STEPS

A great week of training in Florida. The humidity and heat was crazy and I tried my best not to complain about the added discomfort and instead concentrated on running strong and with purpose. I had 2 aqua-runs this week and 4 road runs including a very successful interval run on Tuesday and a great long run on Saturday.

I find I spend a great amount of my running time thinking about my running form. One day I hope that such mundane thoughts will no longer clutter my brain during runs however at this point in my running career I am still figuring out how to put one foot in front of the other. I wrote this poem about my running form struggles.

STEPS

Sometimes the steps are HARD: SLUGGISH, SLOW and HEAVY,

Sometimes the steps are EASY: EFFORTLESS, FAST and LIGHT.

Yet every step does carry me: BODY, MIND and SOUL,

Across the distance by but, the POWER OF MY MIGHT.

Mr. Cranky Knee Beckons Me

The second I deleted my poem from the top of this Blog last week I had a sinking feeling that I may have been a bit premature. At the time of the deletion I was well aware that my knee problems were not 100% behind me and as it turns out I was correct...and that is a GOOD THING:) I was correct that Mr. Cranky Knee was NOT BEHIND ME because he was in fact waiting AHEAD OF ME 5 minutes or so at the end of each run beckoning me to continue on to him. He appears to be waiting for me further and further ahead with each run these days and will soon be so far down the road or trail that his beckoning calls are destined to be but mere whispers on the wind.

This week included 1 aqua-running session in a very warm Florida pool and 4 days of land running including back to back days, an encouraging interval run and a 60 minute long run.
I am starting to think about racing however training smart and staying healthy is my only true goal right now and hence my new motto "Smart Training Beats Dumb Straining".

The Perils of Aqua-Running in Florida

Retiring My Poem

With much thought and no remorse I have finally decided to retire my poem from the top of it's namesake Blog. I wrote the poem one very frustrating day in May, 2 weeks after my PB setting 5km race which marked the beginning of the end of my knee. I was 3 days into a 7 day layoff from running and my computer was refusing to turn on no matter how patient I was trying to be. Pressing that ON button over and over just seemed to escalate my already building frustration so rather then take it out on my computer I decided to take a break and wrote a poem. The line "I need drugs to get me through it" was originally "I need cryogenic sleep to get me through it" as taking 7 whole days off from running seemed like an eternity at the time. Well I made it through the 7 days with no running however the knee ache was sadly waiting for me on my next run and for every run after that for the next 3 months. The ache is still there however it joins me at the end of my runs these days rather then in the middle. I am really looking forward to ditching my cranky running partner altogether soon so I can stop worrying about when he is going to show up.

I had a successful week of training having upped my long run to over 55 minutes and feel I have finally reached a point where I am able to get some good time in on my legs and really start putting together(with the help of my coach) some real training runs.

Monday July 27th to Sunday August 2nd

Things felt really great this past week and I am almost ready to retire my poem from the top of this Blog. If all goes well this week then I will take it down.

I had 7 days of workouts including 3 days aqua-running, 3 days trail running and 1 day rowing on the Egometer due to rough water. My knee was good as gold all week and it was nice to finish each run without that horrible building knee ache which has been my cue to pack it in lately.

It has been 3 months since my knee problems began and one year since I ran in the Kingston Tri which was the goal race that got me training in the first place. It will be nice to start working towards some new/old goals now including the Sandbanks 5km and the Sydenham 8km.

Me, Myself and I QUIT!!

If running has taught me anything about life it would be quite simply to keep moving forward. At least when you move forward you end up somewhere new, hopefully somewhere better and at the very least somewhere not the same. Getting out there to expand your horizons, to learn, see and experience new things is what running and life are all about.

Unfortunately sometimes it is hard to think about moving forward when things get tough. The idea of QUITTING can begin rolling around inside my head and the words "I QUIT" may even slip through my lips in a faint whisper. Saying "I Quit" is like opening an outlet valve allowing all the anxiety and self doubt to escape in one big WHOOSH of air. I know saying "I Quit" doesn't sound good but there seems to be a part of me that needs to think it, whisper it once and a while. Who am I to deny that part of me deep down inside whom desperately wants to give up the fight even when the rest of me am fully willing to go on. OK, so I let her have her say and then I console her and commiserate with her a little and together we decide to move forward again. We decide to move forward because we remember a time when we did QUIT and learned that quitting only put us back where we started which is where we didn't want to be and was the reason we began moving forward in the first place.

So it seems that sometimes a part of me deep down inside needs to be reminded of the reasons to stay on course and follow the plan we set in motion together. I am hoping that in acknowledging this part of me and keeping her close that she will soon stop having the need to say, "I QUIT". However until that day arrives I will just keep on reminding her of our reasons for moving forward again and again until she trusts me enough to follow me no matter where I may lead her with nary a whisper being spoken.