13.1 Friday

It's Friday morning, about 7:30 here in my little corner of the world. My Friday routine is pretty much normal most weeks. I don't have to work today, so I get up and go to the gym, stop by work and make sure that the day starts right for the people who work for me, (actually it usually equates to very little work, lol), then I do a 13.1 mile run. There is a course that starts less than a quarter mile that they use for the Crossroads Half Marathon here in September, so it works perfectly. I had my worst half marathon I had ever run on that course, and I actually don't care much for it. It's partially streets and partially bike trail, but there are way prettier places to run in Ft. Collins. You would figure that a guy armed with a Garmin might be able to find something different, but I also like the challenge of running it over and over. Making it a tedious actvity. I feel that it makes me stronger. Takes away the distraction of looking around, and makes me concentrate on my run, listen to my body.

Running is one of the most enjoyable things I do in my life, probably THE most enjoyable. Training is not. It gives me satisfaction, it makes me feel undescribable, it builds my mind and body into what it is. But if the act of training is enjoyable, I'm not training hard enough. Not preparing myself for all possiblities. I was deadly afraid of my last 21 mile run before PHX. I was afraid it would go bad, leaving me with shattered confidence and no time or way to bounce back. My running guru told me the opposite. If it goes bad he said, then see how you react, how you respond, how you are able to push through. Bad dress rehearsal, great opening night I've been told too. Racing is fun, running for the sake of running is fun too. Speedwork, hills, intervals, not so much. Ha, ha, ha.

Off I go for todays standard 13.1, same course, same scenery, same music probably too. Have a great day everyone.