State of the Train Address

What up??

Hello my bloggees, this post is long overdue.  All is well.  It seems that my nagging injuries are pretty much behind me.  About time. I have concluded that I had a severe case of shin splints.  Never saw a doctor for it but managed to run through the pain while fulfilling my pacing duties for the Dallas Running Club’s Spring 2015 season.  Thank goodness I had a strong group and a stronger co-pacer to carry the group when I couldn't.  Thanks Omar.  More than likely running thru pain only resulted in prolonging the healing.  In the meantime, running only twice per week and sometimes once per week and less than 20 miles per week decreased my fitness level, made me fat and slow.  I seem to be snapping back to normal

quicker than I expected.  I don’t know what I would do without my running famly for encouragement, in particular my running sister Jamie who lots of times pushed me to do things in which I had become too lazy to do, but knew that I should.  My diet, fallen off.  Started eating lots of junk, gained some 10-12 lbs which I am struggling to lose now despite all of the running I have done in the past few weeks.  Even though I was not running on a regular schedule, I made sure to sign up and run a few races, even though I knew I would struggle through them and run in pain.  Afraid I would lose interest in running, I just wanted to stay in the mix and in the middle of things.   I usually have a race report after every race.  I know I've been slacking lately.  Here is a summary:

1/1/15 Day One Trail Run: The brief moment I wasn't injured, ran my 2nd fastest 5k.  Hilly very rainy, race was ran on the paved road because the dirt trail was closed.

1/10/15 Frigid 10K. Signed up, but skipped it to work instead.  I know. Bad Clay..

3/1/15 Cowtown 50K.  Cancelled race due to ice, bumped everyone to the 13.1 for safety reasons.  I was never so happy.  There was NO WAY I could have even run beyond 13.1 in the condition I was in.  And that was about all I had in the tank that day

3/21/15 Grasslands 13.1.  Sucked. So much mud.  Hurt the whole time, took forever to finish. It generated a good Facebook/Dailymile profile picture though.

4/12/15 Big D Marathon.  I sucked.  I was assigned to pace that day.  Didn't finish.  Thank God for co-pacers.  I love you Lisbeth.

5/16/15 Whispering Pines 20 mi.  Became afraid of 'Claying out' pulled out after 10 miles.  May have been a good decision, I don't know.  I felt good and was well hydrated and electrolit up.  But conditions out there were rather crazy as I watched others Clay out.

Running at one point this past spring had become not fun and had become a chore.  I figured though, that the injuries and lack of a consistent schedule had a lot to do with it.  And I was right.   Now healthy, last week I put together a pretty good string of workouts.  I have been having that ‘tingly’ feeling after runs that make me want to run more.  It’s on like popcorn now.

Currently…

I’m not training for anything specific right now, just trying to get myself into shape.  I was recently approached by Vishal, the DRC’s training director and presented with a coaching opportunity for the fall training season.  In February, I took the RRCA coaching certification course and am now a certified running coach.  Funny, I would have never thought in a million years that would happen.  But I guess that is why I am here.  I’m not the fastest or most competitive runner, but I feel that I can help others become that.  Consequently, I am trying to get my ass in shape before the fall season starts (in July) where I can run with the 3:50 marathon training group, the fastest group in which I will be responsible for on a regular basis.

Fall 2015

I am signed up for two races in the fall.  Both redemption races for me.  The Ragnar Relay 50k in which I was short 4 miles of finishing and the Williams Route 66 Marathon in which I was exactly one minute shy of beating my personal record 4:13.  This P.R. believe it or not has stood since my first marathon.  It will take some consistency and persistency to get there.  I can’t be half-assing it anymore.  There will probably be other races along the way which I will use as training runs or pace.  Probably those which Jamie has twisted my arm into running :)

Work!

