Memories of the seasons
I can taste winter but it’s not here yet. This is the awkward season for cross-country skiers. There isn’t enough snow to ski and there is too much snow to rollerski. Running would be nice but overuse injuries from the summer have started to creep up. What is needed is a change of seasons.
The summer and fall months of training blew by. Maybe extremely hard work makes your brain go numb. It could be like childbirth. It’s easier to forget the painful parts and focus on the prize at the end. That way you won’t question yourself when you show up for more. But, there are memorable workouts that I will keep within my cerebral reach. At these moments, I thought the pain was too great to overcome, that it would be impossible to continue and the time to push over the top of the hill would be tomorrow. , But somehow I managed to do so. These silent proud moments were sometimes witnessed by my coaches but often only by the summer trees and forest critters.
I will revisit these memories this winter, in times that require inspiration. There are moments in every race, where you make the choice to push harder or to ease off. I will remember what I told myself on the treadmill, on the running trails and on the rollerskis: “You can do this.” And I did do it.
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