Saturday, March 27, 2010

EXPERIMENT OF ONE

Okay, I'm officially done with feeling sorry for myself about transitioning from skiing to running. The snow is gone, the storage wax is on the skis, I have my running legs back under me, and I have a plan.

Grandma's Marathon is 12 weeks from today. I spent the morning looking at training plans and landed on Daniels. Last year I did a 12-week Pfitz plan and just snuck under 3:10 at Grandma's. This year I'll try Daniels and see what the results are. You know, we're an "experiment of one" and all that jazz. Looking at Pfitz this time around, I didn't think it had enough Threshold and MP work.

We'll see what happens. I'm kinda pumped.

Tomorrow is the Human Race 8K in St. Paul. One of my all-time favorite events. I know there have already been races this spring, but for me, it kicks of the spring racing season. It always a chance to see runners you have seen since probably October due to hibernation, er, I mean, winter.

No QOD today. Instead, I want to share a poem I came across in an MDRA newsletter from 1978 entitles Footpaths.

I've raced the mighty river's flow
And bucked the northwind's icy blow
I've run the marshland's heathered plains
And bathed myself in April's rains
Like children playing games for fun
I've found the race is in the run
And win or lose or first or last
It matters not, the die is cast
I run to find what I can find
Along the footpaths of my mind
I've run in dawn's ethereal glow
And chased my shadow in the snow
I've jogged along with summer's breeze
And shuffled through fall's frosted leaves
Like mountain streams in springtime's rush
I've sprinted out around the crush
Of bodies bent on victory
Then settled back in reverie
I run to find what I can find
Along the footpaths of my mind
Those icy blows, those April rains
Those grueling races, numbing pains
They only serve to spur me on
So I can face another dawn
Like passion's lovers wrapped as one
I've found the race is in the run
To answer them, that ask me, "Why?"
To answer them, I just reply
I run to find what I can find
Along the footpaths of my mind

- Footpaths by Pete Galatowitsch

5 comments:

Thomas said...

I have heard that the second edition of the Pfitz book has more MP and tempo runs in its plans than the first one.

Anyway, the outcome will be interesting, but unless the conditions are EXACTLY the same as last year, comparisons will be difficult.

Good Luck anyway!

Julie said...

Hi Chad,
It is time to get excited about running!! Woo hoo! You are right Grandma's is just around the corner:) I am running the half and we have a room booked at the Inn on Lake Superior.

I love that poem:) Enjoy the rest of your weekend Chad!

Chad said...

Thomas, by that logic it's not worth ever comparing races because they're probably never run under EXACTLY the same conditions.

Heck, I'm a year older than last year, so I have to make up for that decline too.

Evan Roberts said...

Windy day for a race yesterday!

Chad said...

Evan, that's spring in MN. But the crosswind made it tough both ways.