Room to grow

I've had a rough time running lately. I'd like to blame it on the heat. And in part, I will. I feel like I've been enjoying running this summer, but as part of that, not really training particularly hard. As a result, I've kind of hit a plateau. I half joked before the Thursday night Charles River race this past week that I was expecting my pace for the 4 mile race would be about the same as my 12 mile run last Saturday. I guess that's the trade-off; I have not dreaded speed work or mid-week tempo runs (because I haven't been doing them) but as a result, I haven't gotten much faster this summer either.

For the record, I did run the race last Thursday faster than the previous 2 of the series by about 7 seconds per mile. But it has got me reconsidering my summer non-training plans...

Recent running performance aside, I squeaked in an 8-mile run on Saturday, but otherwise took a small break from running this weekend. I exchanged my regular weekend miles for holes on the golf course. While home in NY, I went golfing with my dad for a belated birthday present. I admitted to taking lessons before the big event, but I failed to tell him I had never actually hit a real golf ball. Fortunately, my dad is the most positive man in the world and was extremely patient as I suffered through the first 2 holes.

It's been a long time since I have learned something new. Learning is fun, but putting it into practice can be frustrating! I don't assume at all I should be good immediately, but that doesn't stop me from wanting to be. Golf is a sport, and I can't help but want to win.

But it got better. So much so that I agreed to play again today. We played a slightly longer 9 hole course. I shot one stroke better than yesterday and overall played much more consistently. Progress.

I'm leaving NY tomorrow well-rested and a bit rejuvenated. Home does that. I'm ready to go back to Boston and play some more golf as well as start thinking about some upcoming races and how I want to prepare for them. My new endeavor and my old favorite...there's still plenty of room to grow in both of these sports.