Back to reality?

Monday, March 24: 0 Miles - Tired from traveling, long day at work.
Tuesday, March 25: 6:00 PM - Workout @ Reggie w/ Ryan C
22 min w/u, 6 x Mile w/ 2.5mr, 22 min c/d
4:52, 4:50, 4:50, 4:52, 4:49, 4:48
Wednesday, March 26: 8:30 PM - 6 Miles, 44 min around the park
Thursday, March 27: 8:30 AM - 10 Miles, 72 min in the Fells
Friday, March 28: 12:00 PM - 9 Miles, 60 min w/ Mario
Saturday, March 29: 9:00 AM - Tempo @ Lincoln w/ Ryan C and Justin L
25 min w/u, 4.6 Mi @ 5:25p, 5mr, 4.6 Mi @ 5:05p, 24 min c/d
No. 1 - 24:48 (5:27, 5:39, 5:26, 3:04, 5:09)
No. 2 - 23:10 (5:06, 5:15, 5:06, 2:55, 4:47)
Sunday, March 30: 9:00 AM - 12 Miles, 80 min w/ Carter, Maloney, & Fenton

Week Total = 66 Miles, 2 workouts, 1 day off

If you read last week's post, you probably could tell that I had a pretty good week of training down in North Carolina, at least in comparison to previous weeks anyway. Spending a week down there really opened my eyes to all the things I could be doing, and all the things I should be doing to make myself a better athlete. It was a great experience and it really motivated me to get on the ball and go after this thing. Then I got back to Boston and it was back to reality for me... back to the cold weather of New England, back to late night workouts, and back to long days at work that leave me tired and frustrated. There were no afternoon naps this week, there were no casual 2nd runs in my free time, and there was not much of the extra stuff that had become a part of my training routine the week before. I will say that I had some pretty good workouts this week, which I'll talk about in a bit, but I just wasn't able to do everything I wanted to do. I wanted to keep my mileage fairly high... but I fell short, I wanted to get in at least two core sessions... but I only did one, I wanted to continue with the drill routines... but I failed to do any, and I wanted to feel great on every run... but I didn't. Once again, I find myself limited in the amount of time and energy that I can put into this sport. And knowing that there are so many guys out there that are doing more than me is bothersome. I want to feel like I am doing everything I can to improve my chances of success.

So what does this mean? It means I have to find a way to fix this. I am starting to really come into form with some of these workouts and I'm feeling pretty good in the process. Tuesday was a very solid workout in which I felt fatigued, but was able to just keep hitting the times without a problem. It was very doable and I never found myself struggling to get it done. Saturday's tempos were great! I showed a lot of strength in those miles and was happy to be running comfortably with Ryan and Justin. These are very good workouts to key off of in the next few weeks as I continue to build the base of my pyramid. I'm also healthy right now (knock on wood) so physically, I am able to put in the volume that I was lacking this winter. As all these things start to come together, I realize that this season has the potential to produce some great results. If I'm smart about everything, I believe I can run those times that have been floating around in my head all year. I need to fully embrace this point in my training and this point in my life. I want to make the most of this opportunity. In order to do that, I'm going to have to put some things aside and take some risks. This is my big leap of faith. Because I believe in myself more than I ever have before, I can finally take that leap and not be worried about where I fall.

In conclusion, I'd like to thank some amazing people that helped me sort things out this week and put my head back on straight. It took a lot of long conversations, but in the end, I came to some pretty good realizations. To name a few, those people were: My parents, Rupprecht, Driscoll, Gwyther, Tony, Mario, Karina, and Kevin. Without them, this would have been a lot harder. So once again, I thank you for giving me such a strong foundation!

Stay tuned!

"If you're really interested in seeing how good you can be, GO ALL IN! If you're gonna do it, don't do it half ass; get in and do everything you can possibly do (legally) to be your best. Because otherwise, why would you do it?"-Pete Rea, Zap Fitness