The final steps are the hardest.
Day 47.
Today there was a rainbow over the wall.
Why is it, when you have a goal — no matter what it is — you feel fatigue right before you reach it? Whether you’re dieting, running, shooting baskets, painting, working, writing, driving or whatever, it’s right before the destination that you feel the wall.
I ran three and a half miles today. That was the goal. When I hit about 2.75 miles, I thought, “hey, let’s go around the lake, an extra half mile.” That would have pushed me to four miles, the distance I’m supposed to run according to my training schedule.
Instead, I saw a rainbow. A big, beautiful double rainbow, actually. It was complete, from horizon to horizon. I saw it and thought, “give me a sign, should I run around the lake or go home?”
It started raining. And I was glad.
As I got closer, I realized I wasn’t feeling like an extra half mile anyway. In fact, I was trying to figure out how I was going to make it another half-mile home. I checked the watch, I had slippeed back on my speed, and was behind pace. So I kicked it into gear. Made it home in 35 minutes, 35 seconds.
That’s, again, right at my 10 minutes 10 seconds a mile pace.
But the other day I ran five miles at the same pace. I didn’t hit the wall under the rainbow at 3 miles. I hit it at four and a half miles.
So …
I guess Aug. 30, I will hit the wall at 12.6 miles. You all better be there to make sure I don’t quit. I’ll still have five minutes to go.
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on Tuesday, July 15th, 2008 at 7:33 am and is filed under Training |
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