Work has had an influence on my running in two different ways.  First is that after receiving a promotion and change in job duties AND also having to learn to work on a brand new claim system, it had required me to dedicate lots of hours to my desk.  This as you would expect took away from hours usually set aside to train or just had me too tired at the end of the day to crank out run mileage.  Many days I turned down running to work instead.  The minor injuries I had made it that much easier too.  I have made some adjustments recently and forced time in for run workouts.   The other way it has influenced my running recently is rather positive.  Some of you may wonder what I do at work.  I basically review claims that employees for different companies submit for time off work where they have become ill or had an injury and determine if they meet the definition of disability based on what they do at their job.  AKA, Short Term Disability.  All of the claims I am assigned are musculoskeletal claims.  Shoulders, knees, back issues, etc.  Talking to these folks and managing their claims reminds me to keep my ass active.  The common ailments I see are deteriorated discs, ruptured rotator cuffs, worn out knees.  Most end up with joint replacements, disc replacements and some end up headed toward permanent disability.  When I started this job, I was really surprised on how many people have back issues.  Probably 3 out of every 5 claims I receive today are for employees with disc issues.  Back issues scare me to death and from what I see, once you get them, they almost never go away.  The other thing I see is many of my claimants are overweight, don’t exercise and have poor diet which from the physician notes I read, is what causes their joint issues.  I have one account which I manage, a health club which a lot of you are familiar with, but I won’t name on here.  As you can imagine, their employees are in great shape physically.  Every claim I have received from them they return to work before expected.  These claims are usually from an injury like falling or twisting an ankle.  Minor stuff. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see why they heal quicker.  So this has motivated me to get even stronger, stay active and encourage my family members to do the same.   Hips, shoulders, knees and toes, use them or lose them.  So keep it movin’.  I surely am.

TNT

2014 Recap

2014 Started off looking as if it would be my best ever statistically, then ended with some setbacks and disappointments.  But it was perhaps my most fun overall.

January 1 - Day one Trail Run.  This was a great way to start out the year.  I'm signed up for this one again 1/1/15 and talked a few friends into running with me.  

February 1 - CIGNA Mayors Race - Believe it or not, after 4 years of running, I ran my first ever 5k.  Clocked a 22.55 and was 8th place overall.  I may never see that again.
February 2 - First Ultra Marathon -  Cowtown Sunday.  My first ultra marathon.  I ran it easy, felt exceptionally strong between miles 19-27 and had better time at the end than I expected 5:21:44 and I walk/ran the last couple miles.

March 23 - Rock N Roll Dallas Half - PR which I had held for two years finally fell.  I finished in 1:45:10.  Best feeling ever those last 5 miles which were all downhill.

May 27 - OKC Marathon One of the craziest weekends ever.  A scheduled road trip to Oklahoma City with the DRC was thrown off schedule.  Our chartered bus showed up 4 hours late causing us to miss the marathon expo and packet pickup. Luckly we had friends in OKC who picked up the couple dozen plus packets.  Not only was our arrival delayed but so was the race, due to severe thunderstorms.  The 6:30 am race did finally get underway at about 8:30 am, but caused the tail end of running to happen during the heat of the morning.  As you expect, it made it rough for some.  I ran the whole thing easy, because I was just using the race to qualify to be a Marathon Maniac.  The road trip was still fun, made new friends.  

July 13 - El Scorcho 50k - I knew I was nuts for signing up for this.  And it was just as difficult as I expected.  I almost gave up after the the 6th 5k loop as I was cramping up badly.  So I just sat for 30 minutes, rehydrated, got salts in me then started back up and grinded out the last 4 loops fighting back cramps the whole way.  I knew I had a 7 hour deadline and I finished in 6:47.  I said I would never do that again.  But I'm already thinking of trying it again in July.

August 28 - Clay out incident #4.  OK so the first time, I didn't even know what happened to me, I survived it after running alone and a neighbor spotted me on the side of the road in agony and took me home.  The 2nd time it happened (Dallas Marathon 2012), I knew what happened but didn't know exactly what caused it and didn't know how to prevent it.  The third time I had friends witness it and found out what causes it after spending 2 hours in the ER and getting the talk from coach Steve.  This fourth time was just stupidity.  Don't run and forget to take in electrolytes, then start taking them after an hour into the run when the temps and humidity are approaching 90.  There will not be a #5.  Yeah, yeah, I know I said that after #3.

October 17-18 - Ragnar Relays - The most fun I have ever had.  A weekend of camping, which I had never done before, running, food, and friends.  It doesn't get any better than that.  The race itself was tougher than I thought it would be, probably because I half-ass trained for it.  I will be ready next time

November 11 - The fall.  During a non scheduled run which I should not have been doing, I was running one night, tripped over a bump in the street and landed directly on my left knee.  It seemed to be a minor injury, I even finished out the 4 miler with not much issue.  Over weeks it seemed to re-aggravate over and over.  I thought I was good to go a couple times only to re-aggravate it again.  After taking an extended amount of time off running, it seems to be nearly healed up.  Hopefully I won't be talking about this knee when the new year starts.

