Feeling Fly like a G6

My two cross training coaches!!!

I really need to stop using song lyrics to title my blog posts, but this crappy "Far East Movement" song was playing on the radio when I started my run this morning, and it was still playing when I got back to the car.  Very annoying.

It's been another great training week for me.  I did 23 miles on Saturday at an 8:08 pace - not quite as fast as I would like, but it was a hard run and I left it all out there.  If you factor in some monster hills, windy conditions and running the whole thing solo, I think I did a great job to keep going.

I was looking after the boys on Saturday afternoon, and we went to the park.  They kept me running around, and I spent a good bit of time chasing Gavin with Dylan giggling away on my shoulders.

I'm not sure which was the harder workout!!!

This morning I woke up with legs stiff and sore from all the cross training I've been doing, and really didn't want to go run.  But I made myself get up and get out.  It occurred to me that this would be a great opportunity to see how much I could push myself when I was feeling tired.

And it turned into one of my best midweek runs ever - 10 miles at a 7:23 pace.  I just found a rhythm and let it flow.  My slowest mile was 7:31, my fastest (mile 8) was 7:07 and it felt great.

One of my short term goals has been to run 8 midweek miles in under an hour, and I did it this morning with room to spare - the first 8 miles were run in 58:56.

Gotta be happy with that.

It also occurred to me that my training tends to bookend my day.  I do my run early in the morning before everyone gets up, and my cross training at night after reading Gavin his bedtime story.

I think I need it right now - it channels a lot of anger and frustration I need to let go of.

And it's been a very long time since I've been quite as focused as this.  Almost every run I do is an effort run and I pour my heart and soul into some intense cross training that usually ends with me lying on the floor dripping with sweat.  And when I'm feeling tired, the old mental steel that pushed me to all those ultra finishes kicks in.  It's nice to have it back.

And I've taken to talking back to the TV when I'm working out.

"We're going to hold squat position for 30 seconds" says Bob the trainer.

"Bring it on" I grin.  "I can hold this for a loooooooong time".