Movin' On Up

First, a message for Mr. Scott:

OHHHH!

How unbelievable? The kid who couldn't run a lap around the gym just lapped Central Park TWICE (and then some). Readers, our friend Scott is a rockstar. Scott is a half-marathoner.

Up until this Friday, I was having a really lame running week. Since I was sidelined sidewalked (HA) with the flu for so long, I was itching to run. My body was ready to go. My chest? Not so much. I felt like a nerdy asthmatic middle schooler with their inhaler (this may or may not be something I was in the past...) every time I tried to make moves. I had to give up on the hill run on Tuesday because I was wheezing so badly. Needless to say I was bummed. I wasn't moving forward. I had to wait until my chest cleared.

Then came Friday.

I'm gonna throw it out there. I think I qualify to make the band now. This Friday marked a huge milestone for me. Five miles has been a bit of a mental blockade to me. I've gone that distance before but never at a continuous run. The mere concept of running nonstop for that long was unfathomable to me and being able to cover that distance became the wall for me to fling myself over. On Friday I got to Jenn's and said I was going to do it. I was going to run 5 miles continuously. And I did. In fact, I ran 5.5 miles.

And the craziest part? I totally could've run further! This was the first moment that I felt that, yes, I can actually do this. I believe that running is mostly in the head. The hardest part is convincing yourself to keep going. The first loop of the Central Park reservoir was fine and I reminisced about how just last summer I wasn't able to run the entire thing around. On the second loop, my brain started its do I have to do this monologue. As we neared the final stretch of the second loop, I started to get excited. Every step I took after completing the second loop would be longer than I've ever run continuously before (the previous longest being a 5k). And by the time I was into the third loop, I was actually chatting. My body begrudgingly realized that I was in this for the long hall and just went along with it. To round off the 5 miles, we peeled off the reservoir after the third loop and headed Southward on the road. We were going to stop at one of the pre-designated stoplights. But we just kept going. All the way back to 72nd street. And again, each step forward became the furthest distance I'd ever run well...ever!

Shit just got real. This marks a big point in my training because now I know it can be done. We've got just over three months left. Let's do this.

I plan to run a half half-marathon today. Or 6.55 miles. There appears to be a monsoon outside. Incidentally, my best runs are when it's raining but these clouds aren't playing around. The temp is pushing 60 degrees right now, though, and the cold weather is supposed to return to us this weekend...

I know I can't compete on the same level as Scott. And this isn't a competition. But I think that maybe my sub-conscious is a little jealous of Scott's stellar achievements. In my dream last night, I was in some random class with him and we had this big test. I thought I did fine. I studied. In the next class, the teacher hands back the list of results. I had an 85 which was listed as the average score of the class. Alright, I'll take it. Then Scott showed me his score and it was 95 and the number #1 in the class. Typical!