Posts Tagged: Peaks of Otter
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After nearly 10 years of running, I’m finally figuring out what really gets me turned around when things aren’t going so well.
It isn’t motivational quotes; it isn’t conversations with friends; it isn’t looking at what friends are doing to try and drum up some friendly competition. The things I see every day does not work for me.
What turns this ship around is actually getting out and forcing myself into a situation that is not exactly comfortable. It’s all about doing something I know can be done, but will take quite a bit an effort to get there.
For me, it’s always a trip to the mountains that makes me feel human again. Specifically, it’s the climb up Sharp Top Mountain in Bedford that humbles me, and motivates me.
Today I headed up there with my friend Josh. As we started up, I knew how very real things were for me with hitting a low with running recently. I wish I hadn’t waited so long to tackle this mountain.
On the trek up, there were times I really just wanted to stop. Let me catch my breath for 5 minutes.
Instead we kept going, really only stopping once for about a minute, and made it to the top.
I can’t really explain what the feeling is like when you get to the top of a mountain. No matter where I’ve been or how bad or good things are, there’s always this renewed sense of hope that I get when I’ve reach the summit.
Now it’s up to me to capitalize on this feeling …
The previous 31 days …
September 2012 may go down as the month in which I finally jumped the mental hurdle and got back to enjoying running. Overcoming that — if in fact I’m fully over it — has turned my running around.
Last month’s biggest highlight certainly came Saturday in the Virginia 10 Miler, but there are other things that made it so awesome.
- The second half of the month was all about re-discovering some great things about Virginia, including my spontaneous trip to the beach, getting to see a gorgeous sunrise over the ocean …
- … then yesterday getting to run with the mountains as my backdrop …
- The weather also got a lot nicer, earlier than I expected. That doesn’t mean there haven’t been some hot days, and I know October can have a lot of ups and downs, but the oppressive heat is thankfully gone.
- I bought a headlamp, making those early morning runs and the occasional evening run much safer and less stressful.
- Lastly, I crossed the most miles ever in a month with 140.2, which means I crossed 900 miles for the calendar year. Not having mileage goals makes these numbers almost seem surreal. I’m pretty sure that I won’t ever have an overall mileage goal again — it’s made running so much more enjoyable.
Enough reflecting. Bring on October.
Streaking through the holidays
My dog, Duke, joined me for a few miles at the Peaks of Otter today.
In the past two years, one of my top moments was running at least a mile every day for a month. I learned a lot about myself in April 2010 with how to push through tired legs if I needed to, how to still get effective rest even without taking a full rest day, and how to just enjoy running.
Day 2: Peace and quiet around the lake.
I’ve thought a lot about doing a streak since then. At one point earlier this year I made it a goal to streak in June, but I pulled out of those thoughts in the last minute as I continued to build mileage after my injury.
As the end of the year approaches and I stay focused on the “end it stronger than I begin it” goal, my eyes lit up at the inaugural Runner’s World Holiday Run Streak — simply run at least a mile every day between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day to take part.
Even though I have cut back on my mileage this month, I am becoming more and more passionate about running — I know how the highs and lows can come and go, and right now I am eager to carry this high into 2012. To me, the Holiday Run Streak is a perfect opportunity to discover new things with running and to push myself at a time of the year that I’ve never really pushed myself.
My plan is as easy as the streak sounds — on my normal non-running days, I’ll stick to the 1-mile approach for a rest day. If I have to get up early to run a mile I’ll do it; if I have to wait until 10 p.m., I’ll do that too. If it rains or snows or ices, I’ll run. On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, I’ll run. If I drink too much, I’ll still run the next day.
Yesterday’s 5k and a run at the base of the Peaks of Otter this morning were a great way to kick this off. I’m excited about what this streak will hold as I head for two more 5ks in the next couple of weeks, as well as crossing 1,000 running miles soon. It’s an absolutely perfect way to end 2011.
Longest since …
14 miles in 2:15 around Bedford. Longest training run since fall 2007. I realized this week that the last time I trained for the Richmond Marathon that I didn’t document my experiences very well. Now that I have a decent phone I can take with me and not have it get in the way, I’m going to start taking it with me on more of my runs. Down the road if I’m debating whether to train for a certain race or not, I want to remember scenes like this:
Or, better yet, this. You can never have a bad run when the Peaks of Otter are within view:
Meanwhile, my run around Bedford looked like this. The hill mapping on Daily Mile isn’t quite accurate, but it was still a crazy hilly run. I hit the biggest hill around mile 9, but pushed through it pretty well.
Mile 100
I needed 2.9 … I did 4.1. What a great month of running … 30 straight days of it. I’ll post more on that later this weekend, but I wanted to celebrate my 100th mile for a little bit — and celebrate this streak — and share the great view of where mile 100 this month came.
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