After a Saturday of sloth and a Sunday filled with cold/rain/wind, I laced up the running shoes today and not only ran, but I imagined myself a Boston Marathoner and decided to take my friend Mary's advice to heart: gotta lengthen my stride and not rest on my laurels if I want to build up some speed. So, after a short warm up run, I lengthened that stride, expecting to last maybe 10 minutes doing so. Not so! I made it all the way through my normal run, minus about 1/2 mile. I even did 10-second sprints every 6-7 minutes (or every two songs on my iPod, however long that ended up being). I felt like Speedy Gonzalez. Of course, my legs are feeling it still, but it was really cool, and I found that by consciously focusing on lengthening my stride, I managed to run a 12-12:15 minute mile. Not bad! Once you start at that pace, it's not so difficult to keep it throughout, provided you weren't starting out at, say, 100% effort level.
My sprints were interesting: I knew they were good for my speed - and good for reducing my belly - but you know, I'd never really done them consistently before, and I felt almost uncoordinated as I did them. Like pushing myself that hard made my body wig out and decide to be all forgetful of how to move one foot in front of the other. I had the distinct feeling I was recreating a moment from my favorite show - where Phoebe and Rachel go running and Phoebe decides it's "more fun" to run like a freak on speed instead of Rachel's controlled, conformed sort of jog:
I also thought of my awesome cousin Jen, who inspired me to start running in the first place and who, earlier today, ran the Boston Marathon in what was considered the worst weather conditions in the marathon's history: a nor'easter. Jen, being one of the best storytellers I have ever met, will only use today's crappy weather as fuel for another great tale that will have everyone rolling with laughter - she's great at that. I read that you have to have a qualifying marathon finishing time of 3 hours, 40 minutes (in our age category) to run the Boston Marathon - that's roughly an 8:20-minute mile. Makes my "flying" today seem pretty turtle-paced, but I know every runner starts out somewhere, and especially as I drop these last 30-35 pounds, my flying will fly even faster.
I also thought of my other awesome cousin, Sarah (younger sister of Jen), who is finishing up her freshman year at VA Tech. After the news broke today, I called and found out she was not one of the unfortunate who were injured or killed, but I know she's got to be scared and hurting nonetheless. Listening to the news reports made my blood run cold, so I can only imagine how she's feeling right now. Hang in there, dear cousin. Hang on tight.
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