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Thursday, August 29, 2013

Being Smart

Sometimes you have to make the right decisions, knowing it goes against your manliness.  Today was one of those days.  After the intenseness of floor hockey yesterday, there was another floor hockey game scheduled for today.  I was totally going to go... til I felt that my Achilles tendon wasn't doing so well.  I mean, it felt like it would crack if you bent it enough, you know, the healthy kind of crack where you feel good?  Well, I tried that but it didn't want to crack... and it started hurting a little more.  I knew that after having a major cramp right before going to bed, I might have needed some rest, but after waking up and feeling that pain, I knew I would have to make today a nonrunning day.

Doing the right thing could be the most simplest thing, or the most complex.  The thing is, either way, you make choices.  Now was it the best thing for me to sprint my heart out yesterday playing floor hockey?  Probably not... but it still was one heck of a speed/recovery drill.  Was it what I needed? Not exactly, but it was nice to run with people and push myself... and might have also gotten me another Cross Country runner.

Instead of leading 'the perfect runner life' I've decided that I've got more than just one thing on my plate, and out of everything I have before me, the select things I've decided upon should be my main focus.  In focusing on all of them, my goal is to become the best I can be in whatever I do, and whatever I do, I do it in order to better myself in all those ways.

There's more to life than running, like family and friends, and to keep that in my mind is very important because I've heard of stories where some people devoted their entire lives to running, and that tore up their lives.  We're definitely here to do more than just that.  There's a lot to living than the one passion.  Let's continue on that path, be smart, and work hard (and don't forget to have fun!)

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Getting Back on My Feet

The 3 weeks of no running has really gotten to me, because I was still sore from yesterday's little run.  However, I needed to get back into my running.  I woke up this morning at about 3:40, and stayed awake the whole night, even though I tried to get back to sleep.  With that, I went to both my lecture classes, and afterwards went to Johnson University to coach the cross country team.

After jogging about a mile, I had the team run up a hill multiple times.  The problem with this hill was that there were two parts to it.  The first part was a short hill which leveled off pretty quickly, but the second part was a longer hill and it... took some time to get up.  The problem wasn't the length, but the leveling off from the first hill, because that messed up the pace.  As the runners went through all that, they learned how to run conservatively while running strong at the same time.  After they managed to reach the top of the hill, they would jog around for about 500m, and then go back down to the hill and walk the first hill, wait a little bit, and then go out again.

We repeated this drill quite a few times, pushing each runner to go on until they felt like they would hurt themselves if they went out again.  This also helped each runner understand themselves more and gave them the choice to push themselves even more or not with that understanding.

As for me, I only ran a few times, and left it at that because I didn't want to push myself too hard.  Afterwards, I did go to the gym and played floor hockey for about 2 hours.  Now THAT was a workout and speed work (unlike this morning's strength workout)

But here I am right now, tired, sore and very sleepy.... it was a good day today.

Monday, August 26, 2013

1 Month Later

It's been a month since I've posted on this, but it's been one very difficult month.  First of all, I had a family emergency which caused me to go to Japan for the last three weeks.  Because I was going to the hospital every day, I never had enough time to go out for a run, so for three weeks, I did nothing, and in three weeks, I gained almost 10 pounds.  Now in 3 weeks, a lot can happen... and when you don't run for that long and have the same appetite because previously you were running over 10 miles a day... you gain a little weight.  Also, unfortunately, because of my quick trip to Japan, I had to miss my Leadville race.  Sad, but I needed to do the right thing.

Now I just came back at 1:20am after being awake for over 24 hours (and then slept in the plane on and off for 3 hours), but I went to sleep at my friends house and woke up, went to school, went through a lab, and then afterwards went to Johnson University, and coached my first day of Cross Country.  During that time, I jogged a little over a mile and then ran 4 miles with the team as I helped them all with their form.  It was a harder 4 miles, but it wasn't one that would make me sore the next day.

Now that I've finished with my first day back and my first run in 3 weeks, I feel like it's time for me to get back in shape and train for another 100 miler.  I know there's one I'm interested in running in early January, and another 24 hour race 2 weeks after that... so I might do one or both of them.  For now though, I'll train for a 50 mile race in September.  Only have a month to train!  31 Day Transformation?  Sounds like a plan.  Lets do it.  (but take it easier because I've taken off for 3 weeks)