Step by step

by step by step by step....

And then, one day, when you might not expect it,  you will  feel good.  Ahhh......

I started 'training' again last month.  I didn't take too much time off for my off-season ( another post on this one later...) but my running sure did take a hit. I think when you combine taper with the 3-4 weeks off/ recovery period, you can't expect anything else but a decline in speed and that wonderful feeling of lightness when you run.

It's ok with me. I am not really a patient person in general. This is something I strive to work on in life. And yet somehow, I am totally patient with this process.  It happens every year and eventually, it all comes together. It's important to take a break, to the the body chill and heal and to start fresh again. You aren't really starting fresh after all. If you've been running for years and years and years as I have, you don't Lose that aerobic base and endurance. You just lose your feel. You're no longer sharp and fresh.  You may have gained a few pounds. So what!  Just be patient. Be consistent.  Relax. Go slow. And then go slow again, and again, and again.  Get your sleep. Eat your veggies.  Drink water.

And then one day, you will feel good again. Promise.

Today was my day. The circles under my eyes that were dark and deep have finally started to lift. I was much kinder to myself this week and had a bit of an awakening. I cut myself some slack. It wasn't yet November and I realized, hey, this is just wrong. There is no reason for me to be in such a hole this time of year. It's not right Any time of year but certainly not right now. It's Fall. I have a long way to go.....

So I have been turning the light off a bit earlier and turning it on a bit later. After the first no alarm Saturday I can remember in a long time, I chilled with the boys for an hour, drank a few cups of coffee and then  headed out for a nice fairly long run. My HR monitor was on, but I never looked. My garmin was on the other wrist, and I never looked at that either. I just ran. No music. No watch.

It was cool and fresh. The roads were quiet. I was alone.  When I started, my legs were a bit heavy. I did a bit workout yesterday. I was expecting that. I just ignored and took light easy steps. I relaxed my shoulders. I thought about things....
I just ran.  That is it. I solved a few problems, I wrote a few other blog posts, I made a few lists, came up with some ideas... nothing taxing, nothing that I remember.

Around mile 6 or 7 I snapped alert. Hey! I'm really cookin'! I feel Good! I feel like.... me! I felt like myself!  I didn't need to look.. .I know my pace. I knew what I was running and I knew how it compared to last week.  That run last Saturday with my husband. The one when we finished and he asked our time ( a route we do ALL the time... ) and it was about 5 min slower than 'normal.' We laughed. I told him it was ok. He had succumbed to 'my' pace that day.

I started imagining scenarios. Races. I do that.. it's a secret. Shhh....
I fast forward to races I have coming up. Maybe the race is in a week.. maybe it's 8 months away. It doesnt' matter. I go there. I feel it. I create my finish line. I visualize the clock and what I will do. I write the story myself. I might even tear up thinking of the moment I pass her. It's what I do... I let myself dream it and then I work, day after day, to make it real.

Running.  There is nothing else like it.