No need to lie... I ran 22 miles today only so I could get 100 for the week. My knee was pain free the entire run. Jeff ran with me which made the time fly by and I learned a new word- "felty"... ask Jeff.
I have been doing a few runs each week on measured courses with no watch and no HR. I think I'm satisfied with getting just that close to a caveman approach. And although 100 miles in a week really is an arbitrary number in regards to physiology, I do believe that I draw a lot of confidence from logging them. I think my physiological sweet spot lies somewhere in the 100 mile week range. And there is a little bit of sensicality (I made that word up) to running 14 miles a day. Lydiard talked about the benefits of running 1:30. Which is close to 14 miles for a fit runner. It's not until the 1:30 mark that your body is really forced to adapt with capillarization, glycogen preservation and increased fat metabolism. Endurance, after all, is the capability of sustaining a prolonged stressful effort. You can't do this by not pushing your limits. And everyone's limits are different for sure. I remember in 1996 when I was trying to quit smoking and I went out for a 2 mile run and ended up needing to walk the last mile. We all start somewhere but we should also be striving and reaching for something better.
(here comes the digression of my thoughts) Scream and fight and kick to do your best and never let people bring you down. Jeff and I ranted and raved a bit (as usual- but we always agree) about the haters of the world, the people who hate not only you and I, but themselves. They need to push you down to raise themselves up. I used to thrive on that confrontation because I thought the anger "fired me up" and it somehow made me train better, but I see the folly in my old ways. I was wrong. By letting people in to my head it only darkened my thoughts and limited my clarity on the meaning of all of THIS. It also limited my training and spent a lot of energy that I could have used for better things like recovery and healing. In eastern medicine it is believed that your attitude and thoughts have just as much impact on the prevention of disease as us westerners see medicine and popping a pill. And if you dig a little bit you can make a connection- obesity is a mental (emotional) disorder.. enough said.
A strong and positive attitude is critical for your health and this really does mean avoiding mean people and, in my own case, avoiding certain websites and media outlets. There are two things that I avoid like poopy flavored ice cream... the evening news and letsrun.com. I know these two things will bring me down- so I don't go there.
I would tell anyone interested in reaching their best in sport (and in LIFE) to put as much time in to bettering yourself as a person as you do as a runner. The muscle between your ears is the starting point for everything you do. From lacing up your shoes- to choosing a workout- to lifting your hand to flip off the guy who almost hit you in the crosswalk. Choose to smile and wave at the guy and you may change how your whole day pans out! Your attitude can start a day off on a great path or it can lead you towards a terrible day... it's your choice.
6 comments:
Well said!
Chcuk- We leave for Montana on Thursday..it looks like Wednesday is my only open day.
Sorry- I meant C H U C K. I think I'm desslehxik.
Way to be. I can't tell you how much this post fits into my life right now. Maybe it's just because I've been spending a lot of time thinking about my current position in life or whatever...This is just an awesome post.
My girlfriend and I just spent a couple hours talking about the negative things in our lives. The common thread we found that runs though them all was our attitudes. you can't change what other people do, think, etc., but you can change what type of an outlook you have. That little adjustment can take you from miserable to Happytown in no time!
Great post as always! Looking forward to those vids!
Somewhere in this process, you will come face to face with the sudden and shocking realization that you are completely crazy. Your mind is a shrieking, gibbering madhouse on wheels barreling pell-mell down the hill, utterly out of control and hopeless. No problem. You are not crazier than you were yesterday.
It has always been this way, and you just never noticed. You also are no crazier than anybody else around you. The real difference is that you have confronted the situation; they have not. So they still feel relatively comfortable. That does not mean that they are better off. Ignorance may be bliss, but it does not lead to Liberation. So don’t let this realization unsettle you. It is a milestone actually, a sign of real progress. The very fact that you have looked at the problem straight in the eye means that you are on your way up and out of it.
-Henepola Gunaratana
Excellent GZ! Were doing a group run tomorrow- 4 X 3 miles, #1 is at 6:30 pace then we'll build each by 15" per mile.. Davidson Mesa at 6:00am.
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