Back in the Groove

After running two marathon PRs in the Fall of 2005, my performance in the Spring of this year really fell off despite being just as fit if not more so. The generally warmer weather of the spring marathon season doesn't seem to suit me as well as the cooler fall temps. I actually ran my second slowest marathon time out of the eight that I have run in the spring of 2006. This was at the Country Music Marathon in Nashville, TN. I actually ran 15 minutes slower than my inaugural marathon time where I just wanted to finish with little regard to the time that I ran. What can I say; it was just one of those days. The only time that I've run slower was a spring marathon in 2005 where it was warm and humid, and I was running with a slight overuse injury that had pretty much prevented me from training the final two weeks.

This subpar performance combined with increasing stress/time spent at work and just general mental burnout really took a toll on my motivation. I was three weeks into training for the Richmond Marathon in November when I realized that my heart just wasn't into it. I scrapped the marathon training and told myself that I would concentrate on a local half-marathon and some other shorter races in the fall, but I just couldn't seem to stay on track and stick to any training program. What it all amounts to is that I haven't run more than once a week since the end of July, and I haven't run a single race since mid-July when I ran a local 5-miler.

This week I finally decided to get off the snide and make a concerted effort to get back to running and weight training. I have gained roughly eight pounds or so since the end of July. I'm only about 5' 8", so eight pounds is pretty noticeable on me. All of my clothes still fit, but needless to say, there are a few pairs of pants that are a little more snug than they used to be. I think that is what finally put me over the edge -- I'm not going up a waist size.

So, as my first foray back into the world of the fit and out of the realm of the fat, lazy slob I went for an easy 4-miler last night. It was warm yesterday (close to 80 degrees), but once the sun started to drop, the temperature went right along with it. By early evening the air was cool and comfortable so it was a perfect night for a run. I decided not to wear my HR monitor on my runs for a while as my elevated HR will do nothing but taunt me (heh, heh, you used to be in shape -- loser). I was actually pleasantly surprised by how much overall conditioning that I've retained. The endurance certainly isn't there, but I am still able to run 4 miles at the same pace as when I was marathon training. My legs did start to feel slightly fatigued, but they really aren't all that sore today.

Today, I went to the gym for the first time in almost two months. I must admit that it felt good to throw a little iron around. They got some nice new equipment (Hammer Strength) at the gym which I enjoyed beating around a little today. Time away from the gym has never really bothered me that much. I am stocky and pretty solidly built so I tend to pack on muscle pretty quickly. Again, I was surprised by how much strength I had retained. Some of the raw power was gone, but I was still able to use a respectable amount of weight for all of the exercises that I performed.

So it's been two consecutive days of working out (running and then weight training). Tomorrow I am planning to go for another run, and then I actually might play dek hockey on Thursday evening. I played hockey for about twelve years in high school/college/after college but gave it up about six years ago. I recently picked up the stick again, but I don't have any plans to get too serious about it. The chance of physical disfigurement is just too great (I'm already plenty ugly thank you), and it's not like I'm getting paid to sacrifice my body. A coworker plays on a team that is short of guys so he put me on the team and told me to show up when I can. I told him that I won't make every game as I'm just not that into it.

Anyway, I must admit that it feels good to be back in the groove. Hopefully, I can keep the momentum going.