Giving myself the green light

Friday, August 31st

4:30 PM - 10.5 Miles - 68 min
Fells - middle to upper res

Finally running more comfortably again, hamstring is still a little tight but a lot better than before. I've been doing a lot of stretching and strengthening exercises this week and I think they've helped a lot with my flexibility and fluidity. I feel like I can start moving up the mileage a bit more and really get going on the season. I wanted to make sure I was rested enough before bumping the mileage up more because once I get going, I'm not gonna want to back down. So I'll still progress slow and take all the necessary precautions but this gives me the green light that I've been waiting for and I just hope things continue to feel better as the weeks progress.

On a side note, Flotrack is doing a prediction contest for both the Womens 1500m final and the Mens 5000m final on Sunday. Whoever is the closest gets a ton of free Osaka track gear. So these are my predictions:

W 1500 winning time - 4:02.91
M 5000 winner - Craig Mottram -13:17.64

...We'll see how it pans out!

Long day and feeling better

Thursday, August 30th

8:30 AM - 6 Miles - 40 min
River loop

Feeling better today, still started out feeling pretty sluggish as usual but the last few miles felt pretty relaxed and fluid. I had a long day at work today and tried to fit in a lot of tasks before and after so I'm pretty exhausted right now and will be asleep in a matter of minutes. I have tomorrow off which is nice and I'll have some tome to relax. However, being the track nerd I am, I'll get up at 6:15 tomorrow to watch the womens 1500 and mens 800 semis. So I'll call it a day for now and touch on a few more things tomorrow.


Quote of the Day:

"He lost count of the laps and sprinted a lap early. If any of you watched it online you probably noticed him tying up on the last lap. That’s because he sprinted the lap before and then heard the bell and realized that he had another lap! He made it through and that’s all that matters but I’ll work with him over the next two days and teach him how to count!"
-Kara Goucher - Talking about her husbands 5000m qualifying round

Setting goals... Man against himself

Tuesday, August 28th

0 Miles - 0 min

Trying to rest a little more and kick this hamstring issue.


Wednesday, August 29th

6:30 PM - 8.5 Miles - 56 min
Fells - West side, new trails

Felt better today after taking a day off and doing a lot of stretching exercises. Still not great but better and felt good on the run. I ventured off on some new trails today which were cool but they were a bit rocky for my liking so I think I'll just stick to the smoother trails that I've been accustomed to.

So I finally compiled my season goals and sent them to Kevin yesterday. They are still preliminary and therefore, I won't share them here just yet. Sending these to Kevin makes them a little more official then when they were just ideas floating around in my head. I know now that I have to really start working towards those goals and be ready to complete any workout Kevin gives me since I know they'll be based around the goals I've given him. I know these standards that I've set are attainable this season but I also know that it's going to take a lot of work to get there. This makes me both motivated and nervous as I get started this season. I'm really excited to get going on training and really work hard, but at the same time I know there are going to be some tough days ahead and I'll have to make sure that I stay on top of my game and don't make any mistakes along the way. Setting big goals is great because it makes you work harder and become more ambitious in this sport but it can also make some good performances seem somewhat disappointing. So I know I have to be patient this season and not get down on myself when I don't get everything I want all at once.

We start practices next week and even though I'm not starting in on workouts just yet, this is still the start of our season and everything is going to be moving faster and faster after this so I need to make sure I'm ready to go. I'm definitely looking forward to starting up though... meeting some new people that are joining the squad this year and also just getting back with some of the old veterans that I haven't really worked out with since last fall. We have so much talent on this team and with most of the guys back to focus on cross this season, I know we'll just keep feeding off of each other and accomplish some pretty amazing things. So look for New Balance Boston to mix things up this year and start setting the stage for years to come.

Quote of the day:

"People can't understand why a man runs. They don't see any sport in it. Argue it lacks the sight and thrill of body contact. Yet, the conflict is there, more raw and challenging than any man versus man competition. For in running it is man against himself, the cruelest of opponents. The other runners are not the real enemies. His adversary lies within him, in his ability, with brain and heart to master himself and his emotions."
~Glenn Cunningham

Easy Miles

Monday, August 27th

6:00 PM - 9 Miles - 60 min
Fells - East Side w/ LaRosa, Dan, and Carter

Easy day in the fells. The weather was much better today and it was nice to run with those guys and not go too crazy on the pace. I felt pretty good today, left hamstring still pretty tight and doesn't seem to be loosening up very easily. It's starting to get annoying but I think I just need to give it some time and maybe get it worked on a bit. I had today off and was able to get a bunch done and watch the World Championships coverage quite a bit. The 10K and 1500m races were pretty good and I can't wait for the 1500m final as well as both the mens and womens 5K races.

