Keeping Pace...

On a recent run along the canal, I noticed a fellow runner in the distance and decided that I should catch that runner.  So I picked up my pace a bit and started my pursuit towards this unknown runner.

"A lot of people run a race to see who is fastest. I run to see who has the most guts, who can punish himself into exhausting pace, and then at the end, punish himself even more." ~Steve Prefontaine

After about half of a mile, and seemingly only gaining slightly on the the runner ahead, I decided the best approach would be to just keep a nice steady pace and slowly catch the runner over the next few miles.  Since this stranger didn’t even know I was chasing him, he certainly wasn’t going to be impressed by me passing him and then collapsing at his feet in my personal victory.  

"Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

With only a few hundred more yards to go, before I was to exit the path, I finally unceremoniously passed that runner.  

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.... or not

My real goal was to get to my destination, not to pass this person.  As I approached my exit, still feeling proud of myself, I suddenly realized that the bridge I was going to cross was not there.  The bridge was removed and the area was surrounded by construction equipment.  This jog just got interesting!

"To get through the hardest journey we need take only one step at a time, but we must keep on stepping." ~Chinese Proverb

Recently everything in my life has been interesting.  At home I’m still adjusting my routine to having baby #2.  Baby girl is growing and changing almost daily while the boy keeps developing into his own person.  At only three years old he already thinks he knows it all.  The potty training is still moving along slowly but regardless... he thinks he knows it all.  (Only two weeks til preschool starts!)  At work, no different...my situation keeps changing.  As soon as I think I’ve set up one thing, I find out something else is in the works.  Throw in the fact that Tough Mudder is fast approaching and every aspect of my life is... interesting.      

"Success is not a place at which one arrives but rather the spirit with which one undertakes and continues the journey." ~Alex Noble

So I kept going down the path as the lack of a bridge ran through my mind.  I knew of a bridge a few more miles down the path but there had to be a closer bridge, right?  After pondering this for a few minutes I stopped running to determine if crossing the canal was an option.  Moments later, that mystery runner passed me, but I had other issues now.  

"A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike. And all plans, safeguards, policing, and coercion are fruitless. We find that after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us." ~John Steinbeck

So my five-miler turned into nine and half, and the last few were down a stretch of road I don’t plan to revisit. But, I reached my goal.  During those last few miles I was really happy that I didn’t burn myself out chasing that mystery runner.  I just kept a nice pace and was able to finish despite how the circumstances changed.

"Too often we are so preoccupied with the destination, we forget the journey" ~Unknown

Now I just have to remember to pace myself with everything else in my life...