Too Much Info

3/19/09
Thursday

Am I logging too much information? Perhaps I should just leave the gadgets at home and just run as the spirit moves me? Sometimes I wonder why I calculate my times, my splits, my heart rate, hey I am not getting paid to do this, I am only running for fun.

Is it really for fun? I sometimes wonder as I am laboring up a long hill and barely able to suck in enough oxygen in each breath. Is it that much fun to be lame the next day after a grueling long trail run?

I sometimes think running is a drug and the addiction of it is strong.....your mind want's to let your body be lazy........but if you don't run the body begins to feel bad....some type of horrible withdrawals I think.

The guilty feeling overpowers normal thought, the energy level slows to a crawl, the brain seems to skip a few beats and overall you can actually "feel" the fat growing in places most don't see and you never talk about.

You finally can't take it any more and on comes the running shorts, the shoes are slid on and you hit the road. Your body starts complaining and your mind begins listening and believing you shouldn't be doing this, but you keep trudging and try catching your breath.

Suddenly there is the end and you pick things up a bit. You are winded yet strong, tired yet exilarated.........you give all you have and cross that imaginary line like there is a ghost chasing you.....and then it is over.

You slow down and stop to catch your breath. Your body is screaming YEAH! You made it, you are done and the adrenalin penetrates your whole body. Your mind realizes how much you love this, anxiously thinking about the next time and how you will run stronger....faster...harder...and feel that much better.

You remind yourself how much you love to run, how great it is for the body, for your health.......so why did you feel that way at the start? Is the human body designed to be lazy? It seems so much easier to rationalize excuses to do nothing......

My run today was fantastic! I spent the whole day watching the sun bake the melting snow, showing it's power and desire to control the world. I wanted to get home and go for a run. Not the treadmill but outdoors where I can stretch my legs out and feel the world passing by.

I have to admit that I couldn't take it and left work early. I hurried home and changed into my running shorts, plugged in all my gadgets.....my nike nano, my garmen 305, my headphones and hit the road running.

It felt soooo good and the weather was perfect 58 degrees and sunny. The road was covered with spots of running water as the snow was finally giving up it's coldness and heading for the ditches. I didn't side step or try to go around, I just stomped right through the water. The sound was music to my ears as I realized the "crunching " of snow was finally gone and spring sounds took their place.

The 3.2 mile route I ran today is a very familiar one. It has a mix of tar, dirt, a long gradual hill, two quick steeper hills and a slight down grade finish. The first thing I noticed was that the hills were not slowing me down at all and my heartrate was staying consistant. I could see that the treadmill hill work and the long snowy trails through the winter have surely helped me.

The big and long hill are in the second mile and for the first time I can remember, my second mile split was not slower than my first, it was exactly the same. How unusal....it feels good as it tells me I am in pretty good shape as far as stamina goes.....now I just need a little speed.

This was no where near my fastest time on this loop but it sure was quite consistant and enjoyable.

3.2 miles @25:03 7:50 average pace.
1st......8:01----158av ----159 maxHR
2nd(hill)8:01----156av----160 max
3rd .....7:52 ---157av-----162 max
.2 kick ....7:17 ---162av---163 max

1 mile cooldwn @ 9:25 pace.