It’s now been just over three months since the start of my training for 2011. When you first get going all you can think is how long this stretch of training is going to be before the first run. Now only nine days in front of the first events for 2011, the excitement starts to fill your mind, you feel energized and anxious to start up. What you’ve been waiting for, or should I say, training for these last few months will show in the races that are accomplished. A race will exploit the strength, stamina and endurance you’ve been working towards. What you sometimes forget when it gets to be race day: how to control your emotions. The start of the race, you’ve got that jacked up feeling of “I’m ready to go!” That’s awesome, but sometimes it can work against you. If you’re competitive with yourself, which forwards over to people you don’t even know on the same course as you, things can get challenging. Not right at the start, but as the route continues. Starting out too fast seems to be my down fall at every race. I’ve got a time planned of what I want to finish in, but seem to come up a little short, or in some cases, quite a bit short. I suffer from that emotional high that you might go through too. I see someone in front of me at the beginning of the race…and I get sick of being behind them. I just want to pass them and usually end up doing so. That’s great, until I get to mile seven and there is that same person I passed at mile three. Now I can’t catch them because I’ve used up so much energy. That’s when panting like a dog starts for me. I just want to go faster, but I can’t. Even if you want to scream you’re so frustrated, you can’t because you’ve exerted so much energy in the first portion of the race.
I learned something while driving recently how to approach a race. On a trip down to the Milwaukee area which isn’t a short drive, I was in the slow lane, going the speed limit. To my left, was a semi truck, going about the same speed as me. Usually I’d be the one in the left lane, going faster and passing everyone to my right. I wanted to slow down a little bit, relax and just take in the sights, think a little bit and dream about cheese. I had to, at almost every exit there was a sign that said “Cheese & Gas, next exit”. Seriously? That wouldn’t make me want to stop. Sounds like a terrible combination. As I was getting close to Milwaukee, I saw a truck all of a sudden right on my tail. I could tell he wanted to get by the semi and my car but the semi wouldn’t go faster. I was still going the speed limit and he wanted me to go faster. He flashed his lights even, hoping I’d go faster or just pull over maybe. He had Wisconsin plates while I had Minnesota plates. He should have figured I wasn’t going to give in to his wish. Plus I was in the slow lane. I think he realized flashing his lights and yelling obscenities in his truck wouldn’t get the trucker’s attention. The semi finally started to go faster and pulled ahead of me. There was another semi in front of me that I was catching up to, so I had nothing to worry about. This truck finally got right to my left, he slowed down to my speed until I looked at him, he waved his arms to welcome me to his state then pointed up in the air with one of his fingers…pretty sure it wasn’t his index finger or ring finger. It was the one right between those. Is it wrong to smile and then laugh at someone that is so angry they can barely drive straight? Maybe he didn’t like the color of my car. Or hated the fact that it was dirty. Either way, I didn’t feel bad at all. I was in the slow lane, going slower than the cars in the “fast lane”. Other than this one semi that decided to aggravate this guy to the point he took it out on the little Grand Prix that just wouldn’t step on it.
My point with this story (that is a true story by the way, happened on Friday, April 15th, 2011 on I-94 in Wisconsin) is that no matter who’s in front of you, how much of a hurry you want to be in when it comes to driving or in my case when it comes to the season…running; stay patient. There’s going to be circumstances where you want to go faster, where you want to break free and think it will get you to your destination faster. With driving, it just might, but running it actually plays against your favor. Mind over matter will get me to my goals this year. Being more relaxed instead of so tense before races. I don’t know if there’s such a thing as being over focused, but I feel that way sometimes. That I think too much before races. I’m going to try thinking less and relaxing more. Knowing that the hard work these last three months will pay off for the future running events I take part in. I’ve evaluated the thought of what is possible and impossible. I always thought it was impossible to run a half marathon or full marathon in my lifetime. I thought it was too far. “13 miles, are you crazy??” “26 miles, now you’re getting just plain stupid…” Goals change as people change. I’m just glad I had people that believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself to accomplish what I thought was impossible. That same mind set will be brought to each run in 2011 starting on April 30th in West Fargo, ND & again the next day at Eagan, MN. My goal is to break twenty-four minutes in a 5K event while carrying this three by five foot American flag and to break two hours in a half marathon. Now you know if you didn’t know already. I never feel that I’ve worked hard enough to get to another level, but I can feel it that the work outs, the intensity and sacrifice is showing. Endurance, stamina, mental strength and attitude….it is all better this year. With patience, I’ve cut myself down to the weight I wanted to be at when I started my running events. From 181 to 162 where I’m at right now, it’s taken a lot of discipline, hard work and determination. I’m still off by two pounds; I said I wanted to get to 160. That will fluctuate, I already know that part. It will go up and down with calories taken in and burned off. I’m feeling good right now. I had never been over 180 until this past year around Christmas. I didn’t like it one bit. I’m right where I want to be now and it feels very good!
