18 miles in the rain - Action creates inspiration

18 miles in the rain.

Three and a half hours of running and being rained on constantly.

And actually, it was good. I felt strong and I think the extra stimulation of having to watch where I was stepping and trying to avoid pot-holes and trying to keep warm actually made the run go faster.

I got home from the run and felt great. Not overly exhausted or sore.

With Christmas a few days away I am very grateful to myself for the gift of running and for the experience of committing to something and just doing it.

I had a chat with a friend who said that they were jealous of how inspired I was about running for Michelle and if they could just get inspired that would take something on.

Inspiration is great. But what I am learning is that inspiration often comes after action and not the other way around. I was not inspired to run in the rain. Not at all. But I had a commitment and so I did it. The inpiration came at about mile 16 of 18 when i could experience myself running easily and knowing that I was building towards creating something amazing for Michelle and everyone else involved in this project.

The inspiration for me comes when I choose to inspire others and often for me, that means taking action before I feel inspired.

Either way, it is the commitment followed by the action that has me sitting here smiling and knowing that I have run 18 miles and there are still three months to marathon day.

Here is a quote that my friend Alicia puts on the end of her emails. I love it:

"The irony of commitment is that it’s deeply liberating — in work, in play, in love. The act frees you from the tyranny of your internal critic, from the fear that likes to dress itself up and parade around as rational hesitation. To commit is to remove your head as the barrier to your life." - Anne Morriss

16 miles - we did it our way

This Saturday we are scheduled to run 16 miles. I couldn't join the Roadrunners because Michelle and I are doing the Communications: Power to Create Course at Landmark.

Danielle, my trusty running partner agreed to to run with me on Thursday night so that I had someone to run with and it was so great.

We set off at about 3:30 and ran down Rose, along Main St, up Abbot Kinney, down Washngton, along Pacific to Marina Del Ray, back along speedway and the beack up the Santa Monica Pier, then to the end of Palisades park, up Adealiade to 7th and then up San Vincente to 26th, across 26th, down Montana and then right along 4th back home.

Now if you don't live in LA, what that means is that we ran across four suburbs and ran just under 30kms. It was such a great run, we talked the entire way and both felt really good. The last 10 minutes for me was a bit tough but the motivation of being home soon carried me through.

After the run we ordered dinner and I absolutely crashed. I felt like I was slipping in to a coma and I couldn't eat or even talk. soooo tired.

I went to be at about 10pm and it took my hours to fall asleep. I was so pumped and proud of myself for completing the run and my mind was racing. My body on the other hand so was sooo tired. I got so frustrated that I couldn't fall asleep that I started crying out of sheer exhaustion.

It is funny how emotional you get when you are that tired and when you push your body to new limits. Good emotional detox.

Thanks so much to the ever intrepid and committed Danielle for running with me

x x

Recovery Week - 8 miles (puh-lease)

It's funny to think how quickly I have been able to get to the mindset that 8 miles is an easy week.

I remember the first few runs of 3 and 4 miles where I was so stressed and wanted to go to bed early and was really worried that I wouldn't be able to keep up with the group.

This week was a Recovery Week, so we dropped back to 8 miles. I spent the week so relaxed and looking forward to the run. The change in perception and experience in just a few shorts weeks is awesome.

The run was easy and recovery went well.

During the run, I got to thinking abouth the idea of a recovery week, or a moment to take stock and consolidate what you have achieved.

Michelle and I have been so bust over the last few months with courses and her treatment and work and training and socialising and everything that we love to do. We both love being busy and squeesing the most out of our time. And I love it.

I also enjoy those times when I can just chill and relax and 'recover'

I'm going to build some more of that time in to our weeks. i want to plan recovery before we need it. It just makes sense.