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Monday, July 14, 2014

When the road beckons.

Just me and the Portneuf Gap. :)
Something funny happened when I was with my family swimming at a water park last week.  A lady came up to me and said, "This might seem like a really weird question, but are you the Redheaded Road Runner?"

Haha!  It kind of took me off guard.  Not that it's uncommon to see people we know at the pool, since it's only 30 minutes from where we live, but she and I had no real common friends to speak of, so this reminded me that people I don't know actually DO read my blog!  And I have been a total slacker lately when it comes to blogging...and running!

My back has been in a state of agitation for a couple of months now and nothing I do seems to alleviate it.  I have become a serious wimp about it and have not done much running because of it.  But I decided that it was time for me to push myself again and just get out there on the road.  I am, after all, signed up for a marathon that is just about 6 weeks away!

So this morning after getting one of my boys off to scout camp, I headed out to run a loop that took me 12 miles in the heat, sun and wind.  My time was slow, but I enjoyed being out there again.  I stopped to take pictures - like the above selfie and this cute one of a pair of fawns (there are two there, one is hidden behind the shrub)!


I have been allowing myself to get wrapped up in the idea that if I can't run fast, then why bother.  Which is weird for me, since I've never been very fast anyway.  Over time, I have gained more and more "runner friends".  So many of them tell me, "I'm not competitive at all, I just run for fun.  I don't even care how fast I am."  Until we run together, or they run in groups.  Then suddenly if they can't keep a sub-9 minute mile pace, then life's not worth living. ;)
So today I'm just going to convince myself to be content with my 11+ minute per mile pace and revel in the fact that I made it 12 miles...and I'm still able to walk. :)
Maybe someday I will find a running companion that is on par with me and my comfortable pace, but if not, I will just continue my journey on the road as I always have.