As anyone that reads this blog, I'm sure you realize I try and start with a quote, and usually it's inspirational or positive, since thats the type of guy I am. Funny enough, there is always a reason for it and it's almost creepy that I see a quote when talking about something. When I saw Keith's quote, it reminded me of an article I read this past week about Georges St. Pierre of the UFC. He talks about his upcoming fight and his past fights and how he recently visualizes everything. He points out that it’s mental rehearsal and is almost always far more productive than just “focusing." And it's not just visualizing the start or seeing you cross the finish. Visualize the sights, the smells, the sounds.
I remember doing some of this during swimming in college. We would take time during practice to visualize our races. It's amazing how it works. Which is why so many people, when they talk negatively or think about failing....they usually do.
Another week down and another week closer to the Marathon. Everything seems at a standstill, everything up in the air. I am trying to enjoy the last month, but with fear in the back of my mind. It's a wonder how the mind works. I can be as positive as I want, but it's still without challenges. They say the actual marathon itself is 90% mental and 10% physical and I've said in the past, this should be "easy". Ok, before you laugh, I mean easy in the sense of the fact my main concern now is the physical part, due to my injuries and my revised training. If you sit back and think about it, anytime you attempt to do something and you are 90% confident, you should feel comfortable with completing the task.
My mid week runs went smoothly. In a way, somewhat boring, but without a hitch. 4 miles on Tuesday and another 4 on Thursday. The boring part is setting the treadmill at 10:00 miles and just going for it. It's good for me though as it give me time to focus, keep my mind fresh and set up things in my head so I will be prepared. (The mind may wander during the 26.2) :-) The good news for me is that I kind of wanted to keep going each time and felt good. Hardest part was keeping the speed. There were times I lost focus and found myself running hard.
Saturday I took a break in the afternoon and hopped on the bike for 20 minutes, then another 20 minutes on the treadmill (walking) :-)
Was nice to stretch out and just do something....Weird, but I felt a bit lazy even walking on the treadmill, with the little voices in my head trying to get me to run....lol
This evening I tackled my long run with my friend Marla, since I'm running the Cap City half with her now. Weather wasn't too bad, in the 50's with some wind, obviously nothing like last weekends 85, but nonetheless, nice. Even at the start I was not sure how long I would go, but the plan was 8 or 9 miles. Started out nice and smooth and during the 3rd mile Marla needed to walk so she told me to keep going and meet at the turn around (she would not let me walk...lol) Got to almost 4 miles and turned around to head back to the start point. Joined back up with Marla for a bit and kept a nice pace going and was told to keep going again. Turned around at the start point to head back out to get Marla and we finished the last half mile. By the time we finished it was getting dark and the wind was picking up, felt pretty cold so stretching was somewhat quick.
Finished with 8.5 miles, so it worked out pretty good. Legs feel good for now, so thats a positive sign. We'll see the next two days and how they respond.
Cleveland 10 Miler next weekend, then 12 mile run the following weekend, with the Cap City Half Marathon after that....Just need to stay positive and have faith and it will be done.....
Until next time...
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