I am only days away from my second Dam to Dam race. This is a 20k run that leads 8,000 runners from the Saylorville Dam to Downtown Des Moines. Over the past ten years, running has become a passion for me. This is a good goal for me as I push myself to run farther distances. It's also really great to share this experience with some really great friends!
The weather around Iowa has been wet, cold, and depressing. This has made it quite difficult to stay on my training schedule. I really don't mind running on the treadmill, but to spend longer than an hour on the same belt, staring at the wall can be pretty brutal. I have spent time finding and creating various workouts to beat the inevitable treadmill boredom.
The other day, I made my way to the gym in hopes of tackling a quick 3 to 4 mile run. Water - check. Playlist - check. Interval workout - check. I settled into my stride as a running buddy started to do the same on the treadmill beside mine. After 45 minutes, I knocked my MPH down to a brisk walk. My "buddy" commented, "Hey, we still have a half hour left." I was a little caught off guard because it was totally unplanned. While I did know the person, we hadn't planned on our synced strides. It was actually kind of cool to listen to the pidder-padder of our running shoes as they played out the song of our run. She completed her run, and I was still feeling really great, so I ended up running 10 miles. Can you believe that?! All I needed was a little push to motivate me in my long run.
I have always loved the solitude of running. I love placing my focus on my run, but the other day I really saw the importance of a running buddy. In all things, it is important to have a support system. Once again, I was reminded that we can't do everything on our own.
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