Motivating Monday: Are you fierce?

My very first post I told you why I run.
It’s a growing list, or at least, I hope it will continue to grow. I’m sure there will be another round of burnout at some point in my life, or a new phase that limits my time for running, but I figure if I keep that list handy, then I’ll always be able to remind myself why I do it.
Or why I should do it.

So here’s to Monday and continuing to increase my miles:

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Yesterday was long run day. With four weeks left until the race, I went for 7 miles. I’m slowly increasing (one mile more per week) but I think the next couple of weeks I’ll vary that addition. My longest run is supposed to be 10, which is usually the standard for half marathon training, but I really want to try for at least 11 maybe even 12. That’s often where I hit the wall.

Yesterday was also a good run day. I call it my “running with the big girls’ day.” I don’t know if it was adequate sleep, fuel, or just plain ‘ole willpower (most likely a combination of all three) but I finished my run in 1 hour 1 minute.
And all of my miles were under 9 minutes.

Ok. Normally I’m not a braggart. And I’m not trying to make myself seem like this awesome, super fast runner.
But I’ve learned that if you take pride in your workouts—if you take pride and are in awe of what your body can do—then you’re more likely to go back out and do it again.
I’m amazed at what my body can do lately, especially after coming off a couple years of injury. And even with one that still nags me a bit.

I still don’t consider myself “fast” because I’m not positive I could keep up this pace for the entire 13.1 miles, but I’m sure going to keep trying.
Because if my body did this once, it can do it again.
And if it did it twice, then I’m sure as heck going to stick with it and continue pushing myself.

Running makes me feel fierce because I’m learning to pace myself much faster than I ever thought possible. It’s taken awhile time-wise and it’s also taken a lot of mind rearranging, but I’ve always kept running, hoping that someday I’d see my time slowly start to dwindle.

I think that time is now.


Passing the Baton:  How has your body amazed you in a workout recently? Does feeling fierce keep you pushing for more?