Sept Running Recap

My mileage was great this past month- 127 miles. I'm not going to diagram this month's runs or add to much more detail since I've been doing my weekly training updates. I will however, share with you some of my favorite quotes from "The Runner's Book of Daily Inspiration" by Kevin Nelson.  Definitely some of these touched close to home as I get ready for Chicago on Sunday.  Hope some of these make you think about  running life or just real life.

September 3rd "If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow"- Chinese Proverb

O.K. have to admit this quote can probably be more applied to my real life not my running life.  I wish I had more patience.  Kevin, author's, addition to the above quote was "Lets' face it: there are time when you're no good to anybody. You have no patience, no tolerance.  It's not that you're a bad person- not at all. It's just that you're tired and fed up.  It's as if you've got nothing left.  Everybody's ragging on you- or it feels like it, anyway- and you're sick of it".  O.K.  this guy has to be not only an author, runner, but also a parent because I think as parents we all have been in this place.  His response..."When I get into one of those moods, I go for a run to clear my mind".

Totally agree with this solution.

September 10 "There is no self mastery without discipline.  And there is no greater source of discipline than the effort demanded in overcoming obstacles."- Simone Well, writer

Add the following to the above.  Kevin wrote, "If you're looking for excuses not to run, you can find them anywhere.  But if you want to run, you can overcome every obstacle...".  Yep we've all done it.  We've come up with all the excuses in the book to why we can't get a run in or get a spin class in or my issue not being able to fit in that 20 minutes of yoga which is so good for me physically and mentally yet I just can't make myself do it- well as Kevin said "you can overcome every obstacle" !

September 12th "You don't know what pain is until you get up around 21 or 22 miles.  You just hurt like hell.  You'd give anything in the world to quit, but you just keep going." - Dr. Fred Blanton, after running a marathon

Yep- this is where my non-running friends say "if you are hurting so bad, why are you running, why not stop".  My running friends know what that answer is, yeah maybe we are a little crazy, but running long distance is likely 80% mental and 20% physical.  I know many more people that run faster than I do on daily basis at low mileage, but ask them to train 18 weeks for a marathon and it just isn't going to happen.  I'm not being a martyr, but I'm trying to say don't let the physical part of running stand in your way.  I didn't and when I first started running I remember feeling dead after running 2 hilly miles.  Glad I didn't stop because running gives you so much more than health it gives you a new life, at least it has for me.

September 13 "To run and leap, to dart about with sweat pouring from your body, to expend your last ounce of energy and afterward to stand beneath a hot shower- how few things in life can give such enjoyment." - Yukio Mishima, novelist

Yukio knows what he's talking about!

September 20 "I have realized that the past and the future are real illusions, that they exist only in the present, which is what there is and all that there is." - Alan Watts, philosopher

Kevin wrote, " In running a marathon, the goal is not to run 26 miles, 385 yards.  the goal is simply to run one step at a time."  This is a great reminder for me right before the race so I don't get too overwhelmed.  It is just like I've learned not to get too caught up in looking at the training schedule/mileage because that too can overwhelm you and get you anxious with questions like " how will I get this done?, How will I find the time to run 20 miles? etc, etc".  Kevin ended the day with, "There's no need to look ahead in running.  Take it one step at a time."

September 24 "Duty does not have to be dull.  Love can make it beautiful and fill it with life." - Thomas Merton, writer

I have felt the following- Kevin really has to be a runner and writer... He wrote " You're down and feeling awful.  You've got the Monday morning blues (even if it's not Monday).  You don't feel like getting out of bed, much less going for a run.  Let your routine save you.  Your routine, which includes running, is constant.  Fall back on it, and let it carry you when your inspiration flags."  If more people followed these words of advise there would be less of the disappointments felt by people trying to succeed at incorporating exercise into their daily routine.  Some of us need 4 days of running a week, some need 3, some need 5 or 6.  We all have different routines, but it is our routine and if we stick to it I believe we stay true to ourselves and it helps us with the random ups and downs of life.

September 25 "Do it the right way, which is the long way.  you can't cram for a marathon, because the final exam for a marathon will never allow you to be successful if you take shortcuts." - Bill Wenmark, running coach

Finishing and running the marathon you want to run can only be accomplished by putting in the time, sweat, tears and effort.  Now there are those freakishly athletic people who don't have to train as hard to run lets say a 1/2 marathon, but the marathon is a whole other beast.  If you train well you run well or at least give yourself the potential to toe and finish the race, but if you don't train well you will either not even toe the start line or will falter in your goal of conquering the "beast".  I think in some ways training for marathons has taught me patience in running.  You have to take it day by day and week by week and try your best and with a little "magic pixie dust" too you will survive and reach your goal.  You have to take your time or else you will falter.  Its like the marathon training plan is saying "patience my friend, patience".

September 28 "In a marathon I never let myself think, I've got 26 miles ahead of me.  You have to think of your race as it is then and there.  At the same time you keep in mind the prospects for the future." - Bill Rodgers, marathoner

Another reminder to take it one step at a time this coming Sunday.