I think I’ve finally hit my stride for the season.
The past three weeks have been great for me in the running sector of my life. With weekly distances of 19, 20, and 28 miles, I can clearly see that this year is far better than last year for sure. At this point last year I had only managed a paltry 55 miles. I have far exceeded that mark this year with 110 miles logged so far - and I’m only one week into March!
Why the change? Two things come to mind: 1) no injuries so far. Last year I managed a couple of early season injuries that kept my mileage down. 2) determination to have a better year overall. One of the motivators for me is that I have already registered for two races, both within the next eight weeks. The first race, the Ohio River Road Runners’ Club is holding their 44th annual marathon and half marathon. Unfortunately I will not be participating in the full 26.2, but fortunately I will be attempting to set a new personal record in the half marathon. With only four weeks left before the race I am determined to drop at least 6 minutes from last year’s Flying Pig half and come in under 2 hours. My goal is to finish somewhere between 1:55:00 and 1:57:00. If I can hit that hour fifty five mark that will drop 10 minutes from my previous best - which is quite a large amount of time to drop over 13.1 miles, but I am confident that I can push myself to do at least that.
Another thing that is pushing me is my family. I have a great immediate family of a wife and four wonderful children. My wife is training for her first half marathon (Flying Pig) coming in eight weeks, which I will be running along side her the entire route. My oldest son wants to complete his first 10k the day before that, and I will be running at his side for those 6.2 miles as well. The girls are always cheering me on, and when I came home today from 10.2 miles, the youngest was excited to see me and giving me hugs - an awesome feeling when you’re worn out! And then there is the reason why this blog exists at all, Noah.
He never ceases to amaze me. Autism is a strange thing. Some days are better than others, and this past week has been an eventful one here at the homestead. I’m learning more everyday, but I know I may never fully understand the spectrum. To those of you who know someone with autism, regardless of where they are on the spectrum, I know you understand. Some days are better, much, much better than others, but know that you are not alone in your struggles. My family’s dealing with autism is much like my running; some days go really well, with very few trials. But some days are brutal and trash you from top to bottom. My running, just like my son’s autism, is not a destination, but a continuous journey.
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