Monday, October 14, 2013

Hitting my stride. In a way I never thought I would understand from an athletes perspective...


So today was supposed to be a short walk but it was  a beautiful day and my walking parner, Chana, knows all these great trails and stuff...we got to where it would have been 6 km round trip but we were half way up the escarpment and it seemed like going all the way up the escarpment was just too cool to give up.  Weird to hear myself saying that.  Me, who doesn't like exercise, me who doesn't like going uphill.  Yup, me who weighs way too much and  is way too short and way too old to consider walking a marathon.  IIIIII want to walk up the escarpment, just so I can say I did it.  Freakish really.

I can't actually get over what this is doing for my sense of everything that I thought was doable, not doable and worth even trying.  I find it enormously amazing that not only have I come so far in such a short period of time, but also that I LOVE IT.  It is the weirdest thing ever.  Yes, each time I walk, I have to get past the whole thing with the warming up, and today was no different.  Until I warm up, I feel pain and discomfort in the walk but after that, its incredible, because suddenly, I am capable of hitting my stride which is something I am not sure I ever would have expected was possible.

I always understood the idea of hitting my stride in a literal way, but actually doing it in a sports sense wasn't really something I had expectations of ever experiencing. i guess it is a logical thing to have happen but again, its weird realizing that i am recognizing those things from experience is just so unexpected.   I guess about as unexpected as me signing up to do a half marathon and then actually following through on doing it.

I cant believe that every single time I go out there is something amazing to report.  I thought at some point this would end up being drudgery instead of some sort of spiritual and personal quest that made me joyous and appreciative.    I had the thought today that if I can do 10k's regularly then it might not be crazy to do a full marathon next year....Honestly, now that would seem like a crazy thought if I had not come this far.  Not so much, given what I have learned this past couple of months.  But I guess I am getting ahead of myself, because ultimately, even within the confines of a half marathon, I still have to consider being able to make a pace that works in the time allotted for the marathon.  Still, I do have a number of weeks before the 'start from scratch' training plans even begin training, so I am thinking that if things are going this well then maybe I will begin pacing myself eventually too.  I do say that I don't care how long it takes me but I just want to finish, and I do say that even if they stop timing, as long as I finish I will be happy, but if I need another goal, finishing in the allotted time, strikes me as a reasonable one.

No comments:

Post a Comment