Without realizing it (can I blame the pandemic?), I have turned into a very molasses kind of runner. I feel like I run as fast as the molasses pours out of a jar when I’m measuring it for something. Honestly, I didn’t catch it and I don’t know why or how it happened. My only thought is that I don’t take days off as I’ve had no travel for a year. Usually, travel is my break– not just from running, but from my routine as well. However, I kept running because it also helped keep my spirit afloat during this time.
The weather has turned warmer in New Mexico and, finally, I’m feeling the need to run faster, too. There is a correlation– it’s much harder to run in the winter than the warmer months. However, I don’t think I can blame the winter for my running woes either.
I’ve been trying to figure out how to motivate myself to go faster, to get out of that comfort zone that I’ve gotten so used to. I started to think about the Eleanor Roosevelt quote that I posted on social media last week, about doing the one thing you don’t believe you can do.
Apparently, I don’t think I can go faster. It’s uncomfortable. And it’s work. But if I’m running for a total of six miles (three of those are with the dogs on their respective runs), how can I keep up the mental aspect?
Baby steps.
I don’t mean take small steps as I run, but to take small steps toward running faster. Like anything else in life we shouldn’t try to do too much at once because it will most likely lead to failure. It’s been to work at running hard for a block, then allowing myself to slow down for a block (or two), before picking it up for another block.
It’s a long, slow road, just like a lot of movement forward is now (including somehow resuming the old routines in our lives even as we have changed in some ways over the past years). But I also know that the long, slow will eventually pay off. The key is to chip away at it bit by bit.
And each morning to tell myself that I can do that one thing I don’t believe I can do. And that’s to run at least faster again.