Making the effort …to go for the PV Personal Victory!

Big Horn Sheep sighting on the South Lykken Trail …took my breath away.

Welcome 2020… I am so excited for this new beginning and I hope you are too. I don’t know why starting a new decade feels different but for me it does. It seems that my focus is more clear, or maybe I have just too much to accomplish and know that if I am to succeed I need to be that focused.

So I took another break for the holidays.. I figured all are so busy with family and celebrations. But I am back and boy do I have a lot to catch you up on. I give you fair warning…. much talk about the marathon.

My training for the Marathon went well these past weeks. I did hill workouts, weights, core and long runs. I had some great runs and some that I absolutely struggled with. I was suppose to get a 22 mile in last weekend but only managed a 19 mile and barely made that. Just did not feel good after and took awhile to recover. I seem to be having trouble getting my body temp corrected after a run, end up with shakes and cannot get warm. The following days I would need to taper but when a hiking buddy called to get a trail hike/run in I jumped at the chance to get a bit of confidence back….which it did!

I drove to Scottsdale Arizona on Thursday and was able to relax until the Buckeye Marathon on Saturday. Weather was good, start of the race in the mid 40’s with it finishing for me in the mid 60’s. I have trained to fuel/hydrate and took precautions with my pre-race meal (cooked my own meal). Ya know.. try to control the risk factors.

The race was tough but at mile 23 I knew I had it.. I stuck to my plan and took it easy, I wanted to finish strong. And when I crossed that finish line I was so happy with my PERSONAL VICTORY. My finish time wasn’t extraordinary, and the distance or terrain wan’t the toughest but for me this was a victory. I am very grateful that I have the opportunity to set this goal and I accomplished it. Perfect segway to… this awesome article in Runners World.

This article by Jess Movold really resonated with me .. the concept of letting numbers at the end of a race determine whether I am to be happy or disappointed with myself??? Now reaching a PR, PB or breaking a course/world record is what we are told is the only factor to rate a professional athletic career. But for us mere mortals we still use these factors to rate our performance. Running brings me joy and I need to honor that and if that means to change my mindset then I am ready to give it a try. Please take time to read the whole article if you are interested in this concept.