Part Deux

Bob -

Part Duex of what you ask?  Of what I started on Monday.  Not the Genghis Khan thing, because that dog done hunted.  That baby is put to bed.  If you had a chance to read that one, then you know what I am talking about.  If you didn't read it, then don't bother.  Unless you want to, because it really is a free world.  Actually, I want you to go back and read it.  I will wait.  Tippy, tippy, tap tap.  That is my foot waiting.  Okay, now we can go on.  I was trying to say that last week was very busy.  I was wrapped up in work and then the quick trip to New York.  Add to that my constant search for knowledge and my plate is pretty full.  But I have training to do and also have the looming mental breakdown that will happen if I don't exercise.  I didn't really get a chance to run much last week...until Friday.  Friday is the day that we historically do hills.  The route is about 5.25 miles, of which about 2 1/2 is grueling hills.  We call them the Hork Hills, because we typically feel like horking when we get to the top.  They never really get easier.  We may get better at them, but that just means we progressively go faster, so the same feeling of potential death is there every week.  I haven't done them for awhile, so they were pretty hard.  I actually had to stop and walk, which is something I rarely do.  I figured a long time ago that the more you walk, the longer it takes to be done with the run.  This is basic math, with some physics and geometry mixed in.  It was Pythagoras who said that the quickest way to point A, is to skip to point C, without even hitting point B.  However, point B will always be the same if your pace is equal to the square root of pie.  Thusly, I don't like to walk.  I take the Pythagorean Theorem very seriously, as I do all theorems and I actually have my own theorem, but I'm not disclosing it until I am either dead or promised some cash for it.  I did get through with running the hills and I was very mad at myself for losing some of the conditioning that I had.  I think I expressed this to my running partners, when I said, "I am done with this f@#&ing $#!t." They asked what I was done with.  And I said I was done making excuses and crying like a one legged cobra at an all night mongoose convention.  So, the next day the same group ran a 12 miler starting at 6:15 in the a.m.  That was a tough run as well.  We ran into a group of marines on a training run who were wearing their fatigues and boots, so that put some stuff in perspective.  Perspective or not, it was still a tough run.   Then....Sunday.  Every year for the last four, I have done a marathon relay.  It is a 5 person team that runs a total of 26.2 miles.  I had the shortest leg of 3.6 this year, but was not sure how I would do because of the Friday and Saturday runs.  I was on a team of very fast guys.  I was the weakest link, by far.  I never really thought about it before, because we were running for a cause that was raising funds and awareness for pancreatic cancer.  I was really running the relay for fun and for the cause.  As the day arrived, though, I realized that we had enough speed to do okay.  Then, I started thinking about the possibility of me being too sore to really run my best.  I have days that I can barely move after a long run.  All I know is that on race day, I run as fast as my body will allow.  Whatever that is.   I did not want to be the one that cost the team a place and a medal. I am actually starting to get bored with this whole story, so I'm going to kill it.  Long story short, I was able to get through the run at a decent pace while I really felt like I wanted to stop at any time.  I did not look at my Garmin once to check my speed or my distance.  I knew I was going as fast as I could go without burning out before the finish line.  I could not wait to see the finish line.  I was all out at the end.  This was not my fastest run, nor was it my longest.  But it was one of my hardest.  We placed 2nd in the Master's Division.  10th overall out of 219 teams.  I did not cost us a medal.  Most importantly, it eased some of the doubt I have about finishing the marathon.  Race day energy and will power have a lot to do with performance.  I am counting on having that on October 7th.