Training, training and more training

I have a couple of thoughts to share this evening and one being that I have got to stop being so stubborn. As you all know I have been training for my BIG run in January and I have been playing fast and loose with the training program. I am now officially behind by seven work outs and unlike the last time I did not miss count a week so I have no breather room. I am going to have to go hard to get caught up and stay caught up, this has been ridiculous. I know better and should do better.

Now that being said I have been in a near constant state of training for over six months by the time marathon hits I can say unequivocally that I will be glad to put this event behind me. I will then be able to change up my training regimen for the 15k classic in Jacksonville in March before I take some needed time off from the training and racing schedule I have placed myself under.

I would just like to point out for no reason other than to say it and I believe I really like Bluegrass Music...it just connects me to my past in a way that other music does not...thank you to Pandora Internet Radio.

Now back to the discussion at hand - I had fun over the holiday weekend and I hope you did as well. I spent time with friends and family and for the first time in a long time I was not stressed or regretting anything. I missed my father-in-law in a major way and the calm and loving presence that he he was when I spent time with him. I did spend sometime working through my own emotions and I know I am not done with those emotions, but I know he would want me to move forward so forward I go.

I have been training for a long and I had friends come in from out of town and I was glad to have them here because for the first time in a long time I had people running with me (no my beautiful wife I did not forget our June race, but this was a touch different). Now, I have run with friends in July and family in June and again 9 years ago when the Brunswick Bridge opened, but for the most part I attend races alone and race alone, so this was a good time and a pleasant change from my routine.

At the race I had to constantly remind myself that this was not a race (but it was) and that it was just a training session (it wasn't) and I could move at a comfortable pace and not kill myself (I pushed - hard - my pulse rate was 91% of my max at one point). I finished last in my age group, but I enjoyed seeing the 300+ people in Savannah that I inspire to come out and race. I had no idea my influence reached so far, but lets face it when your steveinspired, your inspired no matter where you are. My friend Ben blew me away with his speed, it was really great to shout words of encouragement to him and know that helped him go farther and faster (steveinspired). I also appreciated seeing him at the end and having him return the favor with his words of encouragement. I later joined him and we gave encouragement to his wife Tara; it was a good team feeling. I should point out that Ben came in 2nd for his age group and that is wonderful and I enjoyed seeing someone I know walk away with his prize.

The best part about having friends in town is I had a training partner for the first time ever (again Meg I did not forget about you, it was just different). He pushed me outside of my comfort zone for my training and I think I had become more slow and sloppy then I had realized. I ran harder, kept my breaks, and felt better at the end. Now granted it was a short distance of 8 miles, but still it was nice, so I am going to attempt to push harder for my four mile run that is coming up to see what I can shave off for my benefit. I had watched a training video about working speed work into your routines, so I am going to see how that works for me and get a feel for adding some speed with 6 weeks to go. That may seem ridiculous, but lets see what happens.

I also have a small confession for everyone out there...I think I purposely let my phone die last nite so my alarm would not go off. Now, don't let this effect your determination to continually improve yourself, like I said I have a stubborn streak in me and I am working to show my self that at my age I can not pretend to be a 20 something instead of a man rapidly growing toward forty. I need to remember I am a marathoner now (presumptuous? maybe) and I have to take better care of myself. Sleep better, eat better, drink less, care for my aches and pains, and not be unwilling to seek help when help is needed.

So, I want to wrap up with this for everyone to consider - Coming in first matters to the person who comes in second, but the person who never gave up and finishes the race is an example of determination and will, they should be cheered as loudly as the person coming in first.

No sun running aka pre-dawn

I have been running a lot lately to make up for some missed runs over the last several weeks. As a result of that I have been running early in the morning and as we all know there is now no daylight until about 630a, which
means I am doing a lot of running in the dark. To resolve some logistics I bought a pen LED on light. If your keeping track I have now invested in running shoes, a hydration belt, and now a pen light. All this is done to improve my running efforts.

As a result of my efforts I have realized some things. The first one is that it can be spooky to run when it is dark. Now when I run I tend to spend a lot of time letting my mind wonder and now I have to stay way focused on where I am because of not only the dangers of running when you can't see; but the spooky factor.

Let's start with the dangerous factor and that being that I can't really see where I am going and run the risk of falling flat on my face (I almost did a few days ago), then there are the dogs that I can't see, luckily they are still put up for the most part. Then there is the funny people who like to turn their brights on so I can't see no matter what...I just really love those jerks.

Then there is the spooky factor. I don't know about you, but I used to watch a lot of scary movies when I was younger. Since I don't listen to my head phones for safety reasons, I find that I hear a lot of new sounds I don't often hear when the sun is up and there are tons of cars, other runners (these people do find me an inspiration) and bicyclers. These new sounds are like this: thump, thump, thump and beat, beat, beat and shuffle/scrape, shuffle/scrape and then the heavy breathing. I try to keep my mind focused but these nosies follow my non-stop until the sun comes up. The sad part is that it does not help me turn run faster, but let's me realize that I can't out run whoever is chasing me because I CAN'T SEE!

I always feel better starting about 615a because the sun comes up and my eyesight improves and the scary noises start going away. I can then successful put the thoughts of being chased by Jason, Freddy, the guy from Saw, Jack Nickelson from the shinning all out of my mind because the scary dark parts of my run have faded with the light. Ahhhhh running with daylight is great.

Which reminds me I have to get up super early to hit the road before the sun comes up. I'm trying my best to stay focused on that January prize.

Mobile Blogging

I have been neglectful updating everyone about my running and in truth I don't really have any new news. I have been training for a few weeks now and I am working hard at getting all of my missed runs caught up and it has been hard, but I am thankful for Meg being so indulgent with my training program. I look forward to a well thought out update coming in just a few days. Until then I just keep running.