The question that kept running through my mind this morning as I struggled on the 6km trail run was “Why? Why am I doing this?”
Why indeed?
I had completed a 32km run the day before, as part of my marathon program. It had been hot, humid and quite frankly, hard. 32km is a long way – go drive it in your car! My back didn’t throw a hissy fit in the afternoon or overnight but was feeling a tad fragile this morning.
So why go out and run 6km when common sense really would’ve seen me have a rest day? Well, maybe because it was the first vets run for the year and the location was not far from home. The fact that it was in an area that a lot of my past training runs have been done was also an incentive. And also to catch up with people I hadn’t seen for a while, at least since Christmas.
It was another humid morning. I drove past lots of debris on roads around home, as a result of a severe thunderstorm that hit last night; Belconnen and Gunghalin being the worst affected areas. We were fortunate – none of our trees had come done and there were no branches strewn across our yard but I couldn’t say the same for the rest of the street or the surrounding streets in our neighbourhood. It looked like a war zone. However I couldn’t see any houses that had been damaged.
The run itself was 3km out and back, for a total of 6km, along trails which in itself was a problem for me. The ground was very uneven in parts and there were several times when I landed awkwardly; this was not helping my back. There were twinges at about the 3.5km mark but they did go away – I did briefly, however, have visions of a slow walk back to the start. But overall the run was a slow plod and everyone who started in the groups behind me soon passed me. There was a time when I was coming last. In fact, I thought that today would be the first time I would actually finish last but no, I did pass some people not too far from the finish.
Not one of my greatest runs but I was out there giving it a shot. 
“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Last sentence sums up why you were there, other than to see some of us who have been absent from your life for a while. Well done, take care with the back.
Run by run, no matter how short or long, will get me where I want to go. Consistency is the key. Besides it was good to catch up – it’s always a pleasure to see you!
Sent from my iPad
Good to see you there. Ah, that’s right, I wasn’t there. Aren’t Sundays your rest days?
Yes, your absence was duly noted. Rest days? I had one on Friday.
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You did it and that what counts!
Thank you! You’re right – even if it wasn’t the best run, I did do it.