MOTIVATION/INSPIRATION

Last night was the final clinic before Honolulu and the speaker was Doug Curtis. Now sometimes motivation comes from the most unlikely places and other times it comes form where you expect. Last night was the latter.
Just hearing Doug's bio is enough to make me want to log more miles. Over 200 marathons, in almost every country. Countless victories. Now don't get me wrong, I am no Doug Curtis. But in a sense I am.
Sure this is marathon 2, not 200 and these shoes have never run on foreign soil, but we are both marathoners. We both know the wall, the bad spots, the runners high. That feeling of accomplishment and excitement when we cross the finish line. We both know the drudgery of early morning runs, late night 3 milers because that's all we have time for. The feeling of , oops I shouldn't have eaten Chinese last night!
Weather or not we run at 7 minute pace or 10, we are runners. We love the sense of doing something that hardly anyone else does. The awe and wonder in peoples eyes when they say you ran how far?!?! We push ourselves when others would stop. We run with ice on our faces, water in our shoes, and Gu in our pockets. We run for ourselves, our kids, for records, to win, to not win, to finish, to keep the waistline down, to prove people wrong. The list goes on and on, but it all boils down to one thing....

We all decided to get up off the couch, to put down the remote and head out the door. Putting one foot in front of the other, one step at a time we have run countless miles. Everyone of us deserves a pat on the back, so consider this your atta boy, way to go!!!

You guys rock and inspire me!

R.P.D.

T MINUS 11....

11 days! Are you kidding me?

For one fleeting moment during my 6 mile run yesterday I knew I was going to be ok. I felt really strong the entire run, even though I was on the "dreadmill". I personally waste too much time on what could happen, or even what will happen. What happens, happens and I will deal with it when it does. The absolute worse thing that can go wrong is that I can't finish the marathon or get injured. In which case I will still be in Hawaii and I can go to the beach and work on a tan or better yet do some souvenir shopping for the kids!
So bring it on, give me your best shot! Even if it knocks me down I'll brush myself off, get up and keep moving forward. There is no other choice when it comes down to it, is there? Finish what you started!!!!

R.P.D.

BRAIN BUCKET...

An old friend of mine used to say he needed a brain bucket after a night of heavy partying. How good it would feel to get a bucket of ice cold water, drop a couple aspirin into it and plop the old grey matter in. Give it a rinse, maybe a splash of powder or talc and put it back all fresh and new.
I have been pretty consumed in stress lately and it is amazing how it saps my strength, desire, and urge to run. On top the the usual concerns about the upcoming marathon and lack of training, I now have all this other baggage to deal with.
I know running helps, Saturday is a perfect case in point. I left my house at 7:20am and the last thing I wanted to do was run. I almost talked myself back into the house a half dozen times before I got to Stony Creek. Even after I got there I felt like going back home, but after much debate, mostly with myself, we decided on 9 miles and the trails. My head was swimming by mile 2 and I felt as though I was in need of a med tent. By mile 4, every bump in the trail seemed to grab me by the foot and say quit already will ya. Something funny happened at mile 7 after we got back on the main path and after a potty break. I didn't feel bad anymore. My headache was gone, the worries weren't there, that stress knot in the back of my neck was gone. For the briefest of moments I was happy just to be where I was and nothing else mattered. We got back to the warm room and coach Ken and I decided to go back out for a couple more miles. A mile out and a mile back. I could have done another 6 miles maybe more, but that is not the point. The point is running is my brain bucket. My link back to sanity.
I had a really good weekend and spent most of the day yesterday making seafood stock and paella which ended up being too spicy for the kids, but that was ok. They got to have their dessert first and we got to play I spy while we waited for the frozen pizza to cook. And it all started with an 11 mile on Saturday which almost didn't happen. Strange how things work out!!!

Thanks for stopping by,
R.P.D.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING...

To everyone who takes the time to visit my blog, Happy Thanksgiving!!! Hoping everyone has much to be thankful for.


R.P.D.

16 miler...

