Winter Running Update

  I spent a good part of the weekend in Tacoma for a basketball tournament with my son's school.  We are not a sports family that devotes our weekends to travel teams and sports tournament.  It is not "us." With our children in a small private school where sports are encouraged and open to everyone, we get a small taste of multi-day tournaments in a different city.  It has been a positive experience for all our children to learn the rules of a sport and teamwork skills even if they do not play after middle school.

Many of us parents mingled on the bleachers between games and sat together at the all team spaghetti feed.  A few asked me, "Have you been running?" or "How is your racing going?" Which really makes me happy that many "nun-runners" still take a interest. I shared with many the short answer.  Here's the longer version:

My running and racing plans always morph and change sometimes last minute.  Which is why I always seem to sign up for races late and miss the early bird deadlines.  Originally when I began this running journey of ten races in 2020, I had planned on doing a full marathon in the spring.  I ran a half in December and beat my original time.  My training was already halfway there.  However God is teaching me that there are many events we cannot plan for and we have to navigate through them.  Changing plans is OK and sometimes necessary.

I have gotten three major colds since mid December.  Due to my work and family demands I almost always exercise in the early morning hours like around 5 AM.  When I am sick, I need sleep to recover.  So I forgo the early morning workouts or do not exercise at all.  This means I have had one or two good weeks on and then one week of nothing.  I fell like I not have not  had any consistency since early December.

I also dealt with an increased amount of stress after Christmas Break that was off an on until a few weeks ago.  Running actually helps with stress.  I feel like it helps "re-organize" my brain.  My emotions dissipate and I can think clearly after a good workout.  Sometimes the excess amount of stress makes everything feel overwhelming even the things I enjoy.  Finding workout clothes, lacing up my shoes and going for a short run feels like a chore equivalent to cleaning the whole house.

The good news is if you have been exercising regularly, you are not starting from scratch when you pick it back up again.  It is probably better for me to do a fall or early winter marathon because I tend to have more time for longer runs in the summer.  Fall is one of my favorite times to run anyway.  So I am trying to be more open and less anxiety-ridden about plans being derailed.  If that is something I am gaining from this journey, than that is another win.

We had a pretty great weekend and enjoyed stunning views of Mount Rainier on the drive up.  Not so much on the ride home because it is rainy.