News of the Day:
Baala disqualified from 1500m final and 3 others allowed in (including Nick Willis)
Austrian Steeplechaser OK and released from hospital

Ouch!

Performances of the Day:
Kenenisa Bekele - World 10K champion and arguably the greatest distance runner ever!
Bernard Lagat - 1st in 1500m semifinal (51.3 last lap!!!)
Abdi Abdirahman - 7th in the 10K (ran with the leaders through 7K)

Week 2 Summary

Sunday, August 26th

9:00 AM - 9 Miles - 60 min

Fells - East Side w/ Carter and Maloney

Very humid again today, started off feeling pretty sluggish in the first mile or so but loosened up nicely and felt pretty comfortable throughout the run. Had planned on running 70-75 min but decided to cut it shorter due to the heat. Kept things pretty low key today, did some cleaning around the house and watched more World Championships coverage.

Week 2 Training Log:

Monday: 7.5 Miles, 57 min - Breakheart Res

Tuesday: 4 Miles, 26 min - River Loop

Wednesday: 9.5 Miles, 60 min - Fells

Thursday: 6 Miles, 39 min - River Loop

Friday: 0 Miles, 0 min - Needed a rest day

Saturday: 4 Miles, 27 min - River Loop

Sunday: 9 Miles, 60 min - Fells

Total: 40 Miles, 6 runs, 1 day off

Less than planned but it's still early!

Lastly, I just want to mention again what an amazing performance Kara Goucher had in the 10,000 meters yesterday. Her 3rd place finish was the highest by an American at that event in World Championship history. Prior to this, the US has only had 4 major championship medal appearances in any distance above 5000m. The others were Marianne Dickerson (83 WC - Marathon), Joan Samuelson (84 Olympics - Marathon), Lynn Jennings (92 Olympics - 10,000), and Deena Kastor (2004 Olympics - Marathon). So this is huge for US distance running and Kara deserves every second of this glory. Many more races to look forward to this week so let's hope this is just the beginning of USA success in Osaka.

Photos of the Day:

Busy Day

Saturday, August 25th

7:30 AM - 4 Miles - 27 min

So I had a lot on my to do list today and got up early to try to get it all done. I started some laundry and cleaning at around 6:30 AM before getting out for a run. I also had the world championships on at the same time to try and multi task. I then went for my run and was planning on doing 6-7 miles but it was already so humid and I just wasn't feeling that great in general. Legs are still feeling tired and the left hamstring is still tight... but I felt better after stretching everything out really well. I then went grocery shopping to pick up some food for the little Osaka gathering I was hosting after work and got back just in time to watch the women's 10K final, which was an amazing race by the way! So I tried to eat breakfast and get ready for work while watching the race and ended up being a few minutes late because of it.

Work was pretty steady all day and I was feeling kinda tired throughout. After getting home and prepping for the Osaka gathering, people started showing up and despite the uncomfortable heat, burning the plantains, and having some technical difficulties with the live broadcast, I think people had a pretty good time and were able to watch some good track footage. I plan on DVRing most of the TV coverage throughout this week and try to watch it all eventually. We may also have another get together like the one we had tonight since there are plenty of races left to watch and I have a ton of leftover food to go through. So I'll let you guys know when and where if that happens. Anyway, that's it for today. Carter, Maloney and I are meeting at the Fells tomorrow morning for a long run at 9am if anyone is interested in joining us.

Performances of the Day:

Kara Goucher - 10K - 3rd Place!
Kim Smith - 10K - 5th Place

Day off for me, Day 1 for Osaka

Friday, August 24th

0 Miles - 0 min

I decided to use today as a day off. I wasn't feeling any major ailments but I had a lot of things to get done both before and after work, and with this being the first day of the World Championships, I figured a day off wouldn't hurt. I'm still trying to keep the mileage low in my second week back so I'm okay with taking a zero at this stage in the game.

