I Run

Once I've committed to a training schedule I find it's easier in most cases to stick to a consistent running regime. But there are those inevitable days where a number of things conspire against me to make it virtually impossible to fit in a run. Family and job obligations, bad weather, darkness, fatigue: each can impact my plan. And so I did not get to do my 8-mile easy run today because I needed to do some grocery shopping and then make dinner. Since it was an easy run, and since I'd run pretty hard the last two weeks I figured it wouldn't be detrimental to skip it. But there's still that little voice in the back of my head that says, "You're down eight for the week!". I hope it doesn't compel me to make it up later. Trying to make up missed runs in most cases is worse than just missing one.

With gas prices so high, it's a relief not to have to get in the car anymore to measure out my running routes. There are more and more web tools available that allow me to map and measure local roads. Like these: http://www.sueandpaul.com/gmapPedometer/ http://www.runthere.com http://www.map24.com I just have to be careful to not spend too much time trying to find just the right route. After all, I am supposed to be running in my spare time...

Running is never easy. Not even the easy runs, which just seem easy because they're more tolerable. That's what it's all about. What you can tolerate. Today I tolerated 20 miles of running in the rain. Two long hills, mud, and a really long haul into Massachusetts. It was less difficult than a lot of the long runs I've done. But it definitely was not easy. My easy run tomorrow will not be easy either. My sore legs will see to that.

I'm trainining again for a marathon, my second this year. I'll be running the Cape Cod Marathon on October 30. I had originally considered doing the Clarence DeMar Marathon in Keene on September 25 since it's closer, but I didn't think I'd be ready for it. So I'll try to tackle the scenic, rolling hills of the Cape instead. I deliberately picked a training plan (the Runner's World advanced schedule) that would really challenge me with relatively high mileage and speedwork. Right now my legs are pretty sore - but I still feel strong - so I think the plan is working. To qualify for Boston I'll need to run 3:20:59 or better, which is not a trivial goal considering the difficulty of the course on the Cape.