Me and my ugly shoes* (Adidias a3 Gigaride) went for a stroll today... 1.15 mi. in 10 min. I feel like a sack. When I finished off last season after running the first triathlon I had ever done, I felt great. I was getting to the point where four miles wasn't a big