In high school I spent a year running long races for the Cross Country team and shorter races for the Track team. There is a world of difference between a short race and a long race. Short races are called sprinting. Sprinting is pushing your body as hard and as fast as you possibly can. If you have time to think how much it will hurt later, then you aren’t pushing hard enough. You use up every last ounce of energy as fast as you can until you run out. This is called “hitting the wall.” It is when all the biological consequences of pushing so hard catch up to you. If you train right, you won’t hit the wall until after the race is over, but sometimes it happens before then. When you hit the wall, it is all you can do to keep moving. Long races are all about endurance rather than speed. You try to find a pace that you can maintain througout the run. Endurance racers don’t go fast, but they keep going. As the body learns and adapts the pace can pick up. That’s called hitting your stride.
On Monday morning the starter gun for this school year went off and I began running. I was moving fast, getting things done. Every moment with my kids I was analyzing how they were adapting to the new schedule and making plans for how to further smooth the transition. Oh and I was blogging just about every small incident that occurred. It was all going really well. Then last night I hit the wall. Howard came home grumpy and I was completely unable to do anything to help him work through it. I wanted to, but there was nothing there, nothing left to give. It was only then that I realized I’ve spent these last three days at a sprinter’s pace. Perhaps it was necessary for the beginning of school, but now I need to slow way down. I need to settle in and find a stride that will carry me through until school gets out next spring.