Sportybrains

....the title above is my manifesto for the month of November. I'm only 6 days in with no signs of slowing!

Training's remained strong and steady as I tap the mileage brakes this week to get a little rest in for my first half marathon in almost two years (really-two years!?). My how time flies.... Last month's mileage was well over the 250 mark-my highest in a looong time and I feel great, which is expected since it's mostly longish base running and 3 (yep just 3) track workouts. In all honesty, up until today I have probably been more ready for race day physically than mentally-but I got a nice dose of inspiration and impetus to focus by watching two different events this morning:live at the Oilman Texas Half Ironman Triathlon, then the New York Marathon via webcast on the vastly underrated Universal Sports' website. I guess I need to feed off that energy every once in a while.

Even though I've thought about the race plenty, but as the story goes-there's been plenty of work and life stuff going on simultaneously for this "reluctant adult", putting the race in the periphery for a while. Over the past couple weeks I have had to fill in for one of the staff members adding some extra work to my growing schedule that  includes putting in some quality time with the university athletic department I am currently working with (which is a great project, by the way). This naturally means more travel and computer time that doesn't involve working on my book or this blog! So what to do when life pushes me a bit??? Easy-I push back!!

I'm not one to let work interfere too much with training and am fortunate to have a very flexible training schedule, so I have exercised a bit of creativity and ensured I got the miles in, but did not force them. For example, I once had to push my long run up from 6:30 AM last Saturday to Friday at just after 5 AM-which turned out to be a snappy little run and left me with an afterglow of feeling productive and efficient for the rest of the day. I like to be an athlete first before going in and working with them.

 Another adjustment came yesterday morning as I ran a 12-miler feeling almost half-asleep. Going to an away swim meet and getting up four hours later to go meet the group did leave me thinking "what am I doing exactly??" for a moment, but I got it done-there wasn't enough coffee at Hubbell and Hudson that day to satisfy me afterward!

But in the end I completed my run, took a two and a half hour nap afterward-a new kind of personal record, and I'm now in mini-taper mode. I only have 6 miles on the schedule tomorrow morning and it feels kinda weird. I'm going to approach each run nice and easy and focus on form, a little mental prep and staying positive. I would like to run a time in the mid 1:20's. As I posted a few weeks ago, San Antonio is serving the purpose of a 'pilot experiment' for my new training approach and gathering some data for moving forward towards nailing a new PR. Also, truth be told, I have a bone to pick (no pun intended) with this event, as I have twice planned to run the event and had to pull out with injuries. Toeing the line that that morning will be a small victory in my corner. I'm also looking forward to running in a different city and just being a runner for the weekend.

As I write this out, my excitement grows. I don't know what all will unfold-but I'm ready to give it my current best. And that's whats most important. Just trying to work hard, run hard, and live life!

November, let's do this!


Run Happy!