Intention: To stop being a stop and walk sissy when I go out, and to honor my friend Cathy Hunter Adolph and her crew, who are AMAZING.
Results: Intention achieved mother-truckers
You betcha. There is a great deal of psychological business to explore when it comes to this particular jog. First, I'll admit it: I am not quite a "runner"....yet. After today, I would honestly say, give me time and I will whole heartedly call myself a runner very soon. I snarkily call what I do "trotting and panting." When I was doing a running boot camp to prepare for the Chase Corporate Challenge, I gave in easily. I pushed myself sometimes, but it was hard as h-e-double hockey sticks. Regardless, I didn't let all the little voices that judge me stop me. My inner critic had a lot of things to say. My inner critic told me that the Director of Pilates and GYRO. should be able to run a few laps without wanting to stop or barf. Two of my instructors were in running camp with me, and they were in-fricking-credible. They would take off, moving with grace lie exquisite gazelles and clearing a lap iless than an minute and a half, and I kept sucking up my pokey 13 minute miles, knowing that even if I was slow, if I quit, I would never be as fast as them, and I like seeing them go so fast and having something to catch up to. It just reinforces something that one of my professors told me in undergrad. If I am surrounded by people who excel, I will do work that chases after them and exceeds them. When I am around people that are at my same level, I do just enough, but don't test my limits. So, I've found that I grow the best when I step into the realm with people who are exceed the limits that I live at comfortably. I think the same is true for most people, but somewhere in my adult life, I learned the habit of seeking out people who excel. I get bored and restless if I'm the best person in the room.
How does Cathy play into this? I only knew Cathy for about a month before she decided to follow her bliss to Idaho, but in the brief time I knew her, she proved to be a powerhouse of positivity. Last weekend, she, her husband and 4 other friends ran in the Ragnar Relay. An adventure in total insanity: 24 hours, from Madison to Chicago, 6 runners on an ultra team take turns running around 200 miles. Each person eventually runs the distance of a marathon or more over the course of the day and night. A mighty feat that seemed unfathomable when I first heard of it, there is a tiny bit of me that wants to try it some day. Cathy's last leg of the run was 13.1 miles from Evanston to Montrose Harbor. Having just recently done my first 5k and having to stop and walk 3 times, I sat in awe when I imagined running even the last leg of Cathy's race. I blamed the heat in my race, but that's a poor excuse. It was blazing hot when Cathy and her crew were doing their race. In imagining what it might be like to do something like that, I decided that the next time I went out, I would do the distance I normally do on my own, about 2 miles, without stopping, which I have never done. And I did. Truthfully, it didn't seem like such a big deal once I was done. It just goes to show that the mind is a powerful tool. Since I was doing it as a tribute, it didn't really seem that hard at all. Because I was inspired, I was able to exceed my expectations. My distance is miniature compared to her acheivements, but what I did today was better than I've done since I was 22 years old.
So thanks the Cathy, for pushing herself so hard, so that I can use her as a reason to push myself. Look out, girl. I'll be clipping at your heels in no time.
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