Low Mileage Running, High Mileage Driving

I had planned on entering all my training from last week in the same style that I had come accustomed to in 2008. But after finishing the entries in my personal training log, I made an executive decision to wait another week before posting my training. This is partly due to the embarrassment of publishing a training week that didn't top 30 Miles, and partly due to the lack of enthusiasm or entertainment that I would be able to provide for the people reading it.

I do hope to be around the 40 Mile range this week and if that happens, I promise I'll detail the weekly log on here. Despite the fact that my mileage was low, I did attend practice this week for the first time of the indoor season. I didn't workout or anything, but I wanted to renew my membership and make an appearance to ensure my teammates that I hadn't just shown up for free bag day and then run off to another club. I am indeed an official member of the NB Boston team once again and intend on representing them to the best of my ability in the coming years.

Speaking of that, I would like to run some big races in 2009, but I do not have an official plan for what races those will be. In fact, I don't even have an unofficial plan yet. The only plan right now is to maintain an injury free state and regain fitness as efficiently and effectively as possible. Much like Pete Rea talks about here, I am making "process goals" for myself. As you all now, there are many things that we cannot control in this sport and therefore, it is sometimes difficult to accomplish our goals of running PRs or winning races. However, we can accomplish our "process goals", because they are within our control. I may not be able to control how healthy I'll be in 2009 or how fast I'll get, but I can control the amount of stretching I do. I can control how many times a week I do my core routines and strength exercises, and how often I follow up with chiropractic, massage, or physical therapy, etc. If I can accomplish these "process goals" then I believe I will have a better chance of accomplishing those "outcome goals" of running PRs and qualifying for national championships. There is always a chance that I still may fall short of those outcome goals, but as long as I know I did all I could through these process goals, then it will be easier to keep driving forward at the end of the year.

I have certainly allowed myself to think about possibilities for races in 2009, but I do not want to put deadlines on my fitness progression and force myself to do something I'm not ready for. I'm not sure if I can speak for any of you, but I know I have fallen into this habit in the past. As I alluded to in my upcoming races sidebar on the right here, I want to keep many of the national championship races in mind throughout 2009. I certainly want to arrive at that national stage ready to compete at a national level. I will just need to figure out which ones will give me the best benefit.

Moving on... as many of you are aware, I've done a bit of traveling in the past few years. Maybe not as much as some people, but certainly more than the average person, especially the amount done by driving. So I guess I have built up somewhat of a reputation for being able to put in long hours on the road, because I have recently been recruited to make another road trip. One of my former employers and good friends, Tony, is moving from New Hampshire to Colorado and needs some help. On this coming Sunday, I will be getting into a moving truck and driving straight through from Boston to Denver while switching shifts on this 36 hour drive. This will be the third time that I've made this drive so I know what to expect. Once we arrive in Denver, we'll unpack the truck and fly back to Boston on Wednesday. It will surely be an interesting experience and I'll try to post any entertaining stories here when I get back.

For those of you that fall along that driving path between Boston and Denver, I will not be able to stop for visits unless you meet us at a gas station off of Rt 80. However, I'll try to at least give you a call as I'm passing through.

Lastly, I wanted to mention that I've started doing some advertising on this thing. Since I haven't had a lot to say here lately, I figured I'd at least point you towards some other blogs with interesting material. Scroll down the sidebar on the right and you'll find a few of the blogs that I spend hours reading every week. I didn't specifically ask these people if advertising their blog was ok, but I used my own judgement and just put up the ones that seemed like they would be ok with it. Please let me know otherwise.

More to come so stay tuned.