Ok, I’ve made you wait this long. Time to reveal the secret to running…..
Now that we are stronger, and leaner, and faster. Now that we are true Gazelles it’s time to reveal the REAL S.e.c.r.e.t. to Running! The S.e.c.r.e.t. to running a marathon is : Learning to Go Slow!
Slow? What the?? THAT’s the Secret?
Yea. That’s it! Now that I’ve learned that I can run fast….it’s time to learn how to Run Slow. That’s the Key.
Listen. Every run this past week — I’ve come to realize that every run…e.v.e.r.y. single one is a Fight! A fight with myself, not to quit. Not to give up. 1 mile, 4 miles, 6 miles, 18 miles, 26.2 miles…..it’s ALL the same. Oh, I know, how I’m feeling…how tired I am when it happens…..that differs by mileage. But trust me, it ALWAYS comes. That desire to stop. That “I just want a break” moment. And I have to push past it. It comes…..then it goes…..then a few miles later, it comes back….and I have to fight it off again, and again….and again. This is the cycle of a runner. Speed? Dont matter. Pace? Don’t matter. Experience? Don’t matter. It happens to e.v.e.r.y.b.o.d.y. Baby gazelle or full-grown gazelle. Even the chariots of fire girl. It’s something we all have to fight through. and it’s time to learn it.
Why is it time?
Well. It’s like this. When we’re out there — fighting each of those 26.2 miles — we’re out there alone, with 24,999 of our closest friends! LOL But we’re operating without a safety net. So when the exhaustion comes. When the voice starts to whisper…”we need a break“…..the only thing that is going to save us, the only thing that is going to S.T.O.P. us from quitting…..is Going Slow.
Going Slow will give us time. Time to Breathe. To catch our breath and normalize it. To recover enough to fight off the whisper voices. LOL, OK, reality check — there isn’t going to be enough time in the world to make us feel “better“. “Better” is going to be a relative term on Marathon Day. But Going Slow….will give me time…..to ignore it….to get my thoughts straight…..to remember……that I DON’T want to stop…..that I WANT to keep going….in SPITE of how I feel….because I WANT to finish more, —-WAY WAY WAY MORE —than I want to stop.
So Learning to Go Slow…is the lesson I have to learn between now and Jan 13, 2013. I have to practice it. It will become the CORE of my runs, long and short, from here on in. When I feel the exhaustion coming….I’m gonna Slow Down. When I feel the pains raising their voices, I’m gonna Slow Down. When I feel my breathing becoming labored….I’m gonna Slow Down. When I feel like s.t.o.p.p.i.n.g……I’m gonna Slow Down. Because I’m Not Stopping. I’m Never Stopping. I Don’t Have to Stop. I need to rememeber that when I’m feeling less than good….that it’s OK. Because that’s how e.v.e.r.y.b.o.d.y. is feeling right now Diane. It’s NOT about YOU. It’s e.v.e.r.y.b.o.d.y. Fast, slow, young, old, skinny, or not…..the Marathon is going to take us ALL to THAT place. THAT place where it squeezes all but the last ounce of who you are out of yourself. And even then, in spite of it, you find just a bit more, just enough…..and hurl yourself over the finish line.
Empty, and yet So Full of Life!
So Learn to Go Slow, Girl. The Finish Line Awaits You. It Ain’t Going Nowhere! It’s Patient. So You Be Also!
Ciao for now…..Diane