Two Solid Weeks of Running

Well, as long as I can fit in a "long" run on Sunday (probably about six miles), I will have completed my second consecutive solid week of training. I ran three times (4, 3 and 5 miles) last week, and twice (4 and 4 miles) so far this week. I love this time of year, and I have really been enjoying the Fall season.

I took two sorely needed vacation days from work this week. On Monday, my Dad and I went up to the mountains turkey hunting. We didn't see a single turkey, but that didn't even matter. We had a great day together. The weather was beautiful, and the trees were still a blaze of red and gold. As I sat in the woods drinking coffee from my Thermos while listening to the sounds of squirrels and birds accompany the soft stir of the wind through the falling leaves, an immense peace came over me as I thought, "This is what it's all about." The quiet solitude of the wilderness really calms me and makes me appreciate the natural beauty that is all around us every day and yet goes unnoticed by so many people. We did jump one deer while walking which was pretty exciting. After two straight deer seasons of going home empty, I was starting to wonder if there were any deer left on the mountain. The drive to and from the mountains gave my Dad and I time for some good conversation, and it was nice having breakfast and dinner together.

The weather has been fantastic most of this week. The high has been close to 70 for the past few days. I went for a 4-miler on Thursday and then again this afternoon, and I was comfortable running in shorts and short sleeves. My conditioning is improving slightly, but I still have a long way to go.

I took another day off from work today (Friday) to go small-game hunting with two of my friends in a local county park. None of us got a shot at anything, but again, that didn't really matter too much to any of us. The weather was sunny and warm with a gentle breeze, and it was a fabulous day to be out in the woods. We did kick one deer up while hunting in some underbrush. The cool thing was that the deer (a doe) was half piebald. The front half of the deer was the normal grayish-brown color that they usually are this time of the year as the landscape changes to the darker colors of winter, but the back half of the deer was almost pure white with only a few small, brown spots. Sometimes people confuse these with albinos, but they aren't because even when they are totally white they don't have pink eyes and aren't sensitive to light. Piebald is a recessive gene that causes a lack of pigment in the coat, but it is not a total lack of pigment such as with albinism. I've seen piebald deer before, but they are a pretty uncommon sight overall.

Having some time off has allowed me to put aside the stress from work and compartmentalize it accordingly. I have been talking a lot with my friend, coworker, and fellow Team Leader Jose and we have been discussing our plans for next year including how we plan to change how we manage our area. We have agreed that we need to work harder to manage some of the attitudes and pushback that we get from time to time, and our manager has told us that he will support us "125,000%" so that is encouraging. I am starting to realize that I just can't let it get to me, but that can sometimes be easier said than done. Running, spending time outdoors, and working out are great stress relievers. I need to continue to make them an integral part of my life so that I can keep things in perspective.

I am very happy with how things have progressed the last two weeks, and I will soon turn my thoughts to the spring and the next 26.2 mile quest. All of the buzz about Lance Armstrong running NYC this year, and Dean Karnazes doing 50 marathons in 50 days which culminated at NYC has whet my appetite to whip myself back into the kind of shape necessary to run my 9th marathon. In just the last two weeks of running, I can already tell a difference in my energy and endurance levels. I am starting to feel that familiar hunger building inside my craw. It makes me want to go out there and tear it up.