I saw this quote a few weeks ago and saved it. It's hitting home with me lately. I kind feel like I'm wandering. The races that I was training for are done. The FRC plan is pretty much done. Mentally, I told myself that I would rest after these races. Honestly, I'm not sure that I can. I thought about working some weights into my routine, but then I wonder, am I getting to greedy? Am I looking for the next thing? What I am doing is working & it's not making me too miserable. If it ain't broke don't fix it, right?
I was talking to someone recently that was saying that they had tried running. They decided that it sucked & it was painful. I tried to explain that I agreed completely. Running is not like laying by the pool. It takes physical exertion. Even when it's an easy run there is an element of uncomfortableness. At least I know it is that way for me. So why do I run? I run for the feeling of accomplishment. When I finish running I feel good about what I have done. When I finish one of our tough XT workouts & I can say I just did 80 or 100 burpees, I feel like a badass, like I can accomplish anything.
Back to the topic at hand, without a goal, what's next? I'm going to stay the course. Keep running with by friends. Throw in some old track & hill workouts like last year. A couple of the guys have marathons coming up very soon so I'll have plenty of miles to log. And just like that I have another goal! In the FRC XT challenge I won a free entry to the Texas Big Star Half Marathon in April. Now I have 3 months to get 34 seconds faster & go sub 2:00
TUESDAY was an attempt at an easy run after resting on Monday. My legs were still a little tired from the race. I ran by this tree & I saw a little bird's nest. So I thought that would be a neat photo for the blog. Ends up it was not. So I propped my phone up on a fire hydrant & got this one. I thought it was perfect for the status of my legs.
Also a friend of mine in KC was having a real good time with my finish line photo from the race. So, of course, I had to share.
Enjoy!
WEDNESDAY we run long runs. People think that we're insane, and we may be a little. Before moving to Texas I had a rule of no more than 5 miles on week day. Well, we have smashed that many time as you may have noticed.
Anyway, last night was one of those nights where I just couldn't sleep. I kept waking up. Finally about 2am it was over. My workload for the day started running through my head. I tossed & turned until 3am and finally just got up. I was setup to run with The Turtles at 5am, I thought well, I'll just get up and go run now since I can't sleep. It was raining. Blah. So I decided to eat some ramen (my pre-long run meal), drink some coffee, & just wait till run time.
The rain had passed by the time I went to meet the guys. We took off on another 10-miler. We decided on a nice easy pace. With 2 of our squad training for full marathons the pace would generally need to be a little slower. It was a real good time; a lot of talking. We haven't been able to do that much lately with the intervals & quicker paces. With the exception of nearly being mauled by Chupacabra that was lurching around in the woods along the trail, it was a nice run.
XT THURSDAY is here again! Another empowering workout from the mind of our cross training coach! Not a whole lot to say about it. 4 rounds of the workout listed below. I did start to dry heave during round 3, but I finished it up in less than 30 minutes.
It's SATURDAY! That means we're going long! There had been talk of 15 miles today. While I wasn't really looking forward to 15, I was down to support my friends. So I was in. I've been trying out some new nutrition & I have it all prepped & ready go.
- Body Glide to prevent chaffing.
- Salt Stick capsules to replace electrolytes during the run.
- Karbolyn Fuel in the Maurten bottle for gradual carb intake during the run.
- Huma energy gels for a boost every now and again.
It was raining again and it was really windy. I mean really really windy. Like I mentioned earlier, we're a little crazy. With a little reservation we press on with the plan to meet at the store. Once on the way I realize that the wind is blowing a lot harder than I thought. The weather is saying 35-40 mph gusts. We get out of our cars & can barely stand up to the gusts. For our safety we decided to postpone until later in the day. One brave Turtle, Donatello, who had plans for the day actually went out an hour earlier & logged 8 miles. See... crazy...
Being Saturday, I jump back in bed & nap for a bit. About 9am I get back up & head out for my solo run. It's still windy, but it's died down to about 14mph, With no particular route in mind, I just wing it. I think the most I've ever ran in my neighborhood is 7-8 miles. I feel like I want to do at least 10.
Off I go! I try to go to the farthest points in the neighborhood that I can think of. Out to Hwy 1385 on the East, up around the clubhouse, past the school & up to the stoplight by the DollarGentral on Hwy 380. I zig zag through a couple of streets & back on a common route around by Rowdy's house. Instead of going back home now, I keep going down to the roundabout & up past The Kitch. There apparently having a 5k or something. A lot of people are stagger starting as I run by the start line I'm just over Mile 4. I go through the 2nd roundabout by the flagpoles all the way up to the 7-Eleven that's also on Hwy 380. Here I have to turnaround. I take the other side of the street & loop back by The Kitch on the other side, down around the lake & up through the outside loop.
About Mile 8 or so, I touching Hwy 1385 again, & I start to get tired mentally. I turn back North toward the house at Mile 9 & I am welcomed by the 14mph headwind. Yea! Nonetheless I slog on back to village, around the block & we're done. 10 miles on the money. Honesty it felt like 13 or more.
Sometimes it's easy to under estimate the power of running in groups. One of the main things that attracted to running was the relationships. Runners are one of the most inclusive group of people that I have met. Whether you're the fastest, the lowest, or somewhere in between you are cheered for & cheered on. I've seen it in multiple states.
I'll leave you with this. You don't have to be lonely. You don't have to exercise alone. Whether you run a 6 minute mile or 20 minute mile, reach out to a local running group. I'll wager dollars to donuts that you'll be welcomed with open arms.
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