A Push Forward

     
 
        I've been particularly motivated in my training lately. It's been a while since I had a drive for greater things in this sport. Last year at Christmas, I was coming off of several months of the greatest volume of miles I've ever achieved. I was running a 10k as a bench mark with no real plan to try and get a PR. I just wanted to see where I was competitively at the moment. I came out at a blistering pace for me, just to see how long I could sustain it. It wasn't until the 4 mile mark that I realized that I wasn't likely to bonk, and that I would likely get a PR. I finished the race in 45 and change, beating my PR by 3 minutes.
 
       I then made the plan to try and PR every distance race up to the half marathon. I started training harder and doing a lot of trail speed work to build strength and endurance. I was working midnights and would do the majority of my running after work in the beautiful trails of Ann Arbor. I was doing speed work this day and was shredding the course. About 3/4 of a mile from the finish on final stretch through the wood chips, I felt a little pop in my calf. That would take me out of running for 3 months.

       I still had hope to achieve my goals, but I had lost quite a bit of speed and endurance. I started training hard again, and saw some improvement without pain. Then one day I stepped out of work through the front door into the pretty morning sun and my calf popped as I stepped down off the curb. I was done for the season this time. I would run sporadically, but my hopes of achieving my goals were dashed. I gained a bunch of weight, ate stupidly, and drank beer without limits.

...

       I lost most of the weight due to a weight loss challenge with a friend, which also put me on the road logging miles to lose the weight. I got back to within 10 lbs of my ideal weight and started amping up my mileage and speed. Before I knew it, I was breaching into the 7s per mile. Running has become a battle again, but not because I hate it, but because I am trying to improve every run. On my slow paced runs, I try to focus on form and breathing. On my speed runs, I try to race my best run on the course and focus on my mile splits.

       I've decided to set goals again. I want to beat my 5k (23:58) time by 2 minutes. It sounds lofty, but I feel like I've unofficially beat that at least a dozen times. Ultimately, I'd like to find myself in the 6s for the 5k. My last goal was too broad and the training wasn't specific enough for the races I was planning. This will be one race, one distance, and my training will be focused on just that.




Sing.
Migrate.

Running "Happy?"

     

     
        I wonder often what other people think about when they run. Running is a battle and everyone fights that battle differently. They either choose not to run at all or they find a way to cope with the pain, lack of oxygen, and exhaustion. Running really is hard.

       I go to sad places. I've found that to take my mind off of every pain I feel when each foot hits the ground, I need to go to a place that hurts even more. I get lost there in that place that makes a person want to cry during their "healthy" activity. "Brooks" has this motto that says "Run Happy." I really don't get the motto because I don't understand how anyone is happy when doing something so stupid looking and miserable.

       During the summer months, I get up early to run in the cooler air or run after the sun goes down, because I cannot tolerate the heat. During the winter months, I wrap every inch of my body up in layers of fabric to keep myself from freezing to death as my eye lashes freeze and snow builds onto my beard that I keep for this reason. No one likes this. They like how it makes them feel after. I'm in that boat.

        I like being done running. I feel accomplished; especially if I had run in terrible conditions. But during the run, I need to go to a different place.

       I make myself miserable to learn to tolerate something a little less miserable.



Sing.
Migrate.

Still on my Feet

       

       
        I haven't posted a blog in a while. Three years really. I haven't stopped running. I've been plagued with various injuries, starting with the ones I made worse during my marathon. I had finished the marathon broken. I crossed the line because I couldn't not cross it. I will give myself credit for perseverance if not stupidity. I tried to run for weeks because running had become a part of who I was. My knee betrayed me every time. My metabolism from training was so high and I was hungry all of the time and couldn't run. I put on a bunch of weight and struggled to find motivation look at the endless pavement again. Somehow, I had forgotten how great it made me feel and only remembered the work.

        I ran a couple of times week for the next year or so. I had a friend at work challenge me to a mileage competition. I needed this because I needed a reason to compete. I took him up. We both ran. For 31 days, we ran everyday. I left it all on the road. This was a challenge of wills. In the end; he won. But no one lost. I put my best month of running in the books. I ran 200 miles for the month. I had more in me, but at the very start, that was my max. I didn't think I could do it, but I did. This, to me maybe, meant more than the marathon.

        After the competition, I got the bad idea of reducing my mileage to allow lifting time. This led to me reducing my mileage to 10 miles a week and barely lifted my head from the pillow. I had list a lot of weight and now I was gaining it back rapidly, and ended up gaining more than ever.

       Again, a competition with a friend for weight loss put my feet back on the pavement. I won this one. I didn't eat and ran everyday. I lost 29 lbs. He lost 27. We both won.

        So now I am obsessed again; putting cement behind me everyday. I'm doing the work and starting to remember the benefits. It's crazy because I have spent the winter months putting in 9:45 min/mi to now returning to sub 8 min miles. I'd like to PR my 5k this year. That's my goal.

       







Sing.
Migrate.