...But things are starting to come around.
I'm sure my readers (what few are left) have been getting sick of my ranting and constant frustration over the past few weeks, as this season has not been going as well as I thought (or hoped) it might. Even though I felt I was doing everything I could to avoid these setbacks and making conscious adjustments along the way, it seemed that nothing was going right... both on and off the track. And worse yet, I felt like it was all beyond my control. If you've been reading all along, you've seen that this has presented a lot of frustration in my 2008 campaign. For those loyal patrons, I apologize for those depressing entries. This blog has been my outlet through all of this, and a way to voice my thoughts about my running and its many influences. Even though I may have seemed down at times, I never gave up through this and tried to learn from each stumble I took and gather whatever positives I could from each situation. I have to say that this effort was also aided by a tremendous support group that's been behind me all along... the ones that have taken each stumble with me and helped pick me back up again. These select few individuals would set me straight whenever I drifted away from my focus and lost perspective of the important things. So I thank those that were a part of that, and you all know who you are!
Now, after several weeks of frustration and having to scale back my training, I have finally started to feel like a runner again. I spent this past week just doing easy mileage on the treadmill. Nothing fast, nothing on the track, just easy distance. Through this process, I was able to get the rest my body needed and gradually work into feeling comfortable and consistent on daily runs. After a week on the rat wheel, I went out to Lincoln to do a tempo run and possibly get a little feedback on where my body was at. The biggest thing I wanted to get out of this was a hard sustained effort that was comfortable and controlled. I was pleasantly surprised to find that 5:10 pace felt fairly relaxed. I was breathing heavily toward the end, but never went outside my comfort zone. I covered the 4.6 mile loop in 23:53, which was just 17 seconds slower than I covered that course in september in a similar workout. I considered myself in pretty good shape in september, so to run relatively close to that time at a comfortable effort was a good feeling and means that I'm not in horrendous shape.
I'll continue to keep my recovery days short and easy and shoot for about 60 miles in this next week as I head into the Ireland races. Once I return, I'll probably take some down time, make sure everything is healthy and balanced and then start building up for outdoor. As I've said before, outdoor is the main focus and has been all along. That's where I'll have the chance to make things happen and that's where I plan to find some answers.
Lastly, I'd like to call attention to some NB Boston-ites that hit the roads down in Foxboro today at the Old Fashioned 10 Miler. On the mens side, Mario and Ryan came in right together not too far behind race winner Terry Shea. And for women, Christy Mae and Karina both put up some solid performances. I've said it before and I'll keep saying it... we've definitely got some studs on this team!
Congrats 'mates!
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