Be Prepared

Some days, you can't run because you know you will hurt yourself.  Others day, you go running knowing that it's going to hurt you.  Today was one of those days.  My calves were still sore from all the training I did a couple nights before, and I knew it wasn't going to be one of those wonderful runs.  At around noon, I went out to do a couple laps in the outdoor trail, so that it would be easy for my joints, and lo and behold, my calves started telling me that it wasn't a good idea because they didn't feel 100%

Needless to say, I still went, ran 6 miles in 53:10 (8:51 min/mile average).  It wasn't too fast, not just because of the calves, but also because of the hills.  I'm not exactly a huge fan of hills... actually, I detest them because it requires more work, and since I'm lazy at heart, I don't want to work hard to climb up the hills.  I'd rather run on a flat area than a hill.  However, if you want to improve your body to perform it's best for any race, you need to practice running in all conditions, from extreme temperatures to terrain.  Running multiple races means there's going to be multiple courses.  For your average race, it's not just downhill coasting; there's going to be twists and turns, ups and downs (as well as flats), hot and cold temperatures... and as a runner, you need to be prepared for all circumstances.  If I only train on a 400m track and build great speed, it'll be good for me if the race was on a track, but if I was running the Knoxville Marathon, the hills would mess up my pace and I wouldn't be able to be as efficient because my body wouldn't be used to the terrain.  If I train indoors for months and run a marathon in the summer under the scorching heat, I wouldn't be able to last long because of the difference in temperature.  In order to be able to race properly, I need to be prepared for whatever conditions the race will have in store for me.

Funny thing how the same could apply to life.  We go through school to be prepared for college, to prepare us for life. We learn from our parents to get to know how the world works, and prepare us for what lays ahead of us.  The more we are prepared for life, the better we can live.  I appreciate how running can correlate to life.  There's just a lot you can learn from it.