Inspiration and perspiration

If you need some inspiration just watch this video of Joan Benoit running and winning the 1984 Olympic marathon, the 1st time this event was held for women.


It gives me chills to watch this!

Meanwhile, on the perspiration side of things it's been hot here as our summer has finally arrived! It looks like we might get a good 2-3 weeks of summer weather before the fall (which is usually very nice) starts to creep in. Still, the morning temps have been around 11-12C and the highs are only in the mid-20's, which some folks would consider downright cold.

The running is going reasonably well with last weeks mileage in the mid-40's but I had two botched runs due to a combination of heat, humidity and the legs/body not quite yet ready to work as hard as the plan is asking. On Tues I attempted to do 8 miles with 4@1/2 marathon effort but after 2 miles in the 7:20 range I started to overheat in the 25C plus humidity and canned the run jogging home via a water stop in the downtown core.

On Thurs the 'plan' called for a 12 mile progression but it was another 24C afternoon and the legs were just too tired to do any more than slog along for 9 miles including some walk breaks in order to struggle back home. Obviously I'm lacking in both endurance and speed but it's slowly coming back as seen in Saturday's 5 mile non-race.This was my 3rd non-race in the comeback and so I was happy with my race number. It also helps to get a low number by mailing in your entry early for the free t-shirt that goes along with the ridiculous $10 fee. This was the 30th running of this very unique international race but the race director expressed worries as to how long he could continue to put it on due to difficulties with border security. My non-race went exceptionally well as I clocked a time of 40:06, very close to my target of 40 minutes and yet I barely took note of the time except for the mile splits which were all over the place due to the hilly terrain. I was once again nipped at the line but this time by the under 17 female winner and felt proud of resisting the urge to race her. There were about 60 runners which is typical for this race and of note were 3 of top 5 runners in the over 50 category with times below 32:00. The winning time was 30:15 and so Andrew could have had a field day if only he had shown up.
Speaking of Andrew, another reason that I needed to take it easy in my 'race' was the planned 20 mile long run for the next day. Also along for the ride was our new friend Trevor who is training for his first marathon and this was also going to be his 1st 20 miler. I think he was a little worried about the run but his fears were quickly put to rest when Andrew assured him that we always run 'wicked slow'! And so it went, a beautiful sunny but not too warm morning, a nice easy pace which averaged out to 9:20 with the water stops, walk breaks, stretching and of course nature breaks. Trevor is now an official honorary Blind Moose and we hope to entice him out this winter for a true test of endurance (against the elements).
Here Trevor and I are not waving but instead are showing how many miles we've covered thus far and so it takes extra hands. We were starting to get a little tired, maybe even a little loopy as much of Andrew's stream of conversation and jokes were starting to go right over our heads.
A couple of miles later and a bit of extra distance so that Trevor's Garmin would show the correct total (never turn off your watch when tired) and we were done 'like dinner' and ready to suck back some food and drink. A great long run which I couldn't have done this easily with out help from my buddies!

In other news, there are only 6 more days before our entire family heads off on vacation to southern Sweden for my oldest son's wedding. We'll be spending the week prior to the wedding visiting and getting to know his new wife's family and of course getting all those last minute details done. Jo and I are then planning to spend an extra week seeing some of the country before flying back home and my going back to work full time again (Oh noooooo!). I'll be bringing my running gear and am eager to get some new runs mapped with the Garmin but won't be stressing about running every day or following the plan blindly. I can't wait!

So, have a great week and keep on running, it's good for you!