From my 10-mile run on Saturday. Did you know Framingham was so picturesque?

(Sunday Paper, Year VI, Issue 46)

This was a busy week.

That’s always a good thing.

If the Sunday Paper is too good it means I didn’t have enough work during the week.

(Haha. Just kidding. Kind of.)

But in an unusual turn of events I didn’t give this Sunday Paper any thought until Saturday morning.

I went for a run, and as usually happens, I start forming some sort of writing in my brain.

And I realized that I never really wrote about what I’m thinking about tackling next.

Maybe it’s because we’re almost at the end of the year and that’s when I think about goals…maybe it’s because I finally feel totally recovered from the marathon…

But I’ve been starting to think about my next big thing.

A couple of things:

First of all, it’s not like I always need a big thing. But I’ve found that over the past year and a half I’ve really benefitted from having something to work towards. I definitely lost my mind a little bit at the beginning of the pandemic….and it’s easy for me to get a little lost and angry and sad at…well, everything going on…so having a ‘big thing’ to give me a little distraction from the world is pretty good for my brain.

Secondly, I mentioned that I finally feel totally recovered from the marathon. I didn’t really know if I’d know when I’d feel totally recovered from the marathon. I ran a 5K the Saturday after the marathon (which was on the Monday of that week). That was a mistake. I ran it hard. I felt like I had a super power - if I just ran 26 miles, what’s 3.1? I’m going to finish that in no time. I ran that pretty well, but I probably set back my recovery. Nothing bad, just lingering soreness. And I hadn’t really feel like my body was ready to run far. But then last week I felt strong again, and I ran 9 miles. And I was hoping to hit 10 this week. I did that on Saturday.

A big part of me feels afraid to lose the ability to run these long distances. I did a lot of work to get to the point where I can run far and long. At the beginning of the marathon training 6 miles felt like I was pushing it. Now 10 is not super-challenging. So I’m working to maintain that.

But I’m also itching to do a race again. Last week my friend Kevin ran a half-marathon, and that was inspiring. (It rained and was cold and windy and miserable, but he battled through it, which was even more inspiring.) He’s done more than a few half marathons - he’s actually the one who helped convince me to try the marathon. (Sometimes peer pressure is good!)

So that’s one of the things I have planned next - Kevin and I are going to find a half-marathon that we can run together.

I also, as I alluded to last week, put my name back in the lottery for Team Framingham in 2022. The Boston Marathon is back to its April date and even though I didn’t think I’d try it again so soon:

1) I thought it would be cool to be able to say I ran the two Boston Marathons that were held within six months of one another.

2) I hesitate to take a spot from someone else after getting so lucky the last time, but I also want to experience the normal Boston Marathon training cycle - I started it the last time and then everything fell apart, but I didn’t hate running in the very cold winter weather.

3) I KNOW I will have a better approach to race day if I have the opportunity to run again.

So I’m going to give it a go. I also learned some more about different charity opportunities if I don’t make it to Team Framingham again, so there’s a good chance I’ll be running the Boston Marathon again in the near future, even if it’s not in April. (And I don’t love the idea of asking for money again so soon after I just did it…but I do have some ideas up my sleeve to make it fun.)

If I were a gambling man I’d say there are more half-marathons in my future than marathons. But after seeing Chicago and New York and thinking how cool it would be to run through those cities…I won’t rule out giving other marathons a go if I’m lucky enough to secure a spot.

I do know this - even if I’m not working towards a race, I’ve come to enjoy my long runs on the weekends.

Notes

*I am hoping I’ll have more to tell you about work and writing and creative stuff soon. Thanks for being interested and supportive and giving a hoot.

*On that note, the social media are as follows: @jsucich on Twitter, if you care to follow me there. The Facebook page is here if you don’t already Like it. And I’m also @jsucich on Instagram (I don’t know how to link to Instagram - it lives on my phone) - which is going to be where I become a running social media influencer. (Haha. Joking. Kind of.)

*Kathy took the girls to Hanover, New Hampshire this weekend and I have been doing some work to rearrange the girls’ bedroom. (One bedroom is shared by two of them.) I’m kind of happy with how it’s coming along. I hope they like it.

*I intended to set up a TV for myself there and watch college football all Saturday while I worked but I haven’t even touched the TV. Maybe I’ll finish up with some NFL games later today.

*I do like Hanover, especially in the fall. (Although Kathy says they got a little snow last night so maybe I prefer earlier fall.) But the way this worked out was pretty good. The girls get some quality time with Kathy, which they can’t seem to get enough of, and I have a nice couple of days with Tate.