"Pace less and Hammer more"
This is meant in the best and cleanest meaning of all words...
As the days dwindle to the marathon start, part of me just wants it to be over, the other part of me is hoping for a blizzard and a few more weeks of training. Considering that in Texas our winters are very mild the chances of even a wintry mix is slim to none, I'll start my taper after a long run today.
Most blogs this time of year are full of resolutions and goals, this should be inspiring to me, others good spirits are like an air born virus most of the time. They stream on the Internet and plant themselves into the surfers blood stream like a string of meningitis. Unfortunately for me I'm not feeling it. This year will be a year for contentment as my goals are to stay satisfied without feeling stagnate. With another child only 5 months away insurance issues enter into the picture for a financial savings. Also, as the engineering/constructablity needs grow and opportunity's open, then close in front of me because of wanting to be home with the family. The growing trend for people with my background is to go overseas and return only a few times a year for brief visits. Destinations such as Iraq, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Algeria, Indonesia, Kosovo, Sudan, the list goes on. None of these are vacation destinations, and that is compensated with excessive amounts of money. But does the compensation equal to the milestones I'll be missing? After being involved in the same relative discipline since graduating high school, working from the lowest level of field production to my current status. Now finding that limitations and being established because of my age, this is understandable but at the same time hard to swallow. It seems my resume needs to be presented and reviewed before every discussion so my thoughts will be validated. I'm viewed as a "kid" even in my early 30's because my counterparts are minimum 20 years older, creating a scar on my bottom lip for having to bite down so f'ing hard when hearing about prehistoric methods within the field.
How boring is this? Oh well, no one reads this crap anyway. OK, so back to my new motto, sorry for the boring rant of a dolt, ie. ME...
OK, so I've somewhat planned my race schedule for the year, my next step will be to devise a workout plan. My longest races will be 70.3 so I was given the advice to "pace less and hammer more". As my fitness increases the races seem to get shorter, the workouts are longer and more intense. This is the part I enjoy talking/thinking about! A year ago I ran a 10K with the goal of not walking, afterwords I was so drained I could hardly walk. Now a 10K is warm up. The first time my wife drug me into the pool after not swimming competitive for almost 15 years my body was almost in cardiac arrest after a simple 50 yards... Now 500 is my typical warm up.
Hope every ones new year is off to a great start. Now I'm off for a run where I will be going against my motto, but the spirit of "hammering" will be echoing in my hollow head...
Au revoir
I have a very highly developed sense of denial. Gwyneth Paltrow
