Thursday, November 13, 2008

Tone, Trash Talk, and Thanksgiving Turkey

If Juris Mater were a Turkey...

But seriously, only a little over 1 week until Race Day!

As my post earlier this week indicated, my family has been overwhelmed with MANY different challenges. Several hours of daily lice removal definitely puts a damper on regular training plans ;-) Couple this with some difficulties I have been having with my one leg (shin splints, I think?) and running has definitely taken a backseat to my other daily obligations.

Prior to the craziness, I was aiming to run 3-4 days per week. I thought this was a modest, yet achievable goal. In the last 2 weeks, I have only run twice! Yikes! While I feel like a complete slacker, and I am well aware that Juris Mater is going to kick my rear-end, I have taken something very positive from all this. In my sports experience, having a goal (be it a race day, opening game, surviving pre-season field hockey or whatever) is essential to keeping my head in the game and pushing through difficulties. I have never been one to just go out for a run because it feels good. I run toward a goal. For me, working out two times in the past two weeks is actually impressive. If I didn't have this road race in the near future I would not have taken the time to work out at all. Those two workouts have kept my body in the game, even when life seemed to say that this "race" was not impossible. Had I not gone out for those two runs, two weeks off would lead to two months off...and the cycle would continue until I wasn't exercising at all! For me, having a goal (race day, big game, etc.), is really important to regular exercise.

Life lessons aside, we have only 10 days left before race day. While I am not as prepared as I had hoped, I will run the race and I will finish. I'll be pretty straightforward as to my strategy. I'm relying on B-Mama to help me keep a nice pace in the early miles and then I'm going to rely on my sprinters kick to get me to the finish line. We will see how it goes.

5 comments:

B-Mama said...

I will enjoy being your rabbit, Red. Actually, I'm proud to report a resurgence of strength and running consistency this week. Juris Mater, bring it on!! :)

The real question is: will Mary Alice be able to fulfill her goal of the 8K walk? If so, I will be very impressed. The last thing my pelvis would allow me to do at 38weeks was walk near 5 miles. MA, I will pray for you!

Juris Mater said...


I am in my zone
and poised for victory.

B-Mama said...

Okay, JM, I can't believe you just linked to "Hotstepper". WAY too cheesy for this serious runner. :)

Some of us don't need music to motivate--the rhythm of one's breathing, the wind in one's face, the beauty of the world around--it is enough for me.

AWOL Mommy said...

Oh, come on B-Mama, you know we all love that song and its powerful motivational undertones. Kick everyone's booties as much as you want - but don't knock the muzak.

Juris Mater said...

B-mama, I am sorry for your sake that you are lacking this serious motivational tool in your race-prep arsenal.