It's not always what you want, but what you need...

Training for a marathon can be excruciating. When I say this, I’m not limiting that pain simply to muscle fatigue, joint pains, or soreness. Part of that equation is attributed to by Mother Nature. It’s important to acclimate your body to running outside. The shock absorption on a treadmill does not simulate the impact your body needs to build a tolerance to in order to complete a marathon. -Which ultimately rules out training within the comforts of a gym.

My mother has told me time and time again, “The people who love you will not always say what want you want to hear, they will tell you what need to hear.”

With that said, I’m beginning to feel like that applies to Mother Nature as well. Throughout the last two weeks, the temperature has hovered around a high of 90 with a heat index of 100 degrees.

Trust me, I don’t wake up in the morning thankful that I’m about to run a grueling (and very sweaty) number of miles. However, when I return home to see the phenomenal sunrise Mother Nature has made, the clarity hits. The heat may not be what I want, but it’s probably what I need to endure to prepare for the unpredictable elements on race day.

James Tabor describes the sensation well in his short story, The Runner.

“Out of the silver heat mirage he ran. The sky burned, and under him the paving was a black mirror reflecting sun~fire. Sweat sprayed his skin with each foot strike so that he ran in a hot mist of his own creation. With each slap on the softened asphalt, his soles absorbed heat that rose through his arches and ankles and the stems of his shins. It was a carnival of pain, but he loved each stride because running distilled him to his essence and the heat hastened this distillation.”

I know I run like a girl. Try to keep up!