I hope your training has been going great and you’re ready to roll for your season (whatever it might be). Stay focused, but not so focused that you’re too tense to enjoy the events you’re part of. Oh, and be prepared to meet some great people along the way. It is going to happen whether you like it or not. But trust me, you’ll like it a lot, guaranteed! Another person that runs quite a bit told me once being a runner is funner. I had to tell her funner ain’t a word. Is ain’t a word? I guess not.
Last thing: Next time you witness road rage, think of ways you can have that certain situation help your running. You can learn a lot from a dummy…buckle your safety belt…and laugh at the impatient people who point up with the wrong finger.
Have a great Easter weekend!!
I learned something while driving recently how to approach a race. On a trip down to the Milwaukee area which isn’t a short drive, I was in the slow lane, going the speed limit. To my left, was a semi truck, going about the same speed as me. Usually I’d be the one in the left lane, going faster and passing everyone to my right. I wanted to slow down a little bit, relax and just take in the sights, think a little bit and dream about cheese. I had to, at almost every exit there was a sign that said “Cheese & Gas, next exit”. Seriously? That wouldn’t make me want to stop. Sounds like a terrible combination. As I was getting close to Milwaukee, I saw a truck all of a sudden right on my tail. I could tell he wanted to get by the semi and my car but the semi wouldn’t go faster. I was still going the speed limit and he wanted me to go faster. He flashed his lights even, hoping I’d go faster or just pull over maybe. He had Wisconsin plates while I had Minnesota plates. He should have figured I wasn’t going to give in to his wish. Plus I was in the slow lane. I think he realized flashing his lights and yelling obscenities in his truck wouldn’t get the trucker’s attention. The semi finally started to go faster and pulled ahead of me. There was another semi in front of me that I was catching up to, so I had nothing to worry about. This truck finally got right to my left, he slowed down to my speed until I looked at him, he waved his arms to welcome me to his state then pointed up in the air with one of his fingers…pretty sure it wasn’t his index finger or ring finger. It was the one right between those. Is it wrong to smile and then laugh at someone that is so angry they can barely drive straight? Maybe he didn’t like the color of my car. Or hated the fact that it was dirty. Either way, I didn’t feel bad at all. I was in the slow lane, going slower than the cars in the “fast lane”. Other than this one semi that decided to aggravate this guy to the point he took it out on the little Grand Prix that just wouldn’t step on it.
My point with this story (that is a true story by the way, happened on Friday, April 15th, 2011 on I-94 in Wisconsin) is that no matter who’s in front of you, how much of a hurry you want to be in when it comes to driving or in my case when it comes to the season…running; stay patient. There’s going to be circumstances where you want to go faster, where you want to break free and think it will get you to your destination faster. With driving, it just might, but running it actually plays against your favor. Mind over matter will get me to my goals this year. Being more relaxed instead of so tense before races. I don’t know if there’s such a thing as being over focused, but I feel that way sometimes. That I think too much before races. I’m going to try thinking less and relaxing more. Knowing that the hard work these last three months will pay off for the future running events I take part in. I’ve evaluated the thought of what is possible and impossible. I always thought it was impossible to run a half marathon or full marathon in my lifetime. I thought it was too far. “13 miles, are you crazy??” “26 miles, now you’re getting just plain stupid…” Goals change as people change. I’m just glad I had people that believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself to accomplish what I thought was impossible. That same mind set will be brought to each run in 2011 starting on April 30th in West Fargo, ND & again the next day at Eagan, MN. My goal is to break twenty-four minutes in a 5K event while carrying this three by five foot American flag and to break two hours in a half marathon. Now you know if you didn’t know already. I never feel that I’ve worked hard enough to get to another level, but I can feel it that the work outs, the intensity and sacrifice is showing. Endurance, stamina, mental strength and attitude….it is all better this year. With patience, I’ve cut myself down to the weight I wanted to be at when I started my running events. From 181 to 162 where I’m at right now, it’s taken a lot of discipline, hard work and determination. I’m still off by two pounds; I said I wanted to get to 160. That will fluctuate, I already know that part. It will go up and down with calories taken in and burned off. I’m feeling good right now. I had never been over 180 until this past year around Christmas. I didn’t like it one bit. I’m right where I want to be now and it feels very good!
I hope your training has been going great and you’re ready to roll for your season (whatever it might be). Stay focused, but not so focused that you’re too tense to enjoy the events you’re part of. Oh, and be prepared to meet some great people along the way. It is going to happen whether you like it or not. But trust me, you’ll like it a lot, guaranteed! Another person that runs quite a bit told me once being a runner is funner. I had to tell her funner ain’t a word. Is ain’t a word? I guess not.
Last thing: Next time you witness road rage, think of ways you can have that certain situation help your running. You can learn a lot from a dummy…buckle your safety belt…and laugh at the impatient people who point up with the wrong finger.
Have a great Easter weekend!!
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