Back When...

I subscribe to the Runner's World "Daily Kick in the Butt" which delivers a quote to my inbox every morning. This morning's quote was one I felt I had to share:

Somewhere behind the athlete you've become and the hours of practice and the coaches who have pushed you is a little girl who fell in love with the game and never looked back...play for her. -Mia Hamm

As I enter this training cycle completely focused on one end goal, that sub-3:10 marathon, it's easy to get so caught up in the training - hitting those goal paces, obsessing over splits and miles run, lamenting bad runs, being Garmin dependent- that you can forget where you came from. Why you started running in the first place.

I think back to circa 2004 - I had just moved to Texas after finishing up grad school in Louisville. I was out of shape and heavier than I wanted to be. I had done some running recreationally in college during my undergraduate years, and decided to slowly get back to it. When I returned to running, I did it without any expectation or pressure upon myself. I wore cotton running clothes; I ran without a Garmin (I didn't even own one); I wasn't fitted for proper running shoes; I didn't do any speed work; I avoided hills like the plague; I signed up for races just happy to finish. I ran because of the great feeling I would have when I finished a run. I was basically the complete opposite runner than I am today.

Circa 2004: My first race after getting back into running. No watch. Cotton clothing. Ill fitting shoes. This was a half-marathon: it took me over 2 hours to finish it.

So, when I get caught up in a bad run or bad attitude during this training cycle - it's bound to happen - I'll think back to the girl I was back then and remember the reasons I started running in the first place: for the simple joy of running. Because in the end, it's really not the numbers on the clock that matter, it's the simple and pure joy that the sport brings me.