We live in the connection economy. Who you know might be more important than it ever has been, given that nearly the sum of human information is available at the tap of a few fingers. This aspect I feel I continually fail at.
Objectively I am actually probably doing quite well. I organized a meeting last month that I didn't even attend because I was the only one who knew everyone that needed to be there. Strange to me that the others did not know each other. Yet Thursday night I missed three solid opportunities to spend time with friends and develop relationships. Why did I pass up every one of those opportunities? To run 14 miles?
I have thousands of unread emails and I pass up so many opportunities to socialize. What is the point? I mean, life gets lonely, yet I don't want to spend it all following others dreams. For some reason I write this ridiculous blog every weekday. What do I get out of it? I like sharing what I know, but I've shared so much. It feels sometimes like I am screaming in the wilderness and the world has forgotten me.
What is the resolution, the grand epilogue, the happy ending? The great socializing period in my life is next? Hardly. No, there is no happy ending today. The story continues as the misguided character plunges deeper into the darkness.
I won the Run4Troops Saturday. I covered the Heritage Trail faster than anyone else known. That's not saying much because I know of three people in Iowa that could pop a sub 2:40 tomorrow if they wanted. I've run 2:30, so 2:47 is really no big deal. Regardless 2:30 is no big deal either. I quit reading the results at major marathons before I get to 2:30.
What does it mean to win a marathon? There were only 108 individuals in the race so I suppose that once again puts me in the fastest 1%. Not 1% of people mind you, 1% of marathoners. Not all people even attain marathoner status.
It's past my bedtime so much for the philosophical and on with the physical.
Marathon Pace and Heart Rate
This is my GPS data of pace and heart rate for the race. I hope you like it because the heart rate monitor chaffed my chest and now I have a burn/scab an inch long on my sternum. You can forget me doing this in any serious marathon.
I executed the plan quite well. The first mile was 6:20 way too fast but I stayed relaxed the first 16 miles as planned before dropping the pace under 6 and upping the heart rate as shown above. In that 17th mile I moved from 4th to 2nd. Then right after mile 22 I moved into first with a jerk move. I eased up beside the leader and ran stride for stride with him for a bit before taking off 30s a mile faster just before the checkpoint. Regardless, I did what I set out to do. I did struggle the last three miles. This felt more like a long run than a race. I mean, I have worked roughly as hard in other long runs and struggled even worse in the later miles of long runs that a few 6:30s near the end isn't the end of the world to me.
People wonder what I think about while running for nearly three hours. I spent a lot of time thinking about pacing and drinking fluids and keeping my upper body relaxed. However, in this race I spent part of the race talking to other racers including a 22 year old that fell apart later in the race. A marathon is hard! I spent quite a bit of time thanking God for the blessing of being able to run this far healthy. There have been times when I was worried that my running might end, and it was going plenty strong Saturday. I am so blessed.
Finally, here is a video of me with a little less than three miles left. I was not feeling great at this point.
I'm tired. You have all heard that before. How many times can I relate that before people quit caring? I don't want to know. My whole life I am going to be tired. I just can not live with myself if I am not giving life my everything. I am pretty terrible about resting.
This isn't just about me being tired, although that is the immediate issue, this is about overplaying something. Whether that is a pop song, burger commercial or Galaxy S6 advertisement it doesn't really matter. At some point the message gets annoying.
This strikes me from two separate direction. On the one hand is the fad, the burger, new phone, and pop song. The item is exciting for a few weeks or months, or perhaps just minutes before it is no longer interesting. This is the repetitive selling message that advertisers thrust in our faces over and over until purposely plan not to buy it. (Or we are subconsciously seduced into thinking that we need it to fulfill some unmet need in our life. Muhaha!)
On the other hand is the message we can not get enough of. The person quietly perfecting his art. The wisdom that seemingly continuously offers us new insight. This message does not ever get overplayed. To those that this message speaks to there is never enough.
I'm still exhausted. Last week I worked a lot. There is plenty of work to do and things happening to see that I just spent quite a few more than 40 hours at work. I suppose that having work interesting enough to warrant more time at work is a good thing, at least to a point.
There was quite a bit of running on the legs this past week. The highlight is really running a 2:47:51 marathon Saturday morning and setting the course record in the process. I will talk about this more with a full rundown later.
Saturday afternoon, after winning a marathon, I went rock climbing. The purpose was training for the Hilary Step. I feel it will be akin to running a marathon then going rock climbing, so that's what I did in practice. It was a substantial mental hurdle.
The week was packed! It was great! Things are getting done, problems getting solved, and my fitness is on the upswing. It was a good week.
I am running the Run4Troops Marathon tomorrow. Considering my sickness last week I had my doubts about how it would go. However, I have gotten somewhat better since then, so I feel okay again. The goal is to run under 2:50 to set the team relay record which now stands at 2:52. The individual record if 3:15.
While I am not 100% healthy the day before I am quite confident that even if I have a pretty bad day it will still go in less than 3:05. My expectation with that kind of time is that I would win and set the record. Hopefully sub 2:50 is in the cards without destroying my body, but the last few miles are always a little unknown.
The plan is the first two miles warm-up around 7 minute pace, the next eight miles around 6:40 pace, the next six around 6:20 pace, then hopefully a pace variation tempo the last 10(.2) miles alternating 5:40s and 6:10s. That would give me 2:46-47 total time, but we'll see how it goes. My fitness is on the upswing but again, those last few miles are hard to predict what will happen.
Last night was a fun 47 mile bicycle ride at an average of 19.8 mph with a dozen of my friends. I was gassed from mile 15.
Bicycle riding, even at speeds of 20 mph is very aerobic. I digress, let me clarify, the transition from aerobic to anaerobic is much faster and harsher on a bicycle. In other words, grinding up a hill standing up or on a 30 mph+ sprint my legs get tired real quick, as in a few minutes or even less than a minute. However, sitting down I can ride at 20 mph for at least an hour, even on my own sometimes (once). The point being, often times the group pushes harder than one might desire, and each person has the choice of sticking with them or falling back. One of the benefits of group training is that some days when people are feeling mediocre they are pushed to work a little harder. Most people can stand to work a little harder.
In short, just hang on. Especially if it is aerobic, like a bunch of college kids that take a recovery day and turn the last 5k into a 6 minute mile pace light tempo. It's not the workouts that knock your fitness out of the park three times a year that make any one person into a world beater, it's the consistent week in and week out minute improvement year over year that make a difference. Some days are going to be hard. Not only days running, but days working wherever you work, or relationships with people will be challenging, so just hang on. Consistency, or hanging in there when it isn't comfortable, in just about everything is regularly what separates the successful from the unsuccessful.
