May Runfessions- I Want it Now!
Normally I would say “I can’t believe May is almost over!” but my son is home, my daughter has officially graduated from middle school, and my husband is starting his summer vacation… so yes, I can definitely tell it’s the end of May! And that means it’s time to join Marcia in the “Runfessional.” Overall my May has been going well. I’ve gotten back into strength training, I’m doing speed work, and I had a great trail run last weekend. My runfession is that I want to do it all, all at once. When I’m out on the trail I want to start doing long trail runs again; when I’m doing speed work I want to add speed to every run; and when I’m at the gym I want to lift weights every day. And I’m impatient to see results- I want to be stronger and faster NOW. In short, I’ve become the Veruka Salt of the running world. Remember Veruka from Willa Wonka? “I want the works I want the whole works Presents and prizes and sweets and surprises Of all shapes and sizes And now Don’t care how I want it now Don’t care how I want it NOOOOOOoooooowwww….” We all know what happened to Veruka- she fell down the egg-dicator, never to be seen again. I’m not sure what the running equivalent of that is and I don’t want to find out. I don’t know why I have so much trouble with this, but I have to remember to “keep the main thing the main thing.” And right now, that’s strength, with one day of speed work thrown in per week. On a seemingly unrelated note, we attended my daughter’s graduation this week. Around here, middle school graduation is not a grand affair. It’s held in the high school gym, which means sitting on bleachers. It’s crowded and noisy, and the sound system doesn’t work very well. And yet… I found myself tearing up when the graduates walked in. One thing I learned from Covid is that nothing is guaranteed. I certainly believe there will be more graduations (college for my son, high school and college for my daughter) but just in case this was my only time to see my daughter in a “Pomp and Circumstance” processional, I soaked in every second of it. How many times have I had to remind myself that nothing is guaranteed in running? You can train for months and still not get your PR, or might not even get to run the race at all. The important thing is to enjoy every run. Instead of being impatient because I’m not as strong or as fast as I want to be right now, I have to just appreciate where I am and enjoy the process. “I want a party with room fulls of laughter… ten thousand tons of ice cream…” Sing it, Veruka! Did you watch Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory growing up?- We watched it once each year when it was on TV. Do you have trouble keeping the main thing the main thing? Or is it easy for you to focus on a plan?