Just Do It

There is nothing more important when going after a goal than motivation. Whether it is intrinsic or extrinsic doesn't matter. What is important is that those motivations are there. During the last training I was motivated by the drive within, but now that goal is accomplished I need a different kind of push. I have the answer with Nike+. For Christmas my LOVELY wife bought me the Nike+ chip for my iPod nano and my first run has officially been logged. In addition, to the historical data that will be gathered via this WONDERFUL invention, my good friend, and co-worker, Scott Wills has issued quite a number of challenges for me to participate in.

For those of you who don't have the Nike+ chip don't fret there is there is an alternative, a VERY good one at that...Runner+. It allows you track your runs just like Nike+, as well as other features, but it also tracks your shoe mileage and sync your data from your Nike+ account.

As to not sound too cliche', but get motivated for the New Year and start running.

It's Gotta Be the Shoes

When I was growing up "It's Gotta Be the Shoes" was one of the hottest sayings around. If you just bought some of those $100 Air Jordan's you would be able to "Be Like Mike". I am not sure if that is necessarily true, but I can tell you that if your shoes are shot then your runs will suck. Well at the end of Monday's run I started to feel the same achiness in my right foot that I felt right before I started training for the Memphis Half Marathon. Looks like the mileage has run out on the shoes and time to get a new pair. Monday's run was pretty good. It was the last ~3 miler (I hope Santa brings me the Nike+ chip so that I can more accurately track my mileage) that I will do this week. As stated in the previous post I need to start ramping up my mileage so tomorrow will be a 5 miler. I was hoping to get in a 7 mile run this weekend, but let's be honest it is Christmas and when will I have time.

For any of you SERIOUS runners at there don't forget to signup for the Swamp Stomper.

The Weather Outside is Frightful

Well due to circumstances outside of my control I wasn't able to run again until yesterday instead of the planned Thursday. It was another 3 mile run. I was hoping to have better results then my first run "back", and it definitely was. I decided to take a different route, which is a little easier than Monday's, but I needed the confidence boost. Though the weather here in Memphis isn't as 1/10th of misery that is going on in many other parts of the country, it was still a dreary, cold run. It took getting through the first mile or so before I was able to catch my breath, but I eventually did and was able to finish the run without a fraction of the frustration that I had previously experienced. Starting next week the "warmup" is over and I will be hitting the pavement hard and logging a lot more miles.

Until then...

Every Marathon Begins with the First Step

So over the past year the few times that I have written on this blog the subject matter has been mainly about those little annoyances of life that I find disturbing. I have decided to change my strategy on the subject matter. A week ago I ran my first half marathon which was the most challenging event that I have ever done. As I came across the finish line I had never felt so much pain in my body at that exact moment.

Even experiencing all that pain I was smiling. First, because of what the race was for as well as the fact that I pushed through and finished it. I thought to myself that if I could do this what else could I do. So here is the declaration...to run the full St. Jude Memphis Marathon next year. In order to properly perpare I am going to run the Germantown Half Marathon in March as well as the New York Half Marathon which should give me plenty of time for final preparation for the full marathon. So in my little corner of cyberspace I will chronicle all of my "ups and downs" (I know it was cheesy) of my training.

The day before yesterday was my first run since finishing the half. I could definitely tell I hadn't run in a week. In addition, it was cold and rainy but I pushed on through. We'll see if Thursday is any better.