Motivation

I have not posted anything since the Rochester Marathon. I had a decent race that I turned into a training run after mile 16. Starting at mile 12, I vomitted for two miles. Between miles 16 and 17, I cramped up probably from dehydration. I still finished the marathon in a respectable 3 hours and 53 minutes. Since that day, I have continued to train as I have another marathon on October 3. I have, however, lacked motivation. I feel good when I run, I just find it hard to push myself out the door. I also keep having a cramp in my left hamstring. It will hit at random times. I will push through all of this. I will reach my goal. I once had a coach tell my that pain is mostly mental. I agree. There are cases when pain represents an injury or something serious, however a lot of the time it is really mental. I have work to do on my mental game. I have to push through this block and push through the pain of this cramp. I will succeed.

"Tapered and Shaved"

Back when I was a competitive swimmer, I owned a t-shirt that had a logo that said “Tapered and Shaved” on it. I would only wear that t-shirt in the week leading up to whatever big meet I had prepared for all season, usually regionals or state. It was a sign that all the hard work had been done and now I was in a state of letting my body recover enough to perform at its peak in the meet. Well, here I am four days from the “big” race. If I had the t-shirt, I would be wearing it now. I have put in many forty and fifty mile weeks of running. I have run fast at track and slow on my long runs. I have mostly watched what I ate. I have had good runs and bad runs. It now all comes down to Sunday. I can not control the weather or the condition of the course. I can only control my attitude and how I respond to the conditions around me. All of the physical preparation is done. It is now all mental. Any workout I do now will have no benefit until a week or two after the race (although it could have a detrimental effect if I overdo it). I know I can hit my target, I also know it is going to be hard at times. I think this is what makes it all worthwhile though. Another saying I hear often is “anything worth having is worth fighting for”. I will be fighting against doubts and insecurities and mistakes of past races. I will also be fighting against fatigue. Mostly I believe that on Sunday I will be well prepared and I will be fighting for my target and winning. After all, I am “tapered and shaved.”

13 Days

13 days until the Rochester Marathon. According to all my training as a coach, I know that any training I do from now until race day will not benefit me until after the race. This means that I can not do anything now to improve my marathon, but I could hurt my marathon if I get injured. I am now in full taper mode. In the past when I entered taper made, I would usually get grumpy and become difficult to live with (Just ask Dana-Sue). This time around, I am actually looking forward to the extra rest. I know I trained hard and that I am prepared physically and mentally for this race. I am being extra careful not to injure myself. I am looking at what I eat as fuel and not food. I am starting to hydrate even more than normal. I have set lofty goals for this race and I do not want to fail. I know there will be pain involved in the race (it is a marathon after all), but I want it to be fun. I want to savor the fruits of my training. And whatever happens in the end, I will praise God for the opportunity given me to run this race. He deserves all of the glory.

Four Weeks and Counting

We are now less than four weeks from my “A” race. To be honest, I am starting to get a little nervous. I had a disastrous 18 mile run yesterday that had me “limping” in the last two miles. It was an extremely hot morning that had me losing over eight pounds of water weight on my run. This left me completely dehydrated for most of the day. There would be times that different parts of my body would just curl up in a cramp unexpectedly. By about 5:00 pm, I was mostly back to normal, just exhausted. I have a 20 miler this weekend and then I coast into the marathon. To be honest, I am looking forward to the rest. I think I may have over trained just a little as I pushed myself to get up on days that I was extremely tired. I also pushed some of the pace and mileage limits a bit the last three weeks. I have run close to 50 miles a week for the last few weeks. For the next four weeks, I will be getting more sleep and watching even more closely the fuel I put into my body. Yes, this means no Goose’s Acre for the next four weeks, but it will be well worth it when I reach my goal. And believe me there will be beer and “chips and salsa” after I accomplish my goal.

This weeks training has me resting today and Saturday. Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, I do six miles each morning. On Wednesday, I have track (800’s with a short recovery). It is going to be a great week.

Rochester Marathon

Exactly one month from today, I will be running in the Rochester Marathon. This has been my planned "A" race for the last six months. All of my training and preparations have been for this race. I have one tough week of training left, and then I start a three week taper period. I am prepared physically for this race. I am mostly prepared mentally. It is the emotional side that I am still preparing. The last "A" race I prepared for was Ironman Arizona in April 2008. As I recall, I was not fully prepared emotionally until the morning of the race. It was then that I peaked in all three areas. I am really looking forward to September 13 when everything finally comes together. This is going to be fun.

Frailty of Life

This is sort of a deep post. Last week at Goose’s Acre, as five of us sat around the table enjoying a cold beer after a hard track workout, the topic of staring death in the face came up briefly. The topic was aimed at me and Micah, the other lymphoma survivor sitting at the table. It was brought up by my coach, who had a very bad wreck almost three years ago that totaled his truck. I guess it was meant to let us reflect on how we look at life now that we have seen death face to face. I have not ever discussed this with Micah, but I remember as I heard my cancer diagnosis, I immediately went to the idea that I would not survive. I looked at cancer as a death sentence. Over the next six months, there were moments when I knew I would survive and there were moments when I knew I was just weeks from death. The hard fact is that we all die, it is just a matter of when. Do I look at life differently? Some days I do. I have a great desire to help others with cancer. I believe my survival has given me a special opportunity to help others who may be facing the same thing I faced. Life is precious and fragile. After Coach Bill’s car wreck, he said you never know what is going to happen. He is so right.

This weekend Dana-Sue and I were have lunch with a friend of ours when we received a text message. There had been an accident in Florida and two of the swimmers on The Woodlands Hurricanes swim team had been killed along with their grandmother. In an instant, these parents had lost two sons and a mother. Their lives have changed forever. Life is so frail and my prayers go out for them. You never know what is going to happen.

I write this to remind each of us that each day is a gift and we are never guaranteed another day. I close with a poem written by the late Jonathon Blais:

Live…more than your neighbors. Unleash yourself upon the world and go places. Go now. Giggle…no…laugh…no… Stay out past dark and bark at the moon like the wild dog that you are. Understand that this is not a dress rehearsal. This is it…your life. FACE YOUR FEARS AND LIVE YOUR DREAMS. Take it all in. Yes, every chance you get…come close. And, by all means, whatever you do…get it on film. Jonathan Blais, aka ALS Warrior Poet, August 30, 1971 - May 27, 2007

Tuesday Night Track

Tuesday Night Track was great. I did a two mile warm-up followed by three miles at race pace, then a one mile cool down. Everything flowed perfectly last night. For the first time in weeks, I got my stride and actually felt the run flow. My mile times were 7:02, 7:01, and 7:00. They were supposed to be between 7:15 and 7:30; however I ran as I felt and I felt good. Another factor in the fast pace was the triathletes that were doing repeats at a faster pace than me. I would start out at the prescribed pace, but when they passed me, I would get caught in their draft and end up speeding up. I left track satisfied though as I felt much better in the run than I was expecting to. It was almost too easy.

Tonight I get to help coach my TNT group. I look forward to it.