Real David H.

View fullsize

Five years ago today, I missed the Blue Ridge Half Marathon after ending the previous year injured and not having enough time to properly training for the race.

But after missing it, I then put together a streak of running the race four years in a row with some great experiences of meeting new people and creating experiences that I’ll never forget. 

For a variety of reasons, last year I had a feeling that I wouldn’t return this year. Last fall I pretty much decided not to do it, but left the window open slightly; then after Shamrock I ruled it out completely after my foot was bothering me. I just kept all those thoughts to myself.

I ignored a lot of the talk about the race on social media today, but I really missed being there. I want to get back to the start line with a goal and a clear mind and I’m already eager to return to Roanoke in 2017. 

There are a lot of similarities to my thoughts in 2011 as they are now. And physically, there are a lot of similarities as well. 

I often look to my past and the lessons I’ve learned to be a better runner and now is a great time to look at those lessons from five years ago to set the tone for the rest of this year. 

After missing that race — which I dubbed “The final disappointment” after my injury — I put together the best year and a half of my running ever. I did so many things right by building my mileage slowly, cross trained a lot and ate really well. 

I’m going to take it easy for another week or so and then attack my training like I did then. I need a plan and I need to focus. And I need to do more than keep all these things to myself and random blog posts.