I'm heading into 2015 going the right direction.  I've already written out a fitness plan plan for myself and have implemented it a couple weeks ago.  Not a running plan, but a fitness plan.  So far so good.  My goal is to be in the best fitness that I can possibly be in.  That means incorporating a variety of different workouts, not just running.  I also at some point plan on buying a bike and mix in some riding.  I figure if I train as if i am an athlete, then my running will be elevated.

Favorite photos of 2014
I'm fortunate to have so many folks who are constantly taking pictures on runs.  

Day One Trail Run 2014

Breakfast Club.  Lots of times my highlight of the weekend after a satisfying long run

Me and Jackie C around mile 8 at Cowtown on the infamous Main St Bridge Hill

Me and Jamie finishing up the Cowtown Ultra.  Hurtin'

On the way to a new PR for a Half Marathon

Me and Coach Griff on pacing duty.  Big D Marathon 2014.

Bus trip back to Dallas from the OKC Marathon

Me and Jessica finishing the El Scorho Ocho 50k.
Looking better than what we were feeling.

Dallas TREX Ultra team, Ragnar Relay

4 Hour Power! 4:00 Marathon training group 

Jamie and I again, this time feeling good after pacing the DRC Half 2:05 group

Ragnar Trail Relays 2014

     So for so many of my friends who were not able to make it down this time around, here is how it all worked.  Ragnar Hill Country has 3 trails; the Green Loop (3 mi), Yellow Loop (5 mi), and the Red Loop (7.7 mi).  There are teams of either 4 runners (ultra) or 8.  Each member of the 8 man team is required to run each of these loops- about 16 miles total and each of the 4 man ultra team is required to run each loop twice equaling just over 31 miles.  Do the math and you come up with 125.6 miles per team.  

Elevation profile of Green, Yellow, and Red trail loops.

How you decided to run those depended on the team.  There were two ultra teams there representing the DRC, I was part of one of them.  My team decided to run two loops at a time.  The required order by Ragnar was to run the course in the order Green, Yellow, Red, Green, Yellow, Red, Green, Yellow etc...  So going in order was fellow DRCers Kristen, Kristin, Vishal, and me the last man.  Our group started at 2pm so my first run was not until after 8pm and the order would fall in place for me to start off running the Green, then the Yellow.  I had plenty of time to fuel up all day long, chill for a while, meet up with a few folks.  That was a decision made by the team before I arrived at the campsite, in an attempt to keep me out of the heat as everyone knows the issues I have with higher temperatures.  When I signed up for this, I was expecting cooler temperatures since it was in October.  By the time 8pm came around I was really ready to get it going, but sort of nervous because I had never run the trails at night before, outside of one time I got caught out at little L.B. Houston Preserve just before the sun went down.  The temperature had dropped from what felt like to me the low 80's to 73°.  I only know the latter temp now because I just looked at my Garmin data.  There was absolutely no phone reception or internet signal for anyone in the village to check the temps, weather or anything else for that matter.  The only use for a phone was to take pictures, which was a good thing.  This was a time to disconnect from the world and have a good time.  The scene there was very cool and laid back just like most all trail races are.   There was a live band, a bonfire, and just a general good feeling flowing throughout the village.  Dinner was then served which was pasta and salad.  I chowed down and had about an hour before Vishal's ETA of 8pm.

1st Leg.  Green and Yellow loops. 

     Vishal arrived a bit earlier than I expected, we made the exchange and off I went into the darkness on the Green Loop.  The first mile was upgrade then flat, upgrade then flat, upgrade then flat, upgrade.  There were many markers on the courses.  If you got lost it was because you were somewhere in LaLa Land and just wasn't paying attention.  Running the wrong way down a dead end or wrong trail got you little markers with "X" on them letting you know to turn around because you are running the wrong way.  I was worried that my headlamp would not be bright enough after  seeing on the race website that they recommended a headlamp that has an output of at least 70 lumens.  The one I brought only put out 16 lumens, but it was plenty bright enough.  I could see everything 10 feet in front of me, which was all I needed to see.  I thought that this night trail experience would be scary.  It was everything but.  It was so peaceful out there.  Even though I knew I probably had another dozen runners on the trail with me, I felt like it was just me and nature.  I made it back around and then started on the Yellow Loop.  Rocks galore.  Loose rocks, big rocks, small rocks, rocks on top of rocks. 

