Thursday, November 16, 2006

Random

Random thoughts as I head down the road...

Random quotes

"To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift." ~ Pre

"It hurts up to a point and then it doesn't get any worse." ~ Ann Trason

Random run

Tonight's run: 5 miles easy (41 min) and cooled down with 6x strides. Ran at my favorite place to do strides: The River HS track on their "Field Turf" football field. The surface feels like jelly and was easy on the joints. The run random because about 2 miles of this run was on this square field. Back and forth on the turf for about 19 minutes and loved every bit. Odd yes, but I was loving the surface.

I chuckle as I write this because I just realized that its now been 20 years since my first high school football and soccer games. Man, I certainly don't feel this old. Running on the field and between the lines brought me back to my childhood. And of watching my brother perform in the Drum Corps.

There's something about doing strides on the field. I start at the back of one end zone and run about 120 yards through the far end zone. Start with a jog and incrementally speed up every 25-30 yards until going full blast for the last 30 yards. Slow and walk it off. Repeat. Tonight the strides felt powerful and no significant soreness or injuries. Its a good sign--so it's all systems go.

Random pre-race thoughts

- Once again this year, I'm part of the Vertical Runner 5-person team. I hope to keep up with Popcorn and Faceplant.

- 4.5 of the first 5.5 miles of the JFK are on road. Its the entire 1200' of climb in these 5.5 miles. Going to take it easy and not hammer the roads.

- Last year I arrived on the Towpath and took off like a jet. This year, I'm going to walk and fuel up to begin the Towpath leg. I'd be thrilled with a sub-4 hour Towpath section (26.3 mi.)

- The nutrition number is still 250 calories per hour. 8 hour goal equals approximately 1800-2000 required calories. Going to carry a handheld and a belt with about 800 calories (CLIP and gels.) I'll figure out how to add those extra 1000 calories. I could live off trail mix alone.

- I'm allowed to walk, anytime I wish.

- I will know that in this race, as with all others, there will be a low point. It will pass.

Can you tell I am really excited for this moment? I feel up to the challenge and hope for a big day on Saturday.

Before I retire for the night, I wish to give thanks to everyone out there who has given support, a word of encouragement, and especially the to the ones who have given me their time. There are those out there in blogland that have encouraged me more than they could ever know. I 've just now passed 100 days since my first blog on August 4. I'm having fun reflecting and seeing at how I've become a new writer. Not striving for perfection, but just putting it out there.

Blogging is a day at a time deal, eh?

I still like going back to this Irie post when ever I need some inspriration.

Happy trails,
~Lloyd

1 Comments:

Blogger Kim said...

You may be the other white person in Ohio besides my husband and I that use the term irie on a regular basis. Mon.

6:53 PM  

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