Reflection Time for Motivation

When I reflect back on last year I can see a huge change. I haven’t really trained a lot this year, but It is coming together. So far this year, I didn’t run at all in January. In February, I ran an average of every other day with a total of 66 mile. March I injured by back and didn’t really run until about half way through the month. I still managed to get 42 mile in the second half the month. April I had a race half way through and then quit running again. 50 miles was covered in the first half of April but quit after my race on the 16^th of the month. May, as many of you may know was a pretty busy month for me. I managed to squeeze in 9 mile for the month of May. September and October of 2010 were pretty big running months for me last year, but with all the slacking off I have done, it’s hard to believe I have retained it all. The phrase “miles in the bank” are ringing in my ears. I can’t help but to admit that I have retained some, but I’m looking forward to what I can build up to for this upcoming fall.

Last June, I only ran 12 miles mostly due to the heat and lack of motivation. May of 2010 I ran 23 miles compared to this year’s 9. So I think the June comparison is ok to look at. Jun 12, 2010 – 2.61 miles – 23:20 – 8:55/mi. Jun 17, 2011 – 2.00 miles – 15:02 – 7:30/mi. Yeap, I’ll take that. Have you taken the time to see how far you’ve come? It may be a lot better than what you think. Now that I have gotten faster, I need to figure out how to maintain that speed for longer periods of time.

I’ve been thinking about heart rates and running lately. I keep seeing people post about running in zone 2 or zone 3. Every site I look at will have a different definition of what that heart rate should be. Even if I find out what my true maximum heart rate is, the zones will vary. A typical comment is that I need to train in the aerobic zone. Then I see an article about Crossfit’s Brian MacKenzie. It seems to me that he trains for short periods of time but at a high intensity. Then it hits me. When we want to train our legs to be fast, we work them at a high intensity. The heart is a muscle just like the ones in our legs…well not just like it, but it is a muscle. I wonder if we can train it to have endurance to pump at a high intensity for extended periods of time as well. So why not train at a heart rate above the aerobic zone. As long as we have time to recover, it is possible isn’t it?

Well, I don’t know what I’m going to be doing during this phase of training. I do know that I’m going to be listening to my body. When it’s tired, I’m going to back down a little. When I’m feeling good, I’ll speed up a little. I think our body knows more of what is going on than our head does anyway. 

So for me, looking at where I was last year and comparing it to where I am now. I’m pretty pleased. However, I know I can do better. My next goal is a half marathon under 1:44. That will be a PR by 6 minutes. I’ve got until December to do it, so I’m thinking I’ve got a pretty good chance. What do you have plans for? How far have you come? Keeping track of your runs will give you the motivation you need to keep going and the encouragement you need to know you can do better.

Here is the beginning...again.

So here I am in a house with no wife, no kids, with “The Bachelorette” on TV thinking, there has to be something better to spend my time doing. Yes I said the Bachelorette, mostly because I think my wife is watching it while she is off visiting family and it make me feel closer to her while she is gone and will give me something to talk about during our 4^th conversation of the day right before bed. I sitting here thinking about how bored I am and what I could be doing or should be doing. It reminds me of when I started to run.

I am in the US Navy and I was attached to a submarine that was in the shipyards in Portsmouth, Va. Not the worst, except for the fact that my family was still in southeast Ga. My wife has been gone for 5 days now and I am ready to go for a run again for the second time today. All this quietness is driving me batty. That is why spending 10 months in Virginia without my family turned me into the runner I am today.

Well, I can’t go running again, so I’ll just write a little bit of a blog. Two weeks ago, I started running in the heat of the day (as close to it as I can run due to work). I am trying to build my tolerance for heat. I wanted to run at a fast pace all the time, but I’m not sure that is the best way to do it. If you follow me on Dailymile, you would have seen my first 10 days of RITO (Running in the Oven) and the results of it.

My biggest drawback is why. Why would anyone want to read my blog when there are so many out there that are established or written by people who know what they are talking about. I’m just a normal guy trying to put down some stuff that is going on in my life, and trust me; there are a lot of hats around here. So anyway, this is my introduction and there is going to be more to come.