A few things to note for today. First of all, I was not pleased to come out of work today and find that my car had a flat tire due to a screw penetration. So I had to dig out the donut and jack (after first cleaning out my cluttered trunk to get to it) and change the tire before heading home. This added an extra 30-40 minutes to my expected 15 min commute and allowed me to barely make it home for the start of the mens marathon. I was trying to get things done while watching the marathon but ended up staying pretty much glued to the computer and only left to make dinner (which I ate in front of the computer screen). I was amazed at how slow the race started out and how quickly people were dropping off the pace. I know it's been hot there but these guys were dropping like flies. The winning time ended up being the slowest winning time in history.

Later on, I was able to watch the heats of the womens steeple, which were very competitive. I want to congratulate hometown favorite Anna Willard on an excellent performance but unfortunately, just missed making the final by about 4 seconds. Jenny Barringer also had a great race placing 7th in her heat.

Next the 1500m. Webb ran a smart race and stayed out of trouble in a bunched up race. The times were slow as usual and finishing laps were blistering. Lagat also made it through to keep the US hopes alive of getting 2 medals for the first time in WC history.

So not a bad start for the US. I can tell already that I'm not going to be very productive this week with all the coverage available. There will be 47 hours of TV coverage and pretty much every session is covered online. With track media usually being pretty sparse and me being a growing addict, I'm gonna try to watch as much of this as I can. And for any of you still reading this, we are actually having a little gathering at my place this weekend (starting on Saturday at 5:30pm) to watch more Osaka coverage and feast on some Japanese culture. We'll have plenty of food and beverages so feel free to stop by for some entertainment. We'll also get together for a long run on Sunday and continue to watch Osaka after a large brunch. I guess that's it for today so I'll be back tomorrow with posts on my own running and not just Osaka.

Quote of the Day:

"JC EXPERIENCE v. DAILY RUNAROUND DEATHMATCH! Winner takes all aspects of loser's blogging style! Let's get it on!"
-M. Driscoll

Finding a quality massage therapist

Thursday, August 23rd

11:30 AM - 6 Miles - 39 min
Mystic River loop

Felt pretty good today. Left hamstring and gastroc are still feeling tight so I started off easy on the way out and came back at a pretty good pace. The tightness isn't too bad and I've been working on it myself with stretching and self massage but I'd like it to loosen up a bit more. I was hoping that the massage I had earlier this week would have done the job, but I ended up getting more of a 'feel good' massage than a 'solve the problems' massage so I plan on trying another guy in a couple weeks and hopefully that will be more of what I'm looking for.

Late post tonight since I worked later and had some stuff to get done so I'll leave this short as I'm exhausted and need to get some shut eye. I'll talk a little more in depth tomorrow as we head into the weekend and the start of the World Championships in Osaka!

The 36 hour trick

Wednesday, August 22nd

6:30 PM - 9.5 Miles - 60 min
Fells - Lower res to middle res (from Bellevue)

So I did what I like to call the 36 hour trick today. Yesterday, I was feeling a little sluggish and just did an easy morning run. Today instead of going out for my run in the morning when my legs were still feeling a little heavy, I waited until this evening to run and give my legs about 36 hours of rest. This definitely made a difference as I felt well rested on the run and was able to cruise through the fells feeling great and running a little further than planned. The cool thing about this is I get a day and a half rest without actually taking a day off from running. Not that taking a day off is a terrible thing, it's just nice when you don't have to do it. I remember talking about this a few months back with one of my teammates and I remember her reply vividly... she said, "You know you've gotten serious about your running when you start talking about how many hours of rest your getting between runs instead of how many days". I guess this means we're gettin serious. Meanwhile, the weather has been phenomenal here; absolutely perfect running conditions. I've been reading some blogs from the athletes in Osaka and all they talk about is how miserably hot and humid it is there. I'm certainly glad we're not dealing with that here... as most of you know, I tend not to fair well in the sticky conditions.

On a side note, I figured out what my regular work schedule is gonna be like. I think it works pretty well around everything that I'm doing and I encourage anyone reading this to come by and visit me at any of the times listed below. It can get kinda slow in the evenings sometimes so it would be great to have visitors.

