Another Race On The Sand

I run another 5K on the sand this evening.  This week I’ve been running 10 minutes and walking 2, but I’m going to make it my goal to run 11 and walk 2 during the race.  I’m constantly tweaking my strategy and pushing myself.  When I decided to run 11 and walk 2 a little voice inside said, “Why not just try to run the whole thing?”  Ummmm…I didn’t have an answer for that.  Running is as much mental and spiritual as it is physical, if not more so.  My body can do this.  It has many times before.  Maybe my training schedule is a little slow and I could run the full distance again now, not several weeks or months from now after I work my way up by adding a minute each week.  We’ll see. 

I'm drinking a smoothie today of banana, cottage cheese (protein), strawberries, milk, water, and ginger.  I'll eat a bowl of steel-cut oats two hours before race time. 

I’d love to see y’all at the start/finish line or along the course at Pier 60 at Clearwater Beach this evening.  The race starts at 7.  It’s free to watch, but you’ll have to pay for parking.  I’ll let you know tomorrow how things went. 

Oh, and if you want to run, just show up tonight, pay $10 ($15 if you want a shirt), and do it!  :-)   

Man, it's hot out there!

Just as my daughter and I were leaving for exercise class this morning she got a call that it was canceled due to lightning.  Oh.  Okay.  Now I can finish my work from yesterday and it won't be as late as it would've been if I'd let it wait until we got back from class.  When work was done and turned in, about 9:30, I decided to do my run since we didn't have class.  It's BRUTALLY HOT out there.  It's bad enough to jog at 6:30 in the morning but 9:30 is just ridiculous!  Yogi Berra used to say that 90% of the game is 50% mental.  Yeah.  Think about it.  What he meant was that football or jogging or anything physical isn't just physical.  It's also mental.  Boy, I found that out today.  This week I'm jogging 2 sections plus 100 steps.  One week I do an ABA pattern (mile 1, then mile 2 is turned 90 degrees, then mile 1 again).  The next week I do a BAB pattern just to keep my mind fresh.  I like routine but not ruts.  A little change is a good thing.  This morning, though, I was really battling my mind that thought I was crazy for jogging in the heat and humidity.  I wanted to stop like I haven't wanted to in months!  After one section I thought I was supposed to turn but I was really supposed to go straight.  It took only about 15 seconds to figure it out in my head, but...man, it was BRUTALLY HOT out there!  I had to make myself do at least this section.  If I wanted to quit after that, fine, but I had to try.  And the next section.  And 100 more steps. 

After about half a mile of that, I did stop.  I went 2 miles total.  And that's okay.  Tomorrow is another day.  At least I did 2.  That's more than if I'd not gone at all.