Power of Now

I'm a fan of the New Age Religion.

Well, having done about 2 minutes worth of reading up on "New Age", I'm not entirely sure if that label is accurate.  But I do try to adhere to the philosophies within "The Power of Now".

One of my goals is, is to immerse myself in the moment.

So, be it looking at charts on a computer monitor, or playing with my kids... if I'm there, I'm there.

With running, I've been going at it pretty good recently.  I'm setting PB's with each new interval and even JH remarked how much faster I've been.

I'm really at a loss to explain why.

Previously, when I ran hard, I'd try to focus on anything but the actual running.  I would think of other people or things in order to distract myself.  Heck, I even used anger to try motivate me.

Now, I'm not really thinking about anything except for what I'm doing... i.e. being present.  Instead of distractions, I embrace what I'm doing... the running and of course the pain and discomfort that comes with it.

This week as we huddled around John to get our paces for the 1x2mi and 2x1mi, he looked at me and said "6:45 and 6:30".  Are you f'n kidding me?  The fastest I've done a 2mi is just under 14 minutes (i.e. 7 min/mile) and the fastest 1mi I've ever done is a 6:40.

Sometimes it's hard, to just stand there and take what's given to you.   But that's what I did.  But in all honesty, I questioned the sanity of my decision.

At the start, I didn't think... I just ran.

Thirteen minutes and twenty-seven seconds later I was done.  Holy crap!  I knocked 30 seconds off my PB.  The 1 mile repeats also went well, 6:34 and 6:29.

I even "taunted" Amanda as we neared the end of the last interval.  "C'mon let's go" I said to her.  We sprinted to the end.  I felt like throwing up as I crossed the line, but at the same time, boy did I feel great!

"Life is now. There was never a time when your life was not now, nor will there ever be." -- E Tolle