Starting Sept 3:
Mon 10-7
Tue 10-4
Thu 10-4
Fri 10-7
Sat 12-5


Quote of the Day:

"We've got a great day, a little wind, 65 degrees, 30 percent chance of rain, and a 100 percent chance of pain!"
- Andrew Carlson

Listening to my body

Tuesday, August 21st

8:30 AM - 4 Miles - 26 min
River path

I planned to do two runs today but was feeling tired after a long and busy day so I decided to call it good at 4 miles and get some stuff done around the house instead. I figured an easy day wouldn't hurt either and would make tomorrow's run feel even better. I need to make sure I listen to my body more and make sure things are feeling good on a daily basis. I don't want to be putting in miles just for the sake of hitting a weekly number, especially at this point in the game. We've got a long way to go and no time for injuries.

I'm getting pumped for Osaka this weekend and hope that the NBC/Versus/Flotrack coverage meets the expectations and excitement of the races. I think this will be one of the best World Championship showings in a long time by US distance runners and with the way the sport has been building up over the past year, I think we can expect some great things in Beijing! Watching this sport grow so much in a time when I am fully involved in it is so motivating and makes me want this a little more every day. Despite the fact that this makes it that much harder for me to reach that "elite" level, I think I will accomplish a lot more because of it.

Quote of the Day:

"When your goals are lofty, you become so much stronger and wise by pursuing them. By preparing meticulously for an ultimate goal, even if you fall a little short, you are far closer to reaching it than if you didn’t give it your all."
-Deena Kastor

Such great heights

Monday, August 20th

6:30 PM - 7.5 Miles - 57 min
Breakheart Res with Mark, Matt, Dan, and an unexpected addition of Jess

Today was a good day. I had the day off from work and was able to get a lot done. I was very productive around the house which was needed, including cleaning the entire fridge which took me over an hour as some of my recent roommates like to leave old food hanging out in the back where no one can see it. I also went in for a massage this afternoon at a place down the road from my house. The lady that worked on me was very nice and did a good job but didn't really apply the pressure I was looking for. I had a feeling that's how it was gonna be but figured I would try it anyway. It certainly helped and felt great, but once I start getting into higher mileage and workouts, I'll need someone that can get down into those muscles a little deeper and do what needs to be done. So I'll keep looking around and try to stick with males (or at least larger women).

Then for my run, I had planned to meet up with Mark, Matt and Dan up in Melrose/Saugus for an easy run at Breakheart. Then just before heading up that way, I received an unexpected call from Jess saying she was looking for a running partner. So we went up together to meet the fellas at Carter's place and had a great run. I was hoping we'd get on the trails a bit more but it was nice just the same. I felt really great all around and even though it was a conservative pace, it felt absolutely effortless and pain free. From there, I brought Jess home and after poking in for a visit with two of our favorites (Liz and Gabe) we had some excellent steak tips and pizza leftovers for dinner. As usual, it was nice to hang out over there even for just a short while and catch up on our recent happenings.

Lastly, as I was driving home, a song came on that I've recently taken a liking to called "Such Great Heights". It's a good song and happened to be a good fit because after a great day I was at 'such great heights' and ready to go higher!

I'm ready for great things now but know I have to be patient and let them come when the time is right. I just hope that if/when that time comes, I'm ready to make the right decisions and choose the path that best fits me.

Quote of the Day:
"Every passion has it's destiny!"
-Billy Mills

Song of the Day:
Such Great Heights - The Postal Service

Solo long run

Sunday, August 19th

10:00 AM - 11 Miles - 72 min
Fells - Middle res to Upper res (from Bellevue)

I had a nice long run this morning. I had originally planned on having some company on the run, but that didn't end up working out so I guess I was able to manage on my own. It was a gorgeous day and a very comfortable temperature for a long run. I went on one of my favorite loops and it didn't let me down. I then came home and proceeded to make myself a large stack of pancakes, which I felt no guilt in polishing off completely. The rest of the day was pretty relaxing and uneventful. I helped my new roommate Randy move in and get settled so I guess that was productive. He seems like a cool guy and should be a good addition to the house. I have tomorrow off from work as well so I plan on getting a lot done during the day and will hopefully have a good post on here tomorrow night.

