Start of Cactus Rose Training

Tonight I kicked off my Cactus Rose training with 15 miles of hills. After feeling so lethargic yesterday I wasn't sure how it would go, but the two days were like chalk and cheese. I felt good, and the weather was great. I started off doing 5 miles with a mate at Bull Creek, then I switched into my road shoes and hit the hills of Ladera Norte.

I spent the first few hills practicing various techniques of dissociation. My theory is that for short periods of time (such as running up hills) you can compartmentalize the discomfort. And if you can do that, you can choose to ignore it or embrace it.

I have found that a lot of the secret to running hills is mental. It's fascinating to run a race like Decker that is full of rollers. So many people visibly deflate when they see the next hill coming, but if you prepare yourself for them they're really not too bad.

One of the greatest of all principles is that men can do what they think they can do

-Norman Vincent Peale

Mind you, I have also found that it is much easier to do this in a race than it is when you're doing a training run by yourself. Still, it was a decent start and I kept a good pace going until the end.

Onward through the fog.