One of hundreds of course markers making it near
impossible to get off track on the course.

I had listened all day to other runners who had been on this course describing the surface as if they had to walk on hot coals.  This was good as I had painted a very bad picture.  It wasn't all that bad to me, but I could see how it would make your feet tender after a while.  I did stump my toe a couple times on that route.  First leg, no problemo.  Handed it off to Kristen with an 'e' to start the rotation all over again.  I went back to the camp, chilled for about an hour and calculated that Vishal would be on his way with the team bib around 3am.  I had just enough time to lay my head down and get a power nap.  I lay there until I fell asleep and looked up through the tent as I could see every single star in the sky as it seemed.  Really awesome stuff.

2nd Leg.  Red and Green loops. 
Vishal arrived at the exchange station at approximately 3:45 am.  This leg was my favorite part of the whole weekend.  What you read above about running in the darkness and it being just me an nature, multiply that times 10.  The most awesomest feeling.  At one point I just stopped on the Red Loop and looked out to the horizon to the best of my ability.  It was dark out there, but still beautiful.  I could hear all kinds of critters along with cows mooing in the distance.  Yes cows, we were on a ranch.  The Red Loop was my favorite one.  The race website described it as a rollercoaster ride.  I didn't notice that so much as much as it had more 'straightaway' than the other two trails.  And less rocks.  I may have taken too much time on it because when I completed the first loop, Kristen was already at the exchange area waiting on me.  No baby, one more loop to go.  Back on the Green loop again.  There was one funny moment on the Green Loop on the second go around.  While I was taking a short walk break, I could hear some rustling to my left.  So I turned to see what it was and there were three cows standing faced directly toward me.  My headlamp just happened to shine right directly into one of their faces and it jumped

I didn't have as much beef with
the course as others did

back about 5 feet.  I jumped back as well then had to laugh at myself.  Somewhere within the loop I caught a cramp in my right thigh.  I panicked.  I'm pretty sure that most everyone reading this right  now is aware of my past history with cramping and why I cramp.  I was taking my endurolytes and hydrating all day long leading up to the event, so I knew that I wasn't about to "Clay out", but in the back of my mind I sorta thought I was.  I stopped, let it cramp all the way up and release and I was fine.  The only issue was that another runner passed me, asked if I was OK during this little cramping epsode.  I told her 'no' and to report it when she got back to the village.  False alarm.  After I stretched it out, I was able to run just fine.  I finally got back to meet Kristen again at the exchange area.  I took this time to get in some coffee, breakfast and a small catnap.

3rd leg.  Yellow and Red loops. 
I have to admit, I had lots of anxiety leading up to this one.  No matter how the legs were arranged, there was not a way to avoid running in the heat.  Again, it felt like the temps were well into the eighties.  I knew as long as I stayed hydrated and "electrolit up" as I call it, there shouldn't be any Claying out.  I tried to stay off my feet as much as possible to be as fresh as I could be.  I even went and had my legs massaged with a special leg squeeze machine.  It seemed like every minute, the temps kept rising higher.  There was the occasional cloud cover which temporarily cooled the village off for a few minutes, but then the sun would come back beaming even harder.  So the only thing I knew I could do is just grin and bear it.  I knew it was going to hurt down towards the end, but I had been there before.  El Scorcho hurt, but it was bearable.  I went ahead and made my way down to the exchange area and waited for Vishal to come through for the last exchange.  I was expecting him at 1pm, and he showed up at 12:45pm.  That was fine and all, however found out that was just the first loop!  His assignment was to run the Red then the Green.  So he had the Green left to go.  I could tell that the Red Loop got the best of him along with the heat as he doused himself with water before going back out.  Oh shit.  That gave me another 30 min or so to prepare.  I had no idea what was going to happen when I got out there.  My legs felt okay, I was well hydrated, well fueled, had plenty water and fuel with me.  I said I would take it easy, and that was the last thing Vishal said to me as I took the bib from him for the last time "Take it easy out there man."  I walked the first quarter mile which was all uphill, then got into a light jog.  When I got to the top of the peak of the Yellow loop I pulled out my phone since it was the only place I could get reception in the whole place and left my wife details on voicemail of how everything should go down the rest of the day.  Just so she would know I was good.  I finished the yellow loop with no problem.  I left the course, went to the water station to refill my hydration pack before I continued on to the Red Loop and knock out the last 7.7 miles. 

