Day 177: Bookmark Between Chapters

I am exhausted, stiff and starving today; but I don’t feel let down. That’s a big shift for me because in the past, whenever I’ve finished an intense project, I’ve dropped into a bit of a depression almost immediately after… washed over with feelings of emptiness and purposelessness. You know, now what do I do? I put all that work in, for so long, and what have I got to show for it? Was it worth it? What will I do next?

But running feels worth it… A day after having finished my first Half Marathon, all of the training hours I logged haven’t just disappeared. They are still mine, and they now become the foundation for my next goal… I have a 10K coming up, and then another Half Marathon scheduled… and of course, the mother of all goals, the 2010 NYC Marathon, which I haven’t got a number for yet – but I’m working on that. You see, there’s a layering going on here that rolls out ahead of me, with one race building to the next, distance and speed climbing gradually, and naturally, with continued effort; and this progress could carry on indefinitely, if I want it to.

And why wouldn’t I want it to? I get to be outdoors when I run – and I love being outdoors; this sport lets me be independent and compete with myself – but it’s also surprisingly social – and attracts the kind of people I enjoy and respect; and compared to other activities, running is delightfully cheap. That’s a winning formula, if you ask me!

So, I’ve got a 10K race coming up next, but believe it or not, tomorrow will kick off the first day of my training program for the NYC Marathon, which is exactly 194 days away! I’m using a 28-week progressive schedule recommended by Nike. I may follow that for 13 weeks and then switch to one of the other 15-week programs I’ve reviewed and thought seemed to have merit. There are many to choose from. I happen to especially like the NYRR 15-week program because it comes with fun tracking tools that include pie charts and bar graphs outlining one’s progress. I’m a sucker for a visual metaphor… But we shall see how the Nike program goes; if I’m comfortable with it, I may just stick with that from start to finish.

So today has been a day of rest, a bookmark between chapters, a moment to pause and appreciate all that went into accomplishing a big goal now completed. But, today is also a day of preparation for a new beginning tomorrow – when it will be “day one” all over again – the first formal, tracked day of my training for the NYC Marathon!