How Did I Get Here?

Quote of the Day: “Lottery: a tax on people who are bad at math.”

Things have kind of broken down in the running department. It’s like I lost my will to train.

It may be a combination of factors, not the least of which was the heat of the summer. I know that’s bullshit since I have aspirations for Badwater but the heat just wore me down to the point that I didn’t WANT to run. Each day it got to be more and more of a chore.

A few weeks ago I went out on a Saturday and got about ½ hour into a 3 ½ hour run when I just snapped. I was done and nothing I could do or say to myself could convince myself that I should continue. I stopped, turned around, and started to walk back. On that walk I decided a few things.

I was not going to run the JFK this year. Nor was I going to run my first 100 miler in April. I would push this off for a year to get better conditioned and lose some weight.

And to be honest, that was the elephant at the tea party. I simply cannot continue to run at my current weight. So it just seemed logical to concentrate on the weight loss and then as a reward, get back to the distance running when I didn’t feel like a Clydesdale.

Here is the new regiment I came up with. Monday, Wednesday, Friday I will work out. Tuesday, Thursdays, and Saturdays I will run. Sundays are off.

I will still be running the Marine Corps Marathon on October 30th but my next race after that will likely be the Wild Wild West next year.

Pushing off the big races a year also has another benefit: the 100 miler in April of 2007 will be a few months before I retire from the Marine Corps so I can view it as a graduation exercise. I like the concept that I will be culminating my Marine Corps career with a 100 mile run.

Free Advice for Today: “Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a stroke of good luck.”