To sum up the weekly mileage log:

Monday: 6 Miles
Tuesday: AM-4 Miles, PM-3.5 Miles
Wednesday: 7.5 Miles
Thursday: 45 min on the stationary bike
Friday: 7 Miles
Saturday: 5.5 Miles
Sunday: 11 Miles

Total: 44.5 Miles (7 runs), 45 min on the bike

New Shoes Saturday

Saturday, August 18th

7:00 PM - 5.5 Miles - 35 min
Along the river

I had just cracked 400 miles on my running shoes and they were starting to feel a little worn down so I busted out a new pair today for an easy run. I'm sticking with the 767 as it seems to be a good show for me. This is probably my 4th pair of this shoe and the only problem I've had in that time is my PF but I don't think they're related. I remember the days when I used to only go through 2 pairs of running shoes a year... so I guess it's a good thing we get them for free these days. Anyway the run tonight felt pretty good; just a nice and easy jaunt along the river and then the plan is to go long tomorrow. Also, I determined I need to start doing some more core work, I'm feeling a little soft around the mid section and realized I haven't been doing much for it. Now that I have an easier work schedule, I'd like to start some regular drills and core at least once a week as I'm building up for cross and indoor. When I was down at Zap, I picked up a bunch of great exercises and want to incorporate them into my training more this season.

Every little bit helps!

Keeping things low key

Thursday, August 16th

11:00 AM - Stationary Bike - 45 min
Level 5 at 120 rpm

I decided to use today as a cross train day to keep my mileage down for the week. I'm planning on doing a long run with Jess on Sunday and didn't want to be too high this week. I went to Tufts with intentions of doing some pool running only to find that the pool was completely drained of all its water. So I went to the gym to use the stationary bike instead. I hadn't done the stationary in a while and forgot how long 45 min feels on it... it seemed to take forever. I got my heart rate pretty high and felt good. Left gastroc was tight the rest of the day.

After work, I met up with some of the usual suspects (minus 1) at the Burren and had a stellar time. It was nice to get a big group together again and sing along to 80's hits with the Swinging Johnsons. Hopefully we'll have many more gatherings to come.


Friday, August 17th

7:00 PM - 7 Miles - 45 min
Fells - middle res loop

Felt pretty good. Back has been a little sore from the adjustments at the chiropractor which they said is normal but it's still uncomfortable. Plantar was also feeling a little sore toward the end of the run so I did the beloved ice bath when I got back. I'm probably gonna start looking into massage therapy this season so if anyone in the area has a local favorite, I'd love to hear some recommendations.

On a side note, fellow Maine-iac, Anna Willard had a spotlight workout on Flotrack today and is looking awesome going into Worlds next week. I can't wait to see how much further she can go this season and beyond. So good luck Anna and take some names!

Quote:

"I'd say she's exceeded a lot of peoples expectations - hers and mine included."
- Mike McGuire (Anna's Coach)

Ahh, I love the good days...

Wednesday, August 15th

6:30 PM - 7.5 Miles - 48 min
Fells - middle and lower res

Today was just an all around good feeling day. I started out with my second chiropractic adjustment first thing in the morning and was in and out pretty quick. The doctor I've been working with is very young and also went to school for physical therapy so I feel pretty comfortable talking with him about various injuries and running. Also, it doesn't seem like he's screwed me up too bad yet so I guess I'll go back on Friday with an open mind and listen to what they recommend for me down the road.

After that, I came back home and had some time to kill before going into work so I gave in to my latest addiction and browsed Flotrack for a while. I'm sure most of you reading this know how cool this site is, but if you haven't seen it, definitely check it out. It's probably the best thing to hit distance running since removable spikes. It'd strongly recommend watching the Flotrack Lueven 800 - it's absolutely hilarious and Andrew Carlson may be the coolest commentator I've ever seen! ...Anyway, getting to the point (I get sidetracked easily)... Since I'm such a huge fan of this site, and am always looking for more distractions, I decided to create a profile on their flotrackr section and start posting times and pictures there. I probably wont use it for logging miles since I already have this one going but I may recap some of my races on there. Basically this new feature they've added is like Facebook for runners; it has most of the same features as far as messaging and writing on walls, with the added bonuses of being able to enter race results, personal bests, logs, etc. It's pretty cool so I encourage anyone to check it out and of course add me as a friend to view my profile.

After setting that up, I went to work and had a great time working with Tony and Sarad. Sarad is pretty cool to work with because we usually just hang out and talk about how we'd love to make it big someday and not having to work anymore. Today we probably spent an hour talking about which pro runners we thought were really respectable and which ones are just plain duchebags ...always a good time.

