The Olympics are Over... Back to Blogging

Thank heavens the Olympics are over. They wore me out and I didn't even compete in them. Don't get me wrong... I love the Olympics and what they stand for but when you work for an NBC affiliate tv station like I do, you get subjected to putting on the 10pm news at anywhere from 11pm to midnight because of the late night coverage. There were a few nights that I didn't get home til 1am. I don't mind the late hours occassionally but when it's two weeks straight, it gets pretty old in a hurry. Me and my tv compatriots were walking around the station like zombies after awhile. Because of that, I really didn't feel like being a creative and blogging about running. It was hard enough just to go running because of the long hours at work. Despite my tired mind and body, I was still able to get in two good solid weeks of running during the Olympic time frame. The highlights for me were the past two Sundays where I was able to get in two quality long runs of 19 and 15 miles respectively. I had pretty ideal Sunday mornings to run them too. They were both very cool and comfortable mornings, especially this past Sunday. It really made the long runs a joy to do, if you can imagine that. Most people would probably think that it would be no fun whatsoever to run any long distance workout no matter how idyllic the weather might be but I am here to tell you that the cool weather makes all the difference in the world. I actually get excited when I know it's forecasted to be a cool, brisk morning on the day that I'm scheduled to do a long run because it usually turns out to be a long run that is a good confidence booster and makes me believe that I'm going to be well prepared for my next marathon. Preparing for a marathon is just as much mental as it is physical. Sometimes you really have to talk yourself into and through your big marathon training runs. No matter how good of shape you might be in, there always seems to be that inkling of doubt that sometimes creeps into the gray matter of your brain that makes you wonder if you really can do that next big 20 mile training run. Those runs are never easy. But if you can perservere and make it through there is really no stopping you on race day... you really have already won. It's nice to be back writing again and I hope you've all been well.

Monday's workout: 5.1 miles > 39:10 > 7:41 pace

Miles this week: 5.1