Flat Out Harder

My favorite running routes have hills. I like the challenge of powering up a big hill, and the instantly easier effort when I reach the other side. I also like the variety hills bring–both the variety in effort and the variety in scenery. My least favorite mile of the bike path is the one that’s dead flat the whole length. Maybe because I can see how far I have to go, or maybe just because its boring.

Now that I’ve finished the Army Ten Miler and don’t have any new events on my running calendar, I feel like I am in a long, flat segment of my training. I’ve looked around for some November or December events, but I haven’t found anything that fits my work and family schedule. I feel like I am in limbo with a long, boring stretch ahead.

Training for an event demands my best from me. I need to choose my workouts carefully (some easy, some hard, some speed, some hills, plenty of cross-training) and commit to fitting them in and getting them done. With no event on the calendar, I’m afraid it will be easier to slack off and get used to hitting the snooze button again–especially this time of year, when mornings are dark and cold.

I think one reason that I am so eager to find another event is because I missed three out of the last four weeks of my Army Ten Miler training due to injuries. I couldn’t do those hill workouts or speed intervals because I couldn’t run at all. Of course, I could start doing them now, but it takes quite a bit more motivation (and craziness?) to workout that hard with no “moment of truth” marked on the calendar.

I will figure out how to make the most of this uneventful time. Running “just for fun” can be fun, especially when I’ve learned to appreciate just being healthy enough to run. Not having to train also means not having to run if it is too cold or too wet, or if I feel like doing something else–like the eDiets Best Body Boot Camp session I signed up for. Before I know it, I will have traversed this stretch of my running life and will be running up the next hill on the horizon.