Is It Enjoyable?

As training enters its second week, I thought today about how enjoyable it is to run.  The distances are easily attainable for me at this point because I ran some 12- and 13-mile runs before beginning my training plan, and those long, hard mile repeats are still weeks away.  But before very long I will have to ask tough questions as I begin to demand more from myself:  Do I still have it in me?  Do I have those three D's - Desire, Dedication, Discipline? - that will carry me to the starting line?  Can I walk that fine line between getting stronger and avoiding injury?

Most of us remember what Tom Hanks said in the 1992 movie, "A League of Their Own" when Dottie complained to him that the training got hard.  "It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard... is what makes it great."

That's a pretty pretentious thought for such a nice, relaxed, easy 6-mile run today, which I completed most of with Vicki and Tanya.  We were talking about the joy of running, especially in the cool of the morning in Highlands when the temperature is in the 60s; friends make the journey easy, and there is no place better than Highlands to run.  It won't always be this easy - soon it will be hard (especially somewhere after the 20-mile mark on November 10) on that little journey to greatness - but I hope I will always remember that it is enjoyable.