Thursday, December 6, 2007

And she’s off…

I just came back from finishing the Las Vegas Half Marathon. This has been a culmination of 14 weeks of running, lifting weights and fueling my body like a machine.

The event was wonderful and I was able to share it with friends and family that traveled to come and watch me. I never would have thought that I could have completed such a feat. I suppose not that I thought I couldn’t just something I never thought of doing and as I was running at about the 12 mile I wondered if I could complete it. I knew I would but wasn’t sure if my legs would carry me through. Having this wonderful, fit and strong body is stimulating and knowing that I had trained for this made some of the discomfort bearable.

However, the strange thing was that on return I found myself sad or almost in a state of depression. I would have thought that the euphoria would continue for days or even weeks. It was if I had nothing else to look forward to. This goal has been my focus for so long that now I felt I had nothing.

So today I pulled out a 08 calendar and starting jotting down the rest of the years schedule. I have things planned through June of 08 and figure that by May I’ll have some more goals in mind for the balance of the year.

I ran across this quote from George Bernard Shaw and I think it sums up how I feel.

“I dread success. To have succeeded is to have finished one's business on earth, like the male spider, who is killed by the female the moment he has succeeded in his courtship. I like a state of continual becoming with a goal in front and not behind”


I don’t know that “dread” is quite the adjective that I’m looking forward but I think the fact that we should always be looking forward and not behind is accurate. Don’t be content in your current state continue to move forward.

I’ve also uploaded a couple more pictures from the LV race.

1 comment:

GingersFit said...

I'm so proud that you made it through the challenge! I agree -- I have to have something to "look forward" to or I lose motivation. I'm signed up for a half-marathon in NYC in April. I'll be walking most or all of the way because I have a bum ankle that makes it almost impossible to run. But, the fun will be in participating, training and in knowing I've completed it.

Great job!