This is how I felt at the beginning of 2010:
So full of hope and promise, ready to take off into the bright blue yonder! Wheeee!
By the end of December, this was me:
Out of air, out of gas, out of...ugh.
I ran two marathons, two half marathons, my cumulative mileage was 1,031 and yet I feel like I didn't accomplish anything. I didn't improve my performance at any distance, I gained weight, and my cavalier attitude toward training came back and bit me hard during Thunder Road in December. I limped and coughed my way into the holidays dispirited, demotivated, and bacterially infected. After three years of improvement and lofty goals realized, I suppose I was overdue for an "off" year. No one improves indefinitely.
As far as running goes, I did only one thing in 2010 that truly mattered:
I ran Boston. I RAN BOSTON. I. RAN. BOSTON!
Even if I never set another PR or run another marathon, I will always be a Boston Marathon finisher.
2010 is over. 2011 is here. Clean slate, fresh start. Now what?
I will be in Cleveland in May to see my dad and the Redhead run the marathon. The Redhead is aiming for a BQ, and y'all know how I feel about Cleveland and BQs because that's where I achieved my dream of BQing in 2009. This year, however, I will run the half marathon again. I registered on Friday, and now I have a goal. As much as I have been enjoying the past four weeks of directionless living, I need something to work toward. I'm hitting the reset button on running and starting over. I'm going back to a low-key training plan, my spreadsheet tacked to the wall in the closet, up and running when I'm supposed to. No more slacking off.
The best non-running-related highlight of the year was my vacation with my mom to Cape Cod in July. Seven days of reading, drinking, running, and sunning. If only life could be like this all the time.
One of those moments where I wouldn't have changed a single thing. Perfection. (Except maybe to have some fried clams at hand.)
Enough moaning about what's over and done with. It's time to look ahead. Twenty-eleven, here I come!
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7 comments:
Totally jealous of your vacation, especially in these awful frigid temps.
Sigh......
Good luck with your training! Your July trip sounds perfect!
Re; Your demand I quit making fun of Cletus:
NO DEAL!
You stupid word verification called me "unhaut". Joke's on you because that should be spelled "unhaWt"!
Other than that? It's pretty accurate.
Is that like hitting the 'Easy' button at Staples????
I'm on the same page with my feelings about 2010. But, like you, I ran my first Boston and it was such a great experience that I feel like I have to call the year a success. Don't get discouraged, just regroup and set new goals for 2011. It's a new year.
You did run Boston which, in the distant future, will be the only thing you remember about this year I bet. Best wishes for a terrific 2011!
Qualifying for Boston is a HUGE deal. I will never be able to do that.
Kevin
http://halftriing.blogspot.com/
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