A couple weeks ago I got some very exciting news. I had just finished a very sweaty, very hard 12 mile run, hopped into my car, aimed the AC directly at my tomato-red face with salted jawline (a bruschetta of sorts?) and started to chug my ice water (thank God Yeti cups can stand up to Texas heat!) while scrolling through my phone with a sweaty thumb, when I saw it. The email I had been waiting for: 2017 Boston Marathon Confirmation of Entry Acceptance
Well hot damn and hallelujah! I woo-hoo’d out loud in my empty car. Yessssssss!!!!! I smiled the whole way home. When I got back, I texted a screenshot of the email to my kids at school. They sent kind words and excited emojis back. It made the news even sweeter. There is something special about having your kids be proud of you.
Then last week, the icing on the cake: Paige called me screaming because she got the same email. We are ON! Get ready Bean Town!
And now get ready Kristin and Paige! I’m not sure if it’s more fun to run Boston, or to dream about running Boston: having a goal, training, qualifying, and training some more. I love having something out there to look forward to, something to give shape and direction to our efforts, and guaranteed miles with my best friend and wingman.
Published: Oct 06, 2016 11:26 AM EDT Runner’s World Show. Check out the podcast below:
And then, more good news: the first breath of cool air in Austin since March. Texas weather is the wildest thing. We have months and months of heat and humidity, then suddenly one morning you walk outside and there’s cool air not created by air conditioning. It’s like a dream come true. I will literally whoop or laugh out loud because it’s so shocking. Then I have to go back inside to get a shirt from a drawer I haven’t opened in months.
That first run in the cool air is even more astonishing. You can move and breathe. It feels like heavy shackles have come off, and a corset has gotten unhooked. Maybe all that heat and humidity offers a certain type of difficult-environment conditioning—like the way people train at altitude. When you get back to sea level, you feel like a rock star, ready for anything.
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Here, you sweat your ass off all summer long without feeling any fitter or any faster. It’s almost like there’s no improvement at all, just endless slogging, lightheadedness, and dehydration. Then comes the sweet reward of a much-awaited change of season.
This is the price we pay in Texas in order to have relatively mild winters. People in cold climates may not be melting all summer, but they deal with months of snow and ice and frigid temperatures.
The price we paid all summer is just beginning to show some return on investment and I could not be happier.
Beginner Running Plans.
We’ll return to our training group with Gilbert—twice-weekly workouts and weekend long runs. We’ll sign up for a half marathon in late winter or early spring to gauge our pace and progress. We’ll book some flights and look for lodging. Most of all we will remember how grateful we are, and how lucky we are to still be able to run like this at our new semi-advanced ages of 45 and 50.
Many of our runner friends have been forced to give up running due to injury or accumulated wear and tear. We pass by them on the trail, happily walking with their lattes and they give us a bewildered wave. “Y’all are still at it, huh?”
Yeah, we’re still at it.
Paige IS Sally O’Malley. I’m 50…kick, stretch and KICK!
Kristin Armstrong is a mother, a writer, and a runner. She has written six books, including her latest, Beginner Running Plans.
