I have been pretty hard on myself lately. Why?! No one cares how fast I run. My PR's only matter to me.
Running has been the be all and end all for me. I've been a runner for over 20 years. I ran cross country in high school, it propelled me through basic training in the Army, and I've wrapped up my adult identity in being a runner. Take that away from me, and what do you have left? Yep I know it sounds like It's crazy talk because I'm still a wife, mother, friend, daughter and, a co-worker....
2014 was a great year for me running wise. I set a few goals, and I followed a pretty rigid training schedule with a few different races throughout the year. I also thought that I was giving myself enough time to recover from events to avoid burn out...
Why I started this blog in 2011
It seemed like everyone had a blog, I thought it would be really easy to provide content and hopefully receive some freebies a long the way. But, in reality this blog fills a very big void for me....
I lost my training partner in 2011- She didn't pass away, she moved to the other end of the valley. In 2013 she moved away to the opposite side of the country. She was the best runner friend I could have ever asked for.
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| One of our famous runs on the Las Vegas Strip |
I met her in 2007 when I was at another crossroads with my training. I had been casually training for marathons, and I would race shorter distance events for fun. I wanted to qualify for the Boston Marathon, but I wasn't close to a qualifying time.
I had seen her in the hallways at my work, and I noticed how buff her legs were. I had spoken to her about training, and she told me she was a triathlete. IMO she seemed pretty cocky. But, she had reason to be. We had both recently finished the LA Marathon, and she BQ'd and finished 25 minutes ahead of me. I didn't think she would want to train with me anyway.
A few months later I started a 16 mile run from my house, and she also started a long run from her town home. A few hours later we literally ran into each other, and we ended up finishing our run together that day. We soon became fast friends and training partners.
She made me believe in myself, and she made running long distances fun. Her strengths were my weaknesses, and my weaknesses were here strengths. I was better at the shorter distances, and she would "wake up" at mile 16 of a 20 mile run. We would talk about everything under the sun. We also never did any formal speed work. We would run a 10 miler on Monday, another 10 on Thursday, & then something long on the weekend. Our 10 milers would begin with us talking and joking, and then about halfway through we would turn on our music and get to "work" at tempo pace.
It wasn't always good times, there were a few disagreements, arguments, & yelling matches. But, we never held a grudge.
For the past year, I have been trying to replace my training partner with a Garmin, and it doesn't hold a candle to my Debi...
I hope you come to visit this year!!
Aw, well that's rotten that your training partner moved. And she sounds like the perfect match - how rare to find that! I haven't had a training partner; mostly because I have a tight schedule and frankly do not run anywhere near the number of miles that most of my running associates do - and because I'm unwilling to drive somewhere to run. What I need is a comparable runner with the same work schedule who lives right near me! But you certainly had a great thing going. I hope you find someone not to REPLACE Debi but who will also be a perfect partner! Or maybe Debi will move back - who knows?
ReplyDeleteI think I'm also waxing poetic about a time, when I had the opportunity to get out more, and log more miles. I guess I could run before my kids wake up. But, I'm not hardcore or rigid enough to wake up at 430 in the morning to run.
ReplyDeleteThe love/hate relationship with the Garmin is terrible. I've only been running with it for about two years now. The first year was perfect, and now I'm ready to cool things off with the gadget.