Contemplation

We did 10-11 miles yesterday and another 6-7 today. The First-Half Marathon Training Plan I've been tentatively following has us doing our longest, hardest week this week before we start tailing off training for a race, the one I've chosen being the Georgetown to Idaho Springs Half Marathon. Even though I know the altitude of this Colorado run will add some intensity (8500 feet down to 7500 feet by the end), I picked this race anyway for its timing (it fit perfectly with the end of the training plan and the timing of my semester break), its relative closeness (it is within eight or so hours of where I live), and its scenic potential (mountains and hiking!).

In the lead-up to a half marathon, the 3-day plan we've been following only demands three days a week of running with three additional days of cross-training, but since my nephew was in town visiting two weeks ago, I substituted running for the cross-training because it was easier to fit in. Plus, I'm finding that I look forward to our daily runs the same way I used to look forward to long walks: I can run easily enough now that my mind isn't exclusively or overly focused just on keeping my feet moving or obsessing over the small pains that come and go during longer runs.

Instead, my mind wanders more freely, picking through my life and daydreams with the same quiet contemplation of an easy hike, only when I'm running, I am more able to get into what I imagine is a zen-like zone where even these mental distractions dissipate, and I can just be. I seldom bring my iTunes Shuffle when I run anymore, preferring to listen to whatever is around me, and some times, when the clouds and the sun are just so in the sky, I get this endorphine-enhanced euphoric feeling that stays with me even after we've stopped. These are the side effects of training for longer distances that I would have never believed I would experience as I struggled through running on a tread mill the first few months of the year to get back into running 5ks--and these are some of the reasons I continue on.