Wednesday, February 20, 2008

STILL ONLY

Awhile ago I mentioned how I wished I could turn “it” off. “It” being the constant thinking about running; mileage, fitness, pace, goals, the upcoming season, etc. It’s great to think about all these from time to time - but not all the time.

Then along came skiing and I have actually been able to tone down the constant chatter in my mind regarding running. I guess it’s been replaced with thoughts of technique, equipment, waxing, etc.

When I originally mentioned wanting to turn it off. I think it was Andrew who said to be careful because you might not be able to turn it back on. That’s where I’m at now. The ski season is almost over. Boston is right around the corner. After that the local racing season will be in full-force. It’s time to get my mind back into running.

With that said, there’s something strange about being 2 months for a marathon. One minute I think “Man, I STILL have 2 months left.” Then in the next breath I think, “Man, I ONLY have 2 months left.”

Right now I kind of feel like I’m coming back after taking some down time at the end of the year – like I just ran a fall marathon, took 10 days off and now I’m building back up. I still feel relatively fit, but something is not quite right. The good thing about that feeling is that usually within 3 weeks of building back up, I feel normal. We’ll see if that trend holds steady this time around.

If last night is any indication, I’m on the right track. I ran 9 miles on the treadmill including 5 at 6:33 pace and felt really comfortable.

It looks like I may have to put treadmill running on hold. The last few times I’ve run on our treadmill, it felt like I was running in a hole – kind of like if you’ve run on a rubberized track that’s really worn in the center of the lane. At first I thought it was my shoes, but last night I put my hand under the belt and the deck is all cracked. I’m going to put a call in today and see what my options are. One of the features on our treadmill is the ability to track the total miles and hours you put on the treadmill. In just over two years my wife and I have put nearly 3,100 miles on it in like 740 hours.

Quote of the day;

“Woe to anyone who sickens me with the sight of showing off so much for the backstretch goons that you tie up and get run down at the finish.” – Bill Bowerman

3 comments:

Runner Susan said...

that quote kinda freaks me out a bit.

Ryan said...

What kind of treadmill do you have? Pace Master? I have been doing some research on the RW forums and a saw a handful of complaints about the same exact issue you described. Hope it's not serious. I am looking at a Life Fitness T3. Best of luck as you re-ramp up for Boston.

Chad said...

Ryan,

We have Pacemaster Elite Gold. The guy said he's seen our problem before and it's always from the "little marathoners." I'm thinking that because the "little marathoners" actually use their treadmill for more than 10 minutes at a time.