Runtime thinking

January 10, 2023

It was not my first run in a very long time, but it felt like it. First slightly longer run of the year. And the first in a long time - yes, actually - to hit ten kilometers.

My mental bar for a long run is still around whichever comes first of 15 kilometers or an hour and a half, and I think I could have hit that today had I felt like it. But that kind of long run was even further back in time, so I chose to not push limits any more than necessary.

I do aim to get back there though, because running is most definitely an example of where quantity has a quality all of its own. One long run is vastly different to two exactly half as long. The extra time to get into and stay in a flow state is the most important one, but I also think the physical and mental feeling afterward is different. A sort of longer and deeper calm. A longer feeling of physical wear is of course also a part, hopefully on the level of being the feeling of a longer job well done.