Have you ever had the perfect run?
Tonight I did.
The funny thing is it didn’t start out that way. All day long I procrastinated going running while I did other things. Hung out at the bike shop and BS’d with the crew there while I procrastinated. But I needed to run, it’s been three weeks since Ironman Arizona and it is only 56 days, 7 hours, 24 minutes, 24… 23… 22 seconds until Ironman Coeur d’Alene. It’s time to train, so I finally leave the bike shop (an hour after they close) and head to Tempe Town Lake for my 45 minute run.
Five minutes into the run I am ready to quit, my headache that has been nagging me all day is getting worse and I feel like I am moving in slow motion. I plod on; I need to get this run in. If I quit now, it’ll be easier to quit on June 26th. I plod on, one stride at a time. Then, time must have accelerated, because it was suddenly 20 minutes into the run and I had covered over two miles. I was running easily, heart rate was low and I felt great… but I was running about 45 seconds faster per mile than I should be. 45 seconds faster per mile than I averaged for my runs before Ironman Arizona.
My legs feel strong as I climb Lake Shore Drive, I can’t remember the last time I felt this good running… Maybe it was at the Burlington Triathlon back in 1993, or maybe it was Bay State Triathlon that same year. Either way it was awhile ago, I am no where near as fast today as I was in ’93 but I feel great, I feel tall, I feel like a runner again!
The last few miles pass easily under my feet, each mile faster than the prior. My last mile was the fastest single mile I have run this year, possible the fastest single mile I have run since I began running again 18 months ago. I am ecstatic!
I can’t wait to run again. Even now, hours later, I think about the run. It was a run that makes me want to run more. It was a run that makes me want to get more people to run so they can feel this way. Because of this and many more things it was the perfect run… until the next one!