Getting back on track

Sunday, December 16th

2:00 PM - 9 Miles, 60 min
Winchester - back roads

Please excuse the pun above, but it seemed fitting for this entry. Not only am I starting my indoor track season, but I'm also be getting back into a regular training routine of daily mileage, getting proper sleep, eating right, etc. All things that have not occurred in the past week.

After Club Nationals, the plan was to take about 4 days off. Well, that was extended a bit. With the combination of getting ready for our "New Balance Boston Festive Occasion", the ridiculous amounts of snow we've gotten, extended hours at work, and just the holiday season in general, that 4 days turned into 7. It's not a huge deal but I was certainly anxious to get back out there.

So the party last night went really well. We had a great turnout and people seemed to have a good time. I got up this morning after a not very solid 5 hours of sleep to shovel our cars out of the driveway and send Karina on her way home before the weather got worse. Then after doing a little clean up work around the house and relaxing on the couch for a couple hours, I finally got out for a run. The weather conditions certainly weren't ideal but it didn't matter; I was glad to be running. Even though it had only been a week, it felt like it had been forever since I last laced up those shoes. I decided to run up through Winchester and stick to the back roads where there was little traffic and I had a little more space to get out of the messy stuff. The legs felt loose and fresh and I just took it easy as I thought about the upcoming season.

This is the official start to my track season and I have to say I'm getting pretty excited. I have switched all my focus from hills and grass and mud and other XC fun, to pace and speed and fluidity on a small rubber oval. Learning the difference between a 32 and a 33 second lap and feeling that change of pace in every stride I take and every muscle I move will be mastered through many practices and races on a uniform and always consistent medium - the track. In cross country you can't always measure success based on a time; you always need some sort of comparison or benchmark to go by. In track, however, the times are about as black and white as they come. My performances will have an instant meaning to anyone that looks at the results. I will constantly be measured against performances of other runners across the country; some which I've never raced against. Yet based on these numbers, we will be placed in an order that will dictate fairly accurately which athlete is better, a comparison that can only be changed by racing that person. This comparison of numbers is accepted universally because there are very few outside factors that would affect them. No terrible weather conditions or course abnormalities, just a 200 meter oval that will be pretty much identical at each venue we encounter. This certainly doesn't mean that "racing" is negated, there will be plenty of that this season! Many fierce battles and exciting finishes lie ahead, but in the end, we will all be measured by the numbers. So what will my number be? Only time will tell.

Welcome to track season!