Puk On!

Last Saturday we went to my brother-in-law Mike's mother's funeral. Marie Haan lived a long, full life, raised 4 kids and was 97 years old. Her children talked about the dutch sayings she often used. One of them was "Puk On!" It means - tough it out and get going, you can do it, persevere, etc. Well this week at marathon clinic I had to tell myself to Puk On! several times.

I brought my head light this time like everyone else but still didnt look as cool. Maybe it was because I wore a cap with a fleece headband over top and then the headlight on top of that. Not cool I know. I even saw a girl in a car laughing at me as I walked in the store. I dont care, I rather have warm ears. I had forgotten my contacts and it was raining so thats why I had to wear a cap but I thought it was too cold for just a cap.

Before we headed out for another 10K tempo run the leader told us to MAKE SURE we did the first few kilometers as a warm-up. This is very important he said. Yeah yeah, I thought it was more important not to be last and proceeded to run way too fast at the beginning.

I pulled it off at first. I was sticking with the group. I was one of them. Then someone passed me, then another and another. Even these two tiny little ladies who I could probably stick in my back pocket and took tiny, baby steps passed me. How could they be faster than me? I was over dressed again and was so warm that I had to take my jacket off and in doing so got it all tangled up in my water bottle belt. Then the wind started. It got so windy I side stepped a couple of times. Thats when I realized I was last. Dead last. I almost felt like giving up. But I thought of Mike's mom and told myself to Puk On! I Pukked On running by myself in the dark up a long hill with the wind howling. I think I probably could have walked faster. I could see Ed ahead of me and it looked like he felt bad for me but the leader (Garth) told him to go ahead and he circled back to run with me.

Garth said I was doing great and he said it like he actually meant it. It helped. He talked alot which helped me get through those last kilometers. We werent that far behind the others but then we got stopped by a red light. Now I was dead dead last. He said he never worried about time but runs because he loves running. Although he did mention that he's done Boston AND now does ultramarathons, 100 kilometers! I dont know if I love running that much! He asked me about my goals and found out he's also turning 50 this year. It turned out to be a great run, even if I was dead last. I still got high fives from some of the front runners when I came in and Garth said I did great.

It doesnt feet great to be last and I've never felt so slow as I do with this group but I think I'll stick with it. These tempo runs are definately pushing me and can only improve my speed. I just have to Puk On!