Motivating the masses

Today I need some motivation.

I’ve hit a bit of a rut, and after a great week of training, I skipped Thursday, rode bikes instead of ran on Saturday, and skipped Sunday. I have very limited time tonight since I’m planning an AWESOME night out with my lady friends, so I need to basically change into my clothes and get going as soon as I get home.

I also know there are some other runners who are reading this blog. (I thought about doing shout-outs, but I didn’t want to make anyone feel uncomfortable, or make it obvious that someone who had said they were reading my blog wasn’t actually reading, then when I said, ‘Hey, Sally, did you see that I mentioned you in my blog?’ Sally would get all awkward because, since she only said she was reading my blog to be polite, she hadn’t actually noticed that I mentioned her, and she wouldn’t know in what capacity, so she wouldn’t know what to say and things would just get painful.) So in my effort to motivate the masses, including the mass that is my lazy butt, I have gathered some of the most motivational running articles I could find.

The story of Matt Long. Are you kidding me? How could I ever complain about aching, say I don’t feel like running, or lay around all day when it’s nice and breezy out. Sure, this guy was a great athlete before his accident, but wow…there’s no excuse for an 8-9 hour marathon time for me, but he has a great one.

The Newbie Chronicles. A series almost as funny as mine. OK, actually they’re probably funnier, and very honest.

Team Hoyt. This links to their bio page, so you can read about the amazing story of this father/son team. Dad pushes his son - literally, because his son is in a wheelchair - through marathons and triathalons. What an amazing bonding experience it must be for both of them. They've been doing it for a very long time, and Dad is still going strong at 65!

Dawn Dais’ Web site. A first-timer who wrote a book about her experience. She reminds me of myself, a little. Of course I don't have a book deal. Yet. (Hey! All you publishers reading this! Now's your chance! Email me with a multi-million dollar deal! I promise I won't let you down! Heck, at this point I'd probably do it for $20...)

And some completely cheesy running cartoons:

Since I’m currently in love with LOST:
And because I often wonder why I do it:

Source: www.savagechickens.com

And I don’t know why I think this is so hilarious, but…

Hopefully this works. I can feel myself excited already. And it's only 85 degrees out! Maybe by 5:30 it will have cooled off...

Or maybe I'm delusional.

Math lessons from the road

I learned an important math lesson on my run last night.

Two is twice as big as one.

So when I made the switch from one minute run, two minute walk intervals to two minute run, one minute walk intervals, I really felt the difference. It was a lot harder. But I also ran farther, so that was cool. It was also not cool, because my newfound distance put me on a path which included the only hills in Pinellas County. I’m trying to convince myself that this is a good thing, but my hips and gluts are currently telling me otherwise.

I almost didn’t go last night. I waited until 7:50 pm, when it was nearly too dark to leave. I kept thinking that I had worked harder than I needed to on Monday, so I could take a day off.

But I didn’t.

It wasn’t that I was looking forward to running; it’s that I wasn’t looking forward to not running, if that makes any sense. I didn’t want to come on here and admit defeat. I didn’t want to have to cross another day off my training schedule, knowing that I’d skipped actually skipped it. Part of me keeps thinking that these early days don’t matter. I can already run for two minute intervals. What really matters is the part when I start doing three milers, right?

Wrong. This is the part that matters most.

I also think I might be giving in and doing the Oldsmar Taphouse 5K.I really want to do it, mostly because I have two friends (see I’m A Pack Animal for more info on said friends) who are doing it, but also because it sounds like a heck of a lot of fun. But, there are two problems: one, I won’t be trained up in time, and two, it’s the weekend after my honeymoon. So not only will I have just taken a week off my training (aside from the hiking and mountain biking we plan to do in St. Lucia), but I will also have just taken two weeks off from my job at the adorable Pan y Vino in downtown Dunedin. The race is on a Friday night, and I’m just not sure if I want to give up another shift.

My other 5K race options are as follows:

The Rap River Run on June 13 in New Port Richey, FL. This poses similar problems to the Taphouse 5K, in that it’s the week after I get back from the honeymoon, so my training won’t be quite there yet. Plus I won’t have my posse with me. But the location is super convenient, just 30 minutes away. Still, it’s probably too soon, so it’s the least likely to win. We all know by know that I don’t like to fail, so I don’t want to do something I’m not ready for.

The Run Thru Hell on June 21 in Tampa, FL. Very convenient, but again still a little too early. The hurricane makeup date is July 25, though, which would be perfect. But I don't think it would be fair to the rest of the state of Florida to hope for a hurricane. Not to mention that, in the 10 years I've lived here, every time there's been a hurricane threat, it's never actually made it through Tampa.

Citrus Summer Showdown on July 11 in Inverness, FL. True, it’s nearly two hours away, but registration is free, and I’ll get to run with a bunch of hicks. It might be a small race, though.

Moss Park Forest Run on August 1 in Orlando. This is probably going to be the winner. OK, it’s two hours away. So I’d have to get up at 5am to get there on time. But the course sounds beautiful, and the timing is perfect; the schedule is a week after my 5K training would be complete. I would possibly even run a decent time.

There’s no saying I can’t do more than one, though…I know I want to run a few races before the marathon. I have plans to run the Turkey Trot 10K on Thanksgiving. It’ll be my excuse to eat as much food as I want that day.