Running on Water

Let me start by saying: I'm Jesus. He was a Jew, too, so its quite fitting that I am just realizing that I must be him. I ran on water, after-all.

OK, maybe I'm not really Jesus, but I did run on water, kinda. I was on a cruise for 8 days and knew that I couldn't let my relaxing vacation relax my training. I got up early almost every day and hit the gym, whether it was a spin class (which by the way, I absolutely loved!) or a 3-6 mile run on the treadmill. I couldn't believe who I had become, a dedicated, marathon training individual. I quickly learned that running on a treadmill on the bow of a boat is much harder than it looks. My rhythm was totally thrown off, which made each run difficult, but I still managed. When I ended my vacation, I was pretty happy with myself that I didn't let a change in my regular schedule or a trip to the Caribbean disrupt my marathon training.

Today's take-away: COMMIT! Once you commit, follow through, no matter what it takes.

Can I Do It?

The last few weeks of training have been pretty terrible. I needed time to collect my thoughts before letting people into my mind again, thus I have been pretty delinquent with keeping up with my blog posts. Its not the weather that has me down, but rather my mind and body. Three weeks ago while on a 14 mile training run I threw up on Beacon Street. Yes, there were people around and yes, it was mortifying. Two weeks ago I fell on ice during a solo 15 miler. I made it to 10 and caught a cab back to my car. One could argue that I am in a bit of a running rut. The miles are getting longer, my body is getting tired and my mind has me thinking about the 100 other things I could do than run in the cold. I have had several of those "I don't think I can do this" moments along the way, too.

Runners constantly stress the "mental" aspects of running. Not only is physical strength necessary to compete in an endurance race, but mental toughness is equally, if not more important. This has me thinking: am I tough enough? For me, running for 2+ hours is getting boring. I am finding myself losing interest and doubting every step I take. I need motivation! I know why and who I'm running for, but I don't know how to get to the finish line. I'm thinking this has to do with my inexperience. I don't even know what its like to run an official half marathon (that will change next weekend in Hyannis!) I need mind tricks to make the time go by faster, I need to achieve that runner's high and most importantly, I need to relax and just let the miles go by. I know WHAT I need to do, or at least I think I do, but I don't know how to get there. Can I really run a marathon?