« O is a Netflix Junkie | Main | Where Has the Day Gone? »
February 5, 2008
A Run Down Memory Lane
I have absolutely no idea what possessed me to do it, but on the way out the door this morning to work I grabbed my running log from my senior year in high school. No idea. Okay - maybe one idea. Reading Pedergraham's blog entry the other day about her younger years as a swimmer may have got me to thinking about my younger years as a runner. She was commenting about how hard it was to see herself swimming slower now than when she was a 13 year old (although not quite a fair comparison given her focus as a triathlete now!!!) and I think it got me to wondering - am I a lot slower now as a runner than I used to be?
So during lunch today I started leafing through that old log. Hard to believe it's 10++ years old now! And what a trip down memory lane! I hand wrote my log then (all on the computer now) although I have to say I was just as meticulous about recording all the "data" back then as I am now. No HR back then. But I had the distances and the times of each course we ran. My splits from each workout. The weather. Who I ran with. The place I got in each race. How I felt. And then...the comments. Some of them were hilarious! One said "I told coach that my calves were sore and he made me ride the bike today - that's the last time I tell him anything!" Humph! (back in the day being imprisoned in the trainer's room riding the bike was like punishment when I could be out running - and now look at me! :)
I even sometimes wrote what I talked about with my running partners for the day. Once, the whole run was about how my teammate Rachel broke up with her boyfriend Vertus - how tragic! And now? They are happily married and new parents to a beautiful baby girl. Too funny! And then, some recorded conversations with my beloved coach who passed away in 2006. Flipping through I realized that I ran just about every run with him my senior year. That's a lot of miles together. And my heart ached thinking about it.
I couldn't wait to get home and go through my running logs from college. And they did not disappoint! The ones from my freshman year were the funniest. "I ran with Donna today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" - a reference to my teammate (who I obviously looked up to a great deal) who was an All American on the track in the 10K. (and yes, there really were about 10,000 exclamation marks)
And again, I relived so many memories. Like the time I got lost on the morning loop (we had about a 4 mile loop around campus that we did as our morning run each day before afternoon practice) and ran more like 6 miles...only to learn at practice that afternoon that we were doing hard mile repeats on the cross country course. I shed a little tear all over again just thinking about it.
Or what about Coach Sullivan's famed "Michigan workouts" - the ones that we cringed at as she announced - where you ran hard miles on the track but in between instead of resting, you ran tempo loops out on the roads? Or the hard 1200s on the indoor track. Or the 400 repeats on the Blue Band field where the last one was always "all-out".
Needless to say, a ton of memories all came flooding back. And you know what? Although I know there was a lot of frustration and tears. A lot of injuries and disappointments. All I can really remember now is all the fun we had. All the times I felt good and strong and ran well. All the teammates who now are my closest and dearest friends. And that's the way it should be right?
In the end, I'm not too sure if I drew any good conclusions about whether I was a better run then or now. Of course I ran A LOT more back then. And I could run an all out 400 WAY faster than then I could now.
But what I was reminded of more than anything was that this is a process that is to be ENJOYED. Sure it's easy to get caught up in the day to day this and that and all the NUMBERS. But some day I want to look back on all my triathlon logs and just have happy memories of that time I rode my trainer for 4 hours inside while watching Grey's Anatomy or the swim where I tried to do flip turns and I got so much water up my nose it started to bleed or the the long runs were we got chased by a gang of wild dogs.... It was a good reminder indeed - what this thing we call "sport" really is all about.
Posted by beth at February 5, 2008 8:00 PM
Comments
Hi Beth.
This was an excellent entry. Thank you!
Posted by: Audrey at February 6, 2008 7:33 AM
What a great stroll down memory lane! Awesome that you kept your training logs. I've got a few from back when I rowed - but not from high school running/track and field. If I did, I would have written about my exploits as a shot putter... Heave Ho!
Posted by: marit c-l at February 6, 2008 9:30 AM
What a great stroll down memory lane! Awesome that you kept your training logs. I've got a few from back when I rowed - but not from high school running/track and field. If I did, I would have written about my exploits as a shot putter... Heave Ho!
Posted by: marit c-l at February 6, 2008 9:30 AM
LOVE the memory lane... it got me thinking too of all sorts of journals and logs and calendars I kept. Priceless. Isn't it funny you wrote about a break up a friend had, silly how that then was "so important" and now things like that are minor... kinda reminded me that even simple things are big deals to someone... refreshing post!
Posted by: Bree at February 6, 2008 6:08 PM
That is so great that you have all those journals. It's so nice to sit down every once in a while and be reminded of "who we were" back then.
Now, too, I realize that most people who were competitive runners in school weren't all out there doing the 10,000 meters, but probably much closer to the 400, like you. My husband started with the 100 and 200, then moved up to the 200 and 400, and then finished up with the 800. He said it was time to graduate before he had to start running the mile!!!
I hope that O is feeling better soon. Is Roxy a good cuddler to keep him company?
-Danielle
Posted by: Danielle at February 6, 2008 8:52 PM
Hi, I'm way behind on entries, but I loved this one. It's always nice to remember people that you shared (or still share) something special with. They really enrich our lives.
Posted by: Alisha at February 11, 2008 6:38 AM