After work, I came home and had an awesome run in the fells ... it was just great weather and I was feeling really comfortable cruising through the trails. I started thinking a lot about the upcoming cross season and how great our team is going to be this year. I also crossed paths with Steve Meinelt on the run which was pretty cool. I hadn't seen him in quite a while and certainly didn't expect to see him up in those parts. For those that don't know, he's been pretty successful this past year and has gotten some decent press in Running Times and NE Runner.

Lastly, I was going to close things out today with a quote from Nick Rogers but Mario beat me to it and used the exact quote that I was planning on. It definitely holds true for myself as well as several of my friends and teammates. So instead of that one, I'll just use a quote that was directed towards him instead... It's simple but also substantial.

Quote of the day:

"Do you know how you run 13:28?
-Know you can do it!"

- Bill Dellinger to Nick Rogers before he ran 13:18 and qualified for the 2000 Olympics

Just an ordinary day

Tuesday, August 14th

8:00 AM - 4 Miles - 27 min
Easy run along the river
8:30 PM - 3.5 Miles - 23 min
Wild Oats loop after work

So I worked open to close today (10-8) which will be the longest day I'll ever have to put in at this job. Yet I still had the time and energy to get in a couple easy runs and do a few things around the house. I haven't really talked about my new job on here yet so I'll take a moment to discuss it for those that don't already know. I just started as the store manager of Runner's Edge and I have to say, it's a pretty sweet gig. It's a small running retail store in Melrose, MA which is a super easy commute for me and the hours are so much better than what I was putting in at CDM. On top of that, I work with some great people and really enjoy dealing with the customers we have. Everything is so relaxed there and I never feel like it's actual work that I'm doing... I just talk to people about running and let them know what I think. This is pretty much what I've been doing for years; I've just never been paid for it before. I'm also learning a lot of new things with this job which helps expand my knowledge of the sport while also becoming better at my job. I'm really looking forward to this next year with both this new job and running and I hope I'm taking the right actions that will allow me to accomplish what I've set out to do.

Other than that, nothing too exciting ...just a (new) ordinary day for this kid. See ya tomorrow.

The back of a 50 year old?!

Monday, August 13th

5:00 PM - 6 Miles - 40 min
Nice comfortable run along the Mystic River path and up towards sandy beach.

So I went to a chiropractor for the first time in my life on Friday for a free trial my teammates had told me about. Even though I haven't had any noticeable problems, I figured it wouldn't hurt to get checked out and have some x-rays taken to see if there were any problems that I didn't know about or things that I could adjust to help my running. The first day was mostly introductory stuff and talking about general health issues. I then went back this morning to actually go over the x-rays and determine if I needed any adjustments. While going over the x-rays, they told me that my hips were properly balanced which meant the orthodic I use was making the right compensations for my shorter leg. However, they then went on to tell me that my back was mis-aligned and my head alignment was 3cm in front of where it should be. This apparently has been putting a lot of pressure on the curvature of my back and has compressed several of the discs. They actually compared the wear on my vertebrae to that of a 50 year old man! This was a little discomforting to hear and certainly wasn't the clean bail of health that I was expecting to hear. So they did some "adjustments" on me, cracking, crunching, and snapping all sorts of things. We scheduled 2 more visits for this week, after which, we'll determine if long term corrections are necessary. Even though I wasn't thrilled about the diagnosis, I'm glad that I'm looking into this and making sure I leave no stone unturned when trying to improve my overall performance.

I had a nice long conversation yesterday afternoon with a close friend of mine and while walking along the Charles River, we talked about all sorts of things as usual. At one point in the conversation, we had been talking about all the injuries and problems we've had and she said something that kind of stood out to me... she said, "do you ever wonder if all these problems you've had are trying to tell you something?" I know she didn't mean that I should quit running or anything that drastic but it was certainly something that got me thinking the rest of the evening. I know that I don't have the perfect stride or perfect running build or an olympic gene pool so I know that I have my limitations in this sport. I look at people like Dathan Ritzenhein or Alan Culpepper and know that I'll never have the build or stride that they do. But I also know that they've had many imperfections and obstacles along the way as well. I'm not going to just give up on my dreams because of a few imperfections. I won't let any physician or therapist or even my own body tell me when I should give up on this thing that I love. That's a decision only I can make. And I'll assure you that I'm not quitting on this thing anytime soon. I've seen people get through so much more than I've dealt with and become more successful than I could even fathom. So now if I hear someone ask, "do you think your body is trying to tell you something?", I'll simply answer, "Yes, It's telling me this isn't gonna be easy." ...but then again nothing great ever comes easy.

