Marking the big 2-9

I know — sort of anti-climactic. Next year’s birthday, when I turn 30, will make for a more exciting blog post.

But for now, I’m relishing this very minor milestone, and thinking about how to mark it training-wise.

I’ve heard about people commemorating big birthdays by running first marathons, or by marking every birthday by running a timed mile. I’ve never been one of those people, opting instead for some sort of ego-boosting half-jog in the morning followed by a day of relative debauchery.

I’m not totally switching course this year. But I have decided to spice up my planned swim workout by timing myself for 29 minutes. Because as runners, we know milestones, literal or figurative, actually matter. We divvy up races into manageable chunks that amount to miniature milestones, telling ourselves that we don’t have to complete the whole five-miler, or half-marathon, or marathon. We just have to get through the next mile. Once we get through that mile, we assess our pace, and determine our goal for the next mile.

Life is kind of like that, too. We set milestones we can wrap our brains around, like birthdays. We think about how far we’ve come since the last time we checked in with our goals. Then, we get cranking on achieving those goals, and celebrate what we’ve achieved already with those who love us.

So today, I’ll swim a timed 29 minutes. Not because I think it will make me better or faster, but because it will give me time to think about this next milestone.

If nothing else, 29 minutes of hard swimming will amount to half a workout, bringing me closer to my real birthday treat … a much-needed massage I’m treating myself to at Still Point in Takoma Park this afternoon. My hip has been hurting something fierce, and I’m really not in the mood to take a training break right now, so I’m hoping this gets me over the crunchy-hip hump.

Stay tuned for the review tomorrow. The Washingtonian describes it as being “popular with locals …the treatments are praised as thorough and attentive with a focus more on healing than on momentary enjoyment.” If I find a big, healing gold mine for runners, I’ll let you know who to schedule an appointment with.

I also celebrated my minor milestone with my Pacers Fun Run buddies at Adega post-run last night. It took some cajoling, but I succeeded in convincing a small but hardy group to split a bottle of wine with me. Runners are good like that, you know?