All day I eagerly looked forward to completing my 1000th mile. By 4:00pm I had decided that I would definitely hit that milestone today and what better way to reach it than through a workout where I ran one hard mile for time.
At 4:00pm it was sunny, humid, and really really hot - about 85 degrees. It was definitely less than ideal weather-wise for running a hard mile, but with thunderstorms forecasted for the evening I definitely wanted to get my run in outside.
I drove to the track and walked a warm-up lap. It was almost unbearably hot and it made me think twice about pushing myself so hard in the heat. I then ran a lap hard to warm-up. I had figured if it felt good I'd just keep going and complete the mile right then. But the lap felt awful. I ran it in 1:32 and that was a pace that was too fast to sustain. I grabbed some water, stretched some, and decided that the warm-up lap was good for telling me how fast not to run.
After recovering a bit I then decided that I needed to go through with it. Very akin to my overall journey - It may not always be the thing that I want to do but it is the thing I must do. I know I would be happy afterwards and so during the run I reminded myself that 7 minutes of pure torture would be over very soon and so I kept going one foot in front on the next. I did the first lap in 1:40, finished the second one in about 3:30. I told myself that I definitely couldn't slow down because I wanted to complete the mile in less than 7:00.
The pace was brutal. The heat was brutal. So much of my body told me to stop running so hard. But fortunately I had listened to NPR's Radio Lab over the weekend and it was about "Limits" and people pushing their bodies to them. I decided today I wasn't going to wimp out. I was going to keep going hard.
And when the mile was all said and done I stopped my watch. I ran it in 6:55! I was happy! And not just because I had met my goal, but largely because I knew I could run faster. On a cooler night with no sun zapping all my energy I am sure I would be able to run a mile even faster. (I mean no disrespect to the sun. I love sunshine. Just in the moment of pushing myself hard I wasn't quite so happy with it.) So the workout was good for what it was but also good for the hope it gave me for what I can be. Faster. Better. Stronger. Harder. (...as the saying/song goes...)
After sucking up some wind and down some water I hopped back into Lane 3 and jogged a lap and then another - on the second lap I attempted to run a bit harder for the straight aways but the increased speed may have been imperceptible to anyone watching. After that I jogged for 2/3 of a final lap and then walked the final 100m. I absorbed the beautiful sunshine and warmth and felt so grateful to be where I was and doing what I was doing.
I have come a long way on this journey. It is amazing to me that I have been able to cover 1,000 miles running and walking in less than 2 years. I am proud of myself for starting this journey. And I am proud of myself for sticking with my goals. I look back upon these first 1,000 miles and am amazed by how far I've come - not just distance-wise but personally and physically. And I look forward to discovering what the next 500 miles have in store.
Total Workout: 2.25 miles in ~30 minutes (including stretching and H20 breaks).
(PS. Earlier in the day I did some yardwork which involved digging holes and planting plants. Then at some point I did a number of crunches and about 30 push ups (in sets of 10). Then after my run I rewarded myself with a nut-covered, fudge-filled, vanilla ice cream cone that I had been looking forward to all day.)
New Miles: 2.25
Total Miles: 1000.0!
Miles Remaining: 500.0
Weight: 127.0
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