It was windy, raw and rainy.
This was the first run for running tights and my Boston Marathon jacket, hats and gloves.
It wasn't a day that invited you to be outside and run 8.5 miles on the road to the Bermuda Half Marathon in just a few months but Team McManus has a training plan and we stick to it no matter what. There was a report of a possible hurricane coming up the coast and if the weather was too bad, we would have either waited until tomorrow or gone to WaveHealth to get in our miles with an elliptical, bike and/or treadmill. While it wasn't pleasant, the weather was not going to deter us from getting in our miles.
Last year I won a t shirt at the Cape Cod Marathon weekend.
I told Tom I felt a little silly wearing it because after all, I wouldn't ever be running another half marathon and in fact only held it up in front of me:
After my ice bath and hot shower after my 8.5 mile run I am wearing it!
So why? Why am I doing this? I'm 62 years old and could easily have settled for running 5 and 10k's. Why go the distance?
One of my runner friend's posted this on Facebook the other day:
I thought about Prefontaine's quotes:
I don't ever want to be afraid of my body or of challenging my body again. I have runner affirmations now and have affirmations about recovery from long runs and cross training.
My gift lies not in running fast but it is in being able to set a goal and with fierce determination being totally undeterred, meeting that goal.
I love feeling sore, tired, cold, empty, hungry, full and totally satisfied with myself after achieving each rung on the ladder of success to my first half marathon since 2009. And I love experiencing how resilient my body is as I put it through the paces of training for a half.
Today was a hard run with the weather conditions and I debated whether or not I wanted to get into an ice bath. I harnessed the power of my mind during the run and then to muster the courage to take an ice bath despite feeling chilled after the run. I knew I needed it for recovery to flush the lactic acid out of my muscles and to also bring healing with Epsom Salts.
Every long run, every strength training session gathers and garners momentum in my healing journey. I am saying YES to my body. Yes you can do this. Yes you are healthy, strong, vibrant and whole and my body responds with building new connections and getting stronger healing all that went before.
So if I really stop to think about what I'm doing - it is crazy. But it's also epic and exhilarating and exciting and reminds me that I am fully alive, fearless, setting goals not limits. And after all I'm not running a full marathon - only 13.1 because I'm only half crazy.
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