Julia's Rollers

This morning I read the latest post on Julia's Blog. As little as we have in common in the real world, Julia and I have shared the same love-hate up-down good-evil relationship with our running over the past few years. While Julia and I have known for some time that we have this in common and have offered each other support and understanding, I don't think either of us has been able to lead the other to a place beyond the conflict and torture we subject ourselves to in our running. This may or may not help my friend Julia, but I am going to share a revelation about myself that I recently discovered:

My running has improved recently so I am mostly running from a good place. Last Friday though, I woke up in a bad place. Angry at the world and anxious to go run my way out of the darkness. I got dressed, put on my shoes and grabbed my watch. I was going to run my entire 10 mile run at a 6:30 pace even if it killed me. I was going to kill myself running. (Metaphysically) As I put my hand on the doorknob it occurred to me that if I went out that door, I could throw away all of the recent gains I had made in my running in one run. I have called it my "competitive drive" but I realized at that moment that I have often used my running as a means of punishing myself. That led me to realize that I want my running to be a positive force in my life for as long as I am able to run. I know that every run will not be a great run. I know that I will struggle at times and triumph at times. But I am determined to never again use a run as a means of punishing myself. I closed the door, changed out of my running clothes and took a day off from running.

So, Geezer/Julia, you are a gifted runner. You know that running has become part of who you are. You know that when it all comes together you are capable of posting times that many runners can only dream about. BUT, you must also know that your running can be used for positive or negative. I now believe that my running failures are the result of putting my running to use for negative purposes rather than positive. So take off your watch. Map out a beautiful run and count the number of trees in bloom or introduce yourself to a neighbor you've seen many times but don't yet know. Running will save you if you let it.

I'm off to get in a quiet 10.

Nice easy 10 miles completed. Met Max, Man of the Jungle, today. He's the old guy who's dog barks at me every day. He spent 2 months clearing all of the brush from the corner down the street so we could see cars coming before we turn! My goal for next week is to meet Kitchen Timer Man. He's the gentleman in the fishing hat and vest with a kitchen timer clipped to his pocket. I've told him I like his timer but now I need to know his name. Then I'll have 3 alibis: Jack on the bike, Max of the Jungle and Kitchen Timer Man!

Rockin' the Rollers

So Steve mapped out a new route for the rollers. One look and my knees went wobbly. Increased the distance to 13.3 miles, doubled the number of hills and doubled the elevation change of those hills. Gave us a mile of recovery then tempo/steady pace back to the start. Overall pace for the workout worked out to 7:14. 7:04 on the 5.36 miles of rollers! 6:41 on the tempo/steady portion. I am finally back in the conversation. This kind of workout will bust up the train but after today, I know I am on board. Amazing to me that just a month ago, I was being dropped on our base building runs.

Jack on the Bike

Today was a post Warhurst recovery run of 10 miles. I decided to leave the watch at home and run easy. It was plenty warm but windy. The running itself was uneventful but today was a day for random thoughts and observations.

The first thought was a recollection of MY advice to Jeff at the beginning of the Austin Marathon training: Pick one day a week to push your pace and just get the mileage in on the other days. I am going to follow my own advice in 2009.

Second item, one half mile of beautiful asphalt on Western Oaks replacing the dreaded chip seal.

Third: I saw the old guy on his bike wearing his green safety jacket that I see 80% of the days that I run in my neighborhood. I don't know why but it triggered a paranoia episode. How would I ever "PROVE" that I was running for 1 1/2 hours if I needed an alibi? I run the same route nearly every time and see the same people but I don't know anyone's name or even where they live.

Four: Shortly after turning around I saw the guy on the bike again coming toward me. As he got close I crossed the street turned around and matched his speed. I introduced myself and he said "Jack". "Nice to meet you Jack" "I see you out here nearly every day, how far do you ride?" "30 miles a day. Keeps me going." "Wow, that's impressive. Well, now that I know your name I can say 'Hi Jack' instead of just 'Hi'" "Have a good ride Jack!" "Have a good run!"

Five: I was very happy for the rest of the run knowing that Jack on the Bike is now my alibi!

Warhurst/Warhurts NAILED

The workout was too long. 5 repeats of 1 mile loops at tempo pace and 1200m on track at 10K pace. The paces were too fast. 6:29 pace on the mile repeats, 6:09 pace on the 1200s. The last time I attempted this workout was prior to St. George 07. It was 3 or 4 repeats working off of the 3:15 marathon paces of 7:04 and 6:41. I puked. I didn't finish it. Today I completed all 5 repeats averaging 6:27 miles and 6:09 pace on the 1200s. It hurt. But damn it felt good to get the job done. I just found my St. George log: 3 repeats and I cut the last 2 to 800s on the track. Miles were 7:40s and track was 6:44 pace.

Cold as a witch's ***

Eileen is still home from school and Ruth Anne has GRI training this week so I had to get my run in early. At 5:45 the temp was 34 and breezy. I selected a heavier long sleeve shirt and light jacket, socks, gloves and hat and started out. I didn't start the watch today and planned to run as slow as I could comfortably run. Well, I never warmed up. My feet were cold, my hands were numb and my nose ran like a faucet the whole time. The sunrise was spectacular but I was so cold I was only able to acknowledge it not revel in it. Anyway, 10 miles for the week. Tomorrow is the Warhurst workout. I HATE this workout. I have never been able to put together a complete Warhurst. We will be doing 5 repeats of: 1 mile loop at tempo pace (6:29), a short recovery jog to the track then 1200m (3 laps) at 10K pace (6:09), a short recovery jog to the start of the loop. Maybe I can nail this workout tomorrow and remove the Warhurst from my most hated list. The only question now is who to pace off of, Mike or Bruce.

Sunday Services

Today was a beautiful service on the roads. I waited a bit for the sun to come up full to cut the chill a bit. Decided to wear tights and no watch. I think I saw a temp of 36 with 20 mph winds out of the north shortly before heading out. On the final 2 miles of yesterday's run we ran on the Lady Bird Lake Trail and my feet have some bruises from rocks that in trainers I would never have noticed. So I wore my Hyper Speeds today. Normally Sunday is a slow run after a long Saturday run but today I felt GREAT. I saw my neighbor walking his little dog that barks at me, he said Hi for the first time in 2 years! I saw a new jogger in the neighborhood and commented on how beautiful a day it was. She agreed! I saw the new distance runner in our area but we were both pushing the pace and went past each other so fast we only had time for a nod. I need to find out who he is. All of the area churches must have canceled services today because there was NO traffic. Everyone I saw had a smile and a wave for me. The air was clear, the sun was bright and I felt like a million bucks. After my turn around, I began thinking again about my race at Boston. How do I want to run it? Bank some time on the first 15 miles? Go for even splits? Can I manage a negative split at Boston? When I came back to the present I realized I was really trucking. No watch so no known pace but I felt fast.