16 miles....2:46:27...

Overall run better than I could have hoped. The morning was cool, but not cold with virtually no wind. Decided to give the trails a try at my usual Saturday morning running locale. After about 5 miles in the woods I developed an issue with my running tights. I didn't really notice until I stopped to have a Gu. Oy, it was rather uncomfortable to say the least. Luckily it didn't get any worse throughout the rest of the run. Back out on the main loop after 7 miles in the woods we had just about 2 miles to go to the water stop and there we ran into a couple of our fellow TNT'rs. The next 3 miles is a boring out and back to the nature center that I usually dread. Saturday it went by nice and quick and before we knew it we were back at the water break again. 2.5 more to go. Even though the nature center miles went by quickly I was beginning to feel the miles and from 12 to 14 the chafe was back. I just wanted to be finished by this point. Something clicked in and the last 2 miles, although I didn't time them, were the fastest of the day.
Special thanks to Tim, who ran with me. Most of you know how much easier it is to run with someone and I am fairly positive I wouldn't have made it without his help. I do feel a little better mentally about December, but I still need a few more runs like this weekend before I start my taper.

Thanks for stopping by,
R.P.D.

TGIF....

So it is Friday, the end of another week and all that much closer to the marathon. I am sitting here wondering what I should have for lunch and dinner that will help me in my long run tomorrow wishing the day was over.
I got 2 runs in this week. 5.6 miles and 4.5 miles the latter on a treadmill. Pace was 9:15 to 9:20. My scheduled run for tomorrow is 20 miles, but I am only doing 16. Did I really just say that I am only running 16 miles?

Something on the top of my brain (after reading Bill's blog).. my weight. I have always been kind of big. In the summer between 7th and 8th grade I grew 7 inches and put on about 25 lbs. So at age 13 I was 6'1" tall and almost 210 lbs. 29 years later and I am 6 foot(shrank an inch) and 210 lbs, albeit distributed a bit differently. Last summer while training for my first marathon I was 197 lbs. During a very lazy winter, where I still ate as though I was training for a marathon, I put the weight back on and it just won't come off. It is a little frustrating and carrying around the extra baggage takes it's toll. My goal is 185, not by Honolulu, but in general. I would, however, like to get down to 200 by December. I am not a dieter, but I don't eat fast food, sweets, etc. Short of a serious increase in miles I am not sure if 185 is doable and/or maintainable. I guess only time will tell.
Time to recommit myself. No more excuses! Put up or shut up! Tomorrow I have 16 miles to run and come hell or high water I have 26.2 to do on December 9th....
Nothing but a step for a stepper!!!!

R.P.D.

CAN I DO IT?.....

That is the question I keep asking myself, can I do it? Can I really run 26.2 miles in less than a month? Now that fundraising is all but finished I need to face the harsh reality that I have not been putting enough miles in and no matter how much I try to make up in the next 30 days I am far, far behind where I need to be. Both physically and mentally.
Saturday morning was supposed to be the first run of over 13 miles for this year, 16 to be exact. After only 12 miles, a small portion of which I walked, I gave up. It was easily the most miserable run ever. Even though it was cool, the air seemed to be heavy and I was finished by mile 2. I ran almost the whole time alone and I had to take stock in the fact that come December I could be in for a long, long day. Part of me wants to go out and run 10 miles every day this week. The other part wants to give up and say what's the difference. I am struggling to find a middle ground, a happy place if you will! With every day that goes by without a run that place is harder and harder to find. I know physically I can do it, start and stay nice and slow. Keep my pace at just over 4 1/2 hour pace, hydrate, fuel, yada yada yada! My issue is going to be keeping my head out of it. I need to stay focused mentally, to push myself forward, to not listen when I get a little tired, more importantly to not listen when I get a LOT tired.

All my thought are muddled together, when they line up I will continue this rant. Thanks for stopping in!

R.P.D.

P.S.
check out Bill's blog. Link to the right------>
Just ran his first sub 3 hr marathon in Richmond. GREAT JOB!!!!