Brian’s fitness journal after a brain stroke
Today’s 10-kilometer run was… let’s just say it wasn’t destined to become a personal record. It was a slow 10k run.
The morning actually started quite well. There wasn’t much rain, the temperature felt reasonable, and I headed out thinking it might be a comfortable run. Then the sun woke up. By the time I finished my first five kilometers, it seemed determined to remind everyone that it was still July in Tennessee. The temperature climbed, the humidity rose with it, and before long the entire route felt like a giant steam room.
With every kilometer, I could feel the heat draining my energy. My pace gradually slowed as if someone had quietly turned down the power on my legs. After several cooler mornings following the Independence Day heat wave, my body had become accustomed to more pleasant conditions. Returning to hot, humid weather felt like an unpleasant surprise. Running through that humidity was like jogging inside a sauna without the relaxing music. So, I briefly considered cutting the run short.
Yesterday’s run, however, had already been interrupted by a thunderstorm. I didn’t want to make a habit of stopping whenever conditions became difficult. There are certainly times when stopping is the right decision; lightning is one of them, but today’s challenge was simply uncomfortable, not unsafe.
So I kept going. I tried pushing harder. The weather responded by pushing back. In the end, I never found the extra speed I was hoping for.
What I did find was the finish line. Sometimes that is enough. One lesson running keeps teaching me is that improvement is rarely linear. Some days everything seems effortless. Other days every stride feels heavier than the last.
If I judged my progress by today’s run alone, I might conclude I wasn’t improving at all. Fortunately, one run tells only a tiny part of the story.
See The Improvement in a Long Period
When I compare where I am today with where I was a year ago, the difference is unmistakable. My endurance has improved. My consistency has improved. Even my recovery has improved.
The daily fluctuations matter far less than the long-term trend. That thought makes difficult days much easier to accept. Tomorrow is my scheduled rest day before beginning another week of training. The stopwatch will have another opportunity to challenge me.
And I’ll have another opportunity to prove that showing up consistently matters more than having one perfect run.
Hopefully…
the weather cooperates next time.