Put Me In Coach, I’m Ready

I’m so fired up right now.

We streamed the Boston Marathon on one of our TVs at work on Monday, and I cried big, fat happy tears. For him. For Boston. For the U.S. For runners everywhere, and for the celebration of the human spirit. My Instagram feed was filled with those running Boston, those spectating, those who had run it, those who wanted to run it one day.

And I want to run it one day, too. Most realistically, I think I’m probably going to start trying when I turn 35 and get a few more minutes of cushioning.

My lackluster running the past few months has definitely meant I’ve lost some running fitness. I ran on Easter, and I ran on Thursday, and my lungs were EN FUEGO. I think the pollen was partially to blame, but so is my lack of running fitness. I have not done any speedwork in the year 2014.

My soul needed a break. A few months ago, the idea of heading back out for more out-and-back runs on the West Side Highway sounded terrible. There was no way in hell I was going to wear a watch.

I ran part of my friend Karen’s first half with her. My coworkers are training for their first half, the Brooklyn Half, and I’m helping them train for it. It’s so fulfilling to watch them fill with happiness as they keep hitting distance records.

But yesterday, after a long chat with Michelle about her goals, I realized I’m ready. I’m not indifferent about running any more, like I was the past few months. I want it. I want to feel the glory of training hard and achieving my goals.

I’m super excited to start working with a tri coach for Princeton 70.3 and get on a training plan soon. 

I’m ready.

This morning, I ran the Run to Remember 5K with my coworkers. 

I think it was more of a run than a race, because there were no D-tags or any kind of timing other than the clock. We all ran as a group, which was a ton of fun. The race is to raise awareness about the 9/11 Memorial and encourage volunteerism, and it ran down the West Side Highway, up around Battery Park and ended right by Ground Zero. We ran right on the normal West Side path, and it wasn’t (as far as I could tell) closed to the public. I would be PISSED if I had gone to run and there was some big race on my normal running route. (So, good thing I was running the race.)

Towards the end, two of my coworkers started racing each other…and I kicked it in to race past them both. Done. 

I had a lot of fun, but I’m ready to turn things back up a notch.

Congrats to Emily on an epic PR, and to Michele for killing another awesome marathon.