40 Days to Better: Day 20

Today, we reach the half way point.  On this day, I have again seen the value of only training for a half marathon (I know that only sounds odd to my non-running friends).  I was able to leave the house at about 5:30, drive to the NCR trail, have a great workout, and be home by 7:45.  I then got a shower and had a child on the ice by 8:30, stopped at the grocery store to get oil to top off my car, dropped another child off at garden club. circled back to hockey, then back to garden club, then home, quite bit to eat (thank goodness for leftovers), picked up child from another family, took my middle and other child to boychoir, returned home, and then took my oldest to orchestra.  (Actually he drove and I drove back).  So, here I sit and it is only 1:15 in the afternoon.  Still a lot to do today.

So, for all that what did I start the day off running.  About a half mile warm up (and it is still pretty dark at 6 AM these days--especially on a wooded trail) to the 1 mile marker on the NCR trail.  Reset the watch.  And then ran to just past the 6 mile marker and back to the 1 mile marker.  Along the way out, I startled (perhaps scared) two groups.  They are training groups that use a run/walk combination and go in groups that are big enough to span the entire trail.  They often do.  So when they are having a grand old conversation and I come up behind them running my sub-7 mile and doing it quietly sometimes they move.  But when they don't I just go around or between and they get surprised.  I have little sympathy.  I don't tend to say hello going by them--which I do for everyone else. Most weeks I'd rather lecture them than say hello, but I hold my tongue and keep running.  In any case, by the trail mile markers I went just a tiny bit more than 10 and I did it in 1:08:51.  I have never even done that in a race before.  And that is faster than the first ten of my fastest 13.1 ever (also a non-race situation).

Lesson for the day...Why do I run so well in non-race situations?  I put less pressure on myself and I trust myself. 

When I did my 1:30:39 with a friend back on March 9, I really did need someone running with me.  Pacing with me.  Keeping me going.  And helping me to have confidence that I could do what I set out to do--run the half marathon (even relatively flat) at a sub-7:00 pace.

Six months later I ran a bit shorter distance, but the workout was just as significant as I did it myself.  And I did it just two days after my fastest road or trail 10K.

So, I have needed mentoring.  But now I am showing what I can do.

Does that mean I don't continue to need mentoring?  Of course not.  I can always improve.  There is always more to learn.

And this does not just apply to running.

It applies to my spiritual life.

It applies to my style of leadership and management.

It certainly applied to my music playing although I don't do that so much at the moment.

And it even applies to interpersonal relationships.  

So, I have learned a lesson from running--that I can take what I have learned from some great friends and competitors and make something great from it--and apply it to many other areas of life as I continue on my road to better.  It is always nice to be satisfied with a run--and this morning was definitely satisfying. But being satisfied does not imply that I can't (and should) continue to seek improvement.   

40 Days to Better: Day 13

This morning I surprised myself with 15.6 miles at a 7:38 pace.  A bit shorter than last week (when I ran 20) but a bit faster than last week—averaging 10 second per mile faster. 

While the run was faster, it was not necessarily better.  And certainly not smarter.  Today, I began with an 8:04, then ran 7:29, 7:37, 7:46, 8:13, 7:45, 7:42, 7:35, 7:41, 7:22, 7:28, 7:41, 7:43, 7:10, 7:26, and the final 0.6 in 7:20.  All the stability I showed last week just went by the wayside.  Started slowly.  Sped up more than I thought.  Slowed down a little running up University Parkway to get to the JHU lacrosse field area. Slowed down even more as I continued along University where there were no streetlights (much to my surprise) and with the steep uphill to Roland, faster on Roland, okay across Northern and up Charles, okay on Stevenson (including the hills—that was the 7:41), faster down Osler and around onto Towsontown (it helped that another runner showed up and I aimed to pass), okay headed to Bosley, okay on Bosley headed around to York, okay as I made my by up Fairmount and across Joppa, faster headed back down York, then okay in the neighborhood.  Times all over the place.

So, as I said, even with a faster pace, not as good a run.  Combining this less smart run with yesterday’s slow run, I could certainly add a comment after yesterday…not every run can be the best run—no matter how hard I try. 

My past two days demonstrate this clearly for workouts.  It is also clear for races.  Both back in high school and with my grown up running since 2009, I have found the same thing.  As I got started, I did get faster each race for a while.  Then, once I approached my capacity, not every race was a personal best. 

And, of course, the idea that not every activity can be the best one is true in other areas of life as well.  There is no way that every day at work can be better than the last.  Some days are up and some days are down.  The key is overall growth—a general upward trajectory. 

There is no way that every day in marriage will be better than the last.  Some days are up and some days are down.  The key is a general strengthening of the relationship overall over time.

When I play a musical instrument, there is no way that every song will be better than the last. 

It is not the case that every blog entry is better than the last.

If I were a visual artist, not every piece of art work would be better than the last.

In a friendship, not every interaction is necessarily better than the last.

And even in parts of life that focus on improvement or departure from something in the past not every day is necessarily better than the last.

The key for me in all cases is to remember what a friend said to me recently about a process she is going through.  She compared it with a marathon.  Some good miles. Some bad miles.  But you keep pushing toward the finish line.  And that is what I do in all parts of my life.  Realize there will be some good times and some bad times.  But always push for the goal.