Another week in the bag

I ran more this last week than I ever have before. I did a couple of 6 milers during the week as well as about 5 miles worth of intervals (Yasso 800's of course). Then to top it off I did an 18 miler on Saturday morning. It was "fun", I got to chase some cattle for about a mile which made me feel like I was racing a bunch of cows, and I saw another coyote. The magical beans helped again of course. I also saw a huge group of high school cross country runners which got me thinking about how far I've come.

When I was in high school I hated running. We had to run some for B-ball but it was usually some form of punishment, plus I think in high school I was just lazy. In the pre-season we would do like 3 milers and I thought I was going to die. Fast forward to college and I just plain didn't run until I woke up closing in on 250 lbs. I figured I should do something before I got really big so I started running. After some gnarly shin splints and other setbacks, I finally got some decent shoes and a good running program. I did my first 5k and have been hooked ever since.

The thoughts that were running through my mind as I saw those high schoolers were first, "man they are in good shape" and second, if you would have told me in high school that I would be running 18 miles and training for a marathon I would not have believed you. As recent as two years ago running 5 miles was a huge deal even thinkning about 10 or beyond was just craziness. Then I realized that a huge part of what makes me run is the whole idea of accomplishing things that previously seemed impossible. I know I'll never compete in the olympics and probably won't ever even win a local 5k, but I'll get the same feeling of accomplishment when I cross the finish line of the marathon, or meet my new time goals for a 10k, etc.