Something good, something great

Sunday, August 12 - Day 1

11:00 AM - 9.5 Miles - 64 min
Fells - Figure 8 loop

So today was my first day back to running after taking a full week off. I was just planning on an easy 7-8 miles but it was such a nice day and the trails seemed better than ever so I found myself going further and feeling really good. I kept the pace pretty relaxed in the beginning and then worked down to a little quicker pace in the last few miles but nothing faster than 6:30s. The legs felt great and other than a little tightness in my right calf, I had no concerning issues. This is the first time in a while that I can say I'm starting my fall season "in shape" and usually I have no trouble starting at low mileage and working my way back into shape. Now, however, I think I'll have to be a little more conscientious about holding back and not going too hard too soon.

I ended my outdoor season with the Beach to Beacon 10K last Saturday and was very grateful to end on a good note by running a solid race and a big PR. I wasn't forced to take time off due to injury or feeling burnt out but with a long season coming up, I knew a good break was necessary. I used this time off to relax and recharge the batteries and really take a step back to think about what I want to accomplish this year. I'm making all these decisions and commitments to make myself a better runner but I haven't really sat down to plan out how I'm gonna do it. And as I think about it, I don't really know what I want to accomplish this year. I have so many goals and dreams but I have a hard time putting together a goal time for this season because I don't really know how far I'll get this year. I guess we never know what we are able to accomplish until we actually get out there and do it. Usually, we can take past seasons and PRs to help gauge where we think we should be in the next season and go from there. But I don't want to do that this year. I don't feel like my last season was where I should have been and if I keep thinking about those times that I ran last year, I feel that will hold me back mentally and I wont have the confidence to go after the performances I'm capable of. So I'll still take some lessons from these past seasons and apply them where needed but I'm not going to base my future goals on what I've done in the past year. Instead, I'll make a fresh start and base my training on where I believe I should be this season and keep those goals in the front of my mind. I feel I've made all the right decisions in preparing for this year and my mental attitude is better than it's ever been. I'm ready to work hard and pour my heart and soul into this thing that has already defined so much of who I am. All I can do now is let time take it's course. "So I wait... for something good, for something great!"

Song of the day: Penny on a Train Track - Ben Kweller

A new beginning

So I've been making a few changes in my life lately. I recently made a career change that will allow me to be more committed to my training and hopefully produce better results in races. As part of this new commitment to running, I am starting this blog to document my training and experience along the way. I have always kept a running log but never on the internet or in as much detail as I am planning with this. I feel that this will be just one more added element in my commitment and desire to become a better runner and make that appearance on the national scene.

This will also serve as a way for me to keep my friends and family updated on what's going on with my running without having to send out email updates all the time. I have had so much support over the years from some amazing people and I want to be able to let them know how things are going without bothering them with long emails about myself. Thus, with this blog, I can post everything I want about how my training is going and what's on my mind; and those friends and family can tune in to read about it whenever they wish.

Having said all that, I'll start this off by recapping the past few months and where I'm at right now. Coming into the outdoor season, I had some pretty high aspirations in mind and had no reason to doubt my ability to achieve them. However, life happened and disappointment soon followed. On top of battling an injury (plantar fasciitis) early in the season, I had a job that was not complimenting my training needs. I knew early on that something had to change in order to get to where I wanted to be. So I decided to put my engineering career on hold and put more emphasis on my running by finding a job that would adapt more to my desired lifestyle. I was still able to get through these obstacles and complete what I considered to be a fairly successful outdoor season but was still far from where I wanted to be.

I've seen so many of my peers make it big in this sport while overcoming some of the same obstacles that I've battled over the years and I have used this as inspiration. If they can do it, why not me? I have every reason to believe that I can reach that level of competition and make a name for myself. I have a lot of work ahead of me and hopefully a lot of great experiences to be had along the way. This marks the beginning of that journey.