Now that I've gotten over my self-depricating break down after Sunday's run I've regained my sense of humor and perspective about running.  

For one, I have reminded myself that running is not a life or death sport, unless of course you're being chased by wildlife, in which case - don't think about it, just run!

Secondly, no matter how sucky a run feels in the moment, a few hours later my brain unfailingly snaps back into runner-nerd mode wherein it thinks in terms of mile…

My goal for this summer is moderation.  After running five hilly workouts in the past week this morning's long run felt like running through quickly-drying concrete.  Nothing hurt, but my legs would simply not turn over with their usual quick response.  It was frustrating - I'm a self-conscious person to begin with, and when I totally drag on a workout I feel like some sort of fraud.  Beyond that, it's always frustrating when your body refuses to function in the manner your mind…

Consider it a sunrise service at Garden of the Gods or the "Church of the Sunday Morning Long Run" to use Shalane Flanagan's term.  Whatever you call it, Sunday mornings, I'm convinced, hold a special meaning to runners.  There is no other day of the week that you can abandon everything for two solid hours on a trail.  For me and two other runners this morning that chunk of time was spent winding up and down and around the Garden.  We did 7.75 miles together and I put in another 2.26 at the…

I've been trying to get to the Incline every other week beginning shortly after I moved to the Springs and today was one of those days.  I've been told it's a great torture training tool and I can't argue.  It demands more of an athlete than any other 0.88 miles I've ever encountered - from lung power, to quad strength, to the mental toughness that keeps you going step after step after step.  Most other terrain sounds like a walk in the…

Hard work really does pay off, I thought to myself as I finished the workout with the Attack Pack at Garden of the Gods this morning.  Last Tuesday I was the last of the group to make it to the top of Ridge Rd.  Today, I was in the middle the pack.  It's not the number of people ahead or behind me as we finish a hill that matters, and I know that.  What really made me realize the progress I've made over the past few weeks of hill repeats, boring cross-training, and long runs in rain, wind,…

This is the second week I've managed to drag myself out of bed at 5am to get to training runs at Garden of the Gods by 6am.  While it sounds awful as I hit the snooze button and nudge my dog to wake up (she doesn't; she's still curled up on my bed when I get home) as soon as I pull on my running tights I'm looking forward to putting in a few miles (and hills) before my body is really awake enough to grasp what's going on.  Perhaps best of all, by the time I'm driving home, Starbucks in hand,…

A die-hard dedication to training, I'm coming to realize, must be accompanied by an equal dedication to rest and other factors that sane, non-runners take for granted.  A prime example: there was a time (ok...like most of my running career) when I considered cross-training days to be days "off."  You see the rationale I'm sure, since these days did not include a run they were a waste and counted for nothing.  To me, like to any logical human being, a 4000 yard swim takes no effort and…