Team Dallas Trex

I was feeling pretty good, but starting to feel some fatigue, but I was going to do this no matter what.  I got about a mile into the Red Loop and here come the cramps.  Screw that, I'm going to run through this shit.  My left thigh cramped, then the right.  I went ahead and let all of that contract to the fullest, which hurt like hell then stretched it out, then my calves did the same thing.  That whole sequence took about 5-10 minutes and I was able to keep running even though my legs felt like someone put them through a meat grinder.  But I wasn't "Claying", I knew this was nothing but fatigue, but I would not be denied, and I was not about to let my team down and have a team DNF. 
     Overall this was the most fun I had ever had at any race event.  It was so well put together, almost flawless.  I am so in there when we do this again, I'm assuming next year. 

Ahhh Fall... Well, or at least the end of summer

So funny how running has changed so many things about me.  I used to dread the end of summer.  I really am NOT a cold weather person or even really a cool or chilly weather person.  I absolutely HATE being cold.  I don't think I could never live in the northern part of the country.  I like being able to walk outside with a shirt off and a glass of Kool-Aid and be comfortable.  But when it comes to running in it, I'm not the same person. Give me 40-50 degrees during a run (after the first half mile warm up) and I'm in heaven.  We just had a double cool front drive through which swatted the 90 degree, 80% humidity weather back out to half-court.  At least temporarily.  We all know that here in North Texas that drippy, sweaty weather could be back within the next week.  And it can show up at any time without warning at any time of the year.  See Dallas Marathon weather of 2012 to refresh your memory on that if you have forgotten.  There is just something about running in the crispness of the cold, your body providing the heating system, and the steam coming from your breath.  Well it's not that cold yet, but its coming.  The only problem I have every year is overdressing.  Tomorrow it will be 59 degrees for the start of our long group run at the DRC.  Still shorts and T shirt weather, but you always have the tendency to pull out the long sleeves.  But I have pulled those to the front of the closet as well as have located the gloves and caps.  Bring on the fall weather.  Bring on marathon weather.

-TNT-

How to stop a (Nite) train /change of plans

I didn't think I would ever crash again like I have done so many times, but it has happened once again.  And one more time I have learned something else.  I'm not going to tell a long story about what went down last Sunday except that it happened and that I'm still mad at myself and embarrased as hell after somewhat letting my guard down.  Didn't really wan't to blog about it, but feel like I owe the public, because someone else out there probably has the same issues that I do.  I just posted about this same thing on my 4:00 Marathon training group's FB page not even two weeks ago. Here is the lesson I got out of it this time.

1.  My crashing issues or "Claying" all these years was not so much caused by dehydration as much as by electrolyte embalance.  I was well hydrated before this happened on water and Gatorade. 
2.  Regular salt does NOT replace Endurolytes, which have been my best friend ever since I discovered them.  Or any other electrolyte replacement supplement‎.  At least not for me.  Neither does mustard, neither does pickle juice.  Per my conversation with the paramedic inside the ambulance (who just so happened to have had a history of multiple incidents like mine and is a heavy sweater like me) we determined that the major element that I lose when I sweat is potassium.
3.  It really doesn't take much for my electrolyte balance to get thrown off when the weather is on the warm side (above 80 degrees) and I don't take proper salt replacements.
4.  I'm done with training for ultra marathons during the middle of the summer.  In Texas.  For now.

Now that I have gotten that out of the way, here is my revised race schedule:

10/18 - Ragnar Relay 50K
11/2 - DRC Half Marathon (probably will be pacing)
11/8 - Rockledge Rumble 50K
12/14 - Metro PCS Dallas Marathon

I removed the Lost Loop 50K from the schedule for various reasons.  One, after the research I did, the Cross Timbers course appears to be extremely technical.  Two, the weather could be really warm at the end of September.  Three, I couldn't get into a good rhythm with my training.  Work, and other personal issues were causing me to miss some long runs and extra mileage.  My longest run since El Schorcho is only 14 miles or so.  Four, I really just don't feel like training for anything major right now. Just being honest.  This removes a lot of pressure that I created, now I can focus on just getting myself back in tune and concentrate on my pacing duties with my 4:00 marathon training group.  The Ragnar Relay is 50k total but won't be done all at once.

