at 8:40am, the only thing that was certain was I had not opted for treadmill alone. Off I went. The first three miles were awful. I walked up a hill because I couldn’t get traction. I whimpered. There’s no way I was going to make it 20; I wanted to Uber home from that very spot. I trudged along, considering my options and trying to come up with new ones. At about 3 1/2, I heard a rattle and a scraping sound approaching me from behind. Up ahead of me, two other runners jumped into a snow bank. I looked behind me and nearly wept with joy. The snow plow! He drove very carefully past us and gave us a wave. I waved gleefully back. I now had a chance! At a minimum, I was going to make it farther than the 7 miles I was seriously considering in the very moment before the arrival of the plow. For a few miles, I had some pep in my step. As the miles wore on, I started to lose my cheery outlook. The footing was still not good and I was still slipping, my legs and feet taking a beating from the terrain. I managed to get 6 miles out and turned around. If I had to settle for 12, so be it. On my way back, I came up on the plow again. I decided to back track a mile to let him get ahead and then I’d run in the newly plowed path. I did that and then thought I’d settle on 14 and be happy with that. And the mind games continued from there, with my brain running calculations and arguing with my legs. As I neared home, the path deteriorated quickly. I made the decision to run on the U campus. For one, they have a covered walkway that would provide me with a short break from the snow and two, their sidewalks are often in pretty good shape. So I made my way there. It was better, but there was also a lot of slush that soaked my feet. At this point, I was at 15 and told myself I’d be at 17 when I got home. That would be good enough. And then I thought, really? Am I going to get that close and be content? I found a fairly clear stretch of sidewalk that was a quarter mile long and I used it as my personal track. Thankfully, there weren’t many pedestrians for me to annoy. Once I got to 18 1/2, it was safe to head home where I’d arrive at 20 miles. The last mile was painful; I shuffled along, praying I had not made a mistake in gutting it out. I’ve had a sore hamstring for months; had I further comprised it? I made it home and achieved my 20 miles. I sincerely am not sure how much more I can endure in these conditions. But one thing is for sure, today did not break me. It came close, but I somehow found the strength to forge on. After a day of rest tomorrow, I will take the subsequent days one at a time. That’s really all we can do with everything in life. I know how blessed I am in every regard of my life. I’m thankful for the opportunity to run and “chase the unicorn”. Boston is special and it is hard work for everyone; I should not feel I deserve anything less challenging. Thanks for reading this; I composed this, at least partially, during my run. It provides a needed distraction. As always, #bostonstrong #togetherforward#boston2019