I'm coming to know the power of the cross... cross training, that is. I don't think I've ever recovered more thoroughly after a challenging workout than I did after yesterday's race. Nothing hurts. Or aches. It's got to be all the squats and lunges and yoga moves I'm doing in intenSati. I'm just getting stronger. Even stuff like carrying my heavy bags around, and hustling up subway stairs, feels a lot more uneventful that it used to. I love it!
Today a friend at work came by and we chatted the running chat. I excitedly told him about my new PR! When I said I'd run at an 11:05 pace, I think he didn't know how to react. "So slow!!!" is I'm sure what he was thinking... but instead he just stood there not saying anything. I helped him out. "I'm slow! I've come a long way, though. Remember I've only been doing this for 7 and a half months," but he replied, "Well I've only been doing it a year...and I run around a 9," and we just stared at each other.
See, I'm fine with being athletically inferior; but other people want me to be a whiz already. They want me to be a success story! Well, I may not be a success story on their terms, but I am on mine. And I'm not done...
"Well," he tried again, "My legs are longer. So that's why I'm faster." Oh yes, I told him that must be it. Of course that's not it. I mean, maybe it's part of it. But I'm not relegated to the 5.5 mile an hour zone because I'm a shrimp. I'm slow because I'm going at the pace I'm going at. I had a down month when I didn't care, and I didn't train consistently. And while I'm amazingly more healthy today than I was 7.5 months ago, I'm still not at my very peak physical condition. I could be thinner. I could have more muscle mass. I could be more flexible. I'm getting there and I will get there with more running and more of that holy cross training. Then we'll see about my little legs and whether I need to find a gym with a good old fashioned stretching rack!
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