I have added the Rockledge Rumble, 50K.  It's in November.  Now you know Texas, it could still be 80 degrees and 90% humidity on any given morning.  But at least I know that course very well.  Plus a lot of my favorite people are running it along with me.  I was present for this race last year as a spectator, so I totally know what to expect.  And I have two more months to prepare.  No brainer.

We will revisit the Cross Timbers trail at a later time

El Scorcho and other random stuff

     I just looked at the stats log to this blog and it told me that it is viewed an average of 11 times per day.  I haven't blogged since a few weeks back so sounds like you guys are coming here looking for something, haha.  I love sharing information on this journey that I'm on to wherever, I don't know.  Just hadn't had time to put anything out there with work and training.  I meant to put a race report out there for El Scorcho, but time got away from me.  I'm off work today without a damn thing to do. So here's what's up. 

El Scorcho Ocho 50K 

     To sum this race up, it was just as hard as I figured it would be.  My legs were fine, but my electolytes almost got out of wack again around loop 7 or 8, I felt the onset of cramps, thought I was done so I sat out for 20-30 minutes and took in more endurolytes.  Increased the rate of taking those and I was good in that department for the rest of the race.  The real problem was my gastrointestinal.  The only thing worse than running and being crampy, is running and having to take a shit once every hour.  I hadn't had that issue with any of the training runs leading up to the race, but boy...  I think I spent a total of 45 min in the porta-potty.  OK, yeah TMI... I went into the race just wanting to finish, not caring about time and it shows in my results.  So that is done.  I will do this race again at some point.  Maybe not next year, but sometime.

DRC Fall Marathon Training
     Only two runs in, but seems like this will be a fun year.  I once again have a wonderful co-pacer.  Another teacher.  We hit it off from day one.  Not sure what it is about runners being educators, but there sure are a lot of them.  We have a very large group, this time I'm down with the 4:00 marathon group.  Funny how I have never broken 4:00 on a marathon but I'm training others to.  So let the long hot and humid weeks of training begin and beat us the hell down.  I wouldn't have it any other way.

Lost loop 50k coming 9/27/2014
     With El Scorcho in the rear view mirror, I am now looking foward to completing my first 50k trail race.  In Athlinks.com, El Scorcho is listed as a trail race, so I'm credited with that one being my first one, but we know that ain't no real trail.  It was more like a dirt road race.  I am both encouraged, but slightly discouraged with doing the Lost Loop.  I am told that a trail 50k is easier than a road 50k, but I just don't see how.  When I run 10 trail miles, afterward I feel like I have run 15 road miles.  I am told that the trails are easier on the joints but you have a lot more muscle fatigue.  Yeah, that's the issue when I run on trails, muscle fatigue.  My longest rail run so far is I believe 14 miles.
This course which is at Lake Texoma I hear is technical for the first few miles, then gets easier.  But it is an out-and-back, so all of that technical stuff will be waiting for me on the way back.  Why it's called a 'loop' but it's out-and-back trail, I don't know.  Hope I don't get lost on the 'lost' loop.  I just looked at the results from last year and the average completion time for my age group was 7.5 hours.  Good lord.  I hope time passes out there. For now, I have plenty of time to get plenty of trail miles in.  We'll see what happens. 
Trail Running
     I'm hesistant to call myself solely a road runner or trail runner, so we will just go with 'hybrid'.  I started running trails to help strengthen myself and help marathon time and now looks like I may have three, maybe four 50k trail races done by the end of the year.  Add that to two road 50Ks, and 4 full road marathons will be done by the end of the year.  Funny because I went into 2014 saying I would 'chill' the whole year and run maybe one marathon in the spring and one in the fall.  I'm starting to love the trails more and more.  My first experience in a 20K trail race on New Years day was a very good one.  Like the little girl on the AT&T TV commercial said, "We want more, we want more"

Fitness and diet
     I got way off track with my cross training last spring.  I have access to 4 different gyms.  Yes, four.  So I have no excuse not to throw in some weight training, spin, racketball or whatever.  I've got that back up and running.  Back to that 4:00 marathon thing again.  I'm not in a hurry to break it, but my new philosophy is that doing some of this extra stuff and getting myself to optimum fitness will increase my chances. Same thing with diet. I had been eating everything and everything last spring and into the summer.  I've recently gotten myself back to elimating the junk and I'm already feeling the difference during my runs.  My body is my hobby.  And I ain't gettin' no younger either.

