Speed Limit(ed)

It’s been just over three weeks since I hobbled across the finish line in NYC and the smile still hasn’t left my face. That said, the desire to run has completely left my body.

For the past 20-something days I have been taking the concept of post-race recovery to the extreme — I’ve been eating lots, drinking lots and, well, sitting around lots. Just yesterday, after investigating a major stink in my closest, I uncovered my sneakers and race day outfit still in their post-marathon bag buried under a pile of Snickers wrappers and pizza boxes.

The situation is dire.

So, as always, it’s time to figure out what comes next. What I can tell you for sure is that it won’t be a marathon.  Yes, one day, I’d like to sub-4 hours and at some point I’d like to qualify for Boston, but not right now. My body and my mind are screaming for a break from the intense long distance training. And, as my little brother so kindly put it:

“Becky, you can obviously finish these things now, you clearly need to work on your speed.”

And that’s what I’m going to do. Because let’s be honest if I really want to go from Couch Potato to Kenyan six minute 21 second kilometers just aren’t going to cut it.

Now, I’m not going to cut out the longer distances entirely. I’ve registered for Burlington’s Chilli half marathon in March and am toying with the idea of Hamilton’s Around the Bay 30Km. But I’m only going to run them because Stevil’s  group runs them and I want to be a part of the gang (talk about peer pressure! Next week I’m snorting E-load). I’m also thinking about an early summer triathlon —my first ever— just because. But these races won’t be my focus.

Here’s my real plan: I’m going to lose weight.  I’m going to run faster. I’m going to run the Toronto Yonge Street 10k in 45 minutes.

There it is. The gauntlet is officially down. So far, the fastest 10k I’ve ever run is 49:13, so it’s not going to be easy. I’m counting on the downhill course to give me a boost and weight training, speed work and massive amounts of vegetables to do the rest.

Will it work? Maybe. Maybe not. But I can tell you one thing — come April  22 you’ll find Keanu Reeves frantically trying to diffuse the rocket on my back. That’s for certain.

In the meantime, I’m taking December off from writing. So Happy Holidays to all of you and I’ll be back, Sneakers blazing, come January.

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