Bear with me...

...for a minute. I figured something out this past week. At first it sounds bad, but really, it's a positive discovery.

I figured out that no matter what I do, I do not, and will not like long distance running. 5K's (3.1 miles) and the odd 10K (6.2 miles- duh!) with a 5-miler thrown in here and there are fine. Beyond that I really don't like running.

The seed for this epiphany was planted in an email from Coach Rick.

It would seem that this kind of thought process would be counter-productive. Not so much. I'm no longer trying to figure out why I don't fall into a good rhythm or 'groove' when I run. I'm not trying to figure out why I'm so slow. (Being the Fat Man doesn't help there!) I'm not trying to figure out why the distance increases are so hard. I'm not a natural runner. Some people are, and some people are not.

So what does this mean for my Boston Marathon? It means that I'll try some different things in training- I just bought two of Jeff Galloway's running books. I'm going to try some set run/walk intervals instead of the hit-or-miss run/walk I've been doing. No more worrying about how slow I am. I'm actually starting to enjoy training more.

For me, the Boston Marathon isn't going to be about speed. It's going to be about completing a mission- to raise money to fight blood cancer and achieving a personal goal. I do believe that this will be my one and only full marathon- I'm going to do the most with it that I can.

So there!

Saturday's run was a short one for me- The team did 15 miles. I did six miles and then went to a spinning class with the TNT cycle team. Saturday was the first cycle training. Since I was in Las Vegas during the season kick-off, I wanted to meet some of the new teammates. So far, a small group- But it's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the fight in the dog; Our group is small but mighty!

I don't know if I mentioned this but I signed up for a sprint triathlon in August- Even though it's the wrong order (A triathlon is swim/bike/run.) the run/bike thing was an eye-opener. It's going to be a fun summer!

This coming Sunday feb. 17, my teammates Kyrsten and Jill will be running the National Breast Cancer 1/2 Marathon along with yours truly in Jacksonville, FL. I CAN"T WAIT for some warmer weather!!! (Las Vegas was only marginally warmer than Massachusetts.) I'll be staying with friends in Melbourne, FL for the rest of the week and flying home on Friday. Back to team training on Saturday and then a three-mile race on Sunday the 24th. Hmmmmm... For someone that doesn't like running, I have a lot of it lined up...

I just got done with five miles on the treadmill. Time to clean up and get to work.

Everyone take care and have a great week!