So that is all. For now.  Stay tuned, more to come.

The Voice

     I've been wanting to share this for a few days, however my schedule has been just ridiculous. I hadn't had the time to share much through this blog.  I'm sure that will change as we get into fall marathon training soon and closer to a couple of highly anticipated trail races I have coming in September and October.  But first, a revelation I had Sunday before last.  

     I was feeling rather lazy that morning and usually I'm up and out of the house hitting the trails on Sunday mornings.  I decided to sleep in this time.  I had pretty much a Saturday off after grinding out a 24 mile training run Friday night into the wee hours of the morning.  So I opted to do my Sunday run on the streets of Carrollton, but I did not want to wait until evening to do it.  Why not afternoon?  I hadn't really run any true hot weather runs in a couple years.  There was a reason why.  Because when I did, it was miserable.  I felt I was a much smarter runner now and would be able to handle it.  I chose a route that had plenty water fountains on it.  On the schedule was 12 miles.

     As I set out on my trek, I was very cautious of my pace.  There was a slight haze over the sun so the heat was not a total beat down.  I didn't even check the current weather conditions before I started but I'm going to guess it was around 85-90 degrees and humid.  It had just rained a couple hours before.  I had just moved to this area of Carrollton two weeks ago however my run routes hadn't changed much, I would just be running on the opposite ends of them.

 The first half of the run was not hard at all, I kept a steady slow pace.  It was an out-and-back route, I got to the turn around and start coming back.  The only difference is that now I'm facing the sun and most of the route going back was uphill.  I wanted to keep the same pace and push through.  I have gotten so accustomed to running with another person or group, it was like I never really had to push myself.  The run started to get really difficult. That's when a voice popped off in my head.

     "Hey" it said.  "See that tree over there?  Make it to that tree."  I see the tree, maybe 200 yards away, I kept pace slinging sweat everywhere and made it to the tree.  "Okay, now run to where you see the trail make a bend to the right."  I follow the instruction and get to the spot.  Then the voice says, "The third tree just past that red car parked up there."  I see what what is going on now.  "Okay I got you, I see what's up", I told the voice.  This went on for a couple miles.  Then I see a steep hill coming.  "Hey, I said.  What about that hill coming?  What now?"  The voice cuts me off in mid sentence and says, "Just run to the fire hydrant fool".  I get close to the fire hydrant which is halfway up the hill, I'm panting and sweating more and look to the top of the hill when the voice blurts out "Don't look at that, look at the fire hydrant like I said!  Don't worry about what's past that fire hydrant until you get to it.  One thing at time.  And stop looking at that Garmin, it won't help you."  I made it to the fire hydrant.  And wait for the next instruction "Okay, get to the STOP sign."  So segment by segment the voice helped me through the run.  I was so into it, I never really paid attention to where I was on the route.  "Okay, now look at your Garmin." it said.  I looked and I only had one mile left to go.  "Cool down mile", the voice said.  "Don't worry about thanking me."

     Now I really don't have voices popping off in my head when I run.  Umm, let me stop lying, yes I do and sometimes I do talk to myself when I run.  True story, but more importantly it helped me with something else.  Recently I took on a new role at my job and have been having some anxiety centered around all of the new responsibilities and higher expectations that came with it.  I had to remember that first of all my manager would not have recommended me for it if she didn't think I could do it.  What this run helped me with is to remember that if I tackle each job a task at a time, I can make it through no matter how tough it gets.  We hear that cliche that athletes use taking it "one day, or one play at a time", but it really is how to have steadfastness in achieving something despite difficulty or delay.  Needless to say, these past couple off weeks at work have kicked my ass.  But applying what I was reminded of on that run, I am right on point with my duties.  So excuse me now while I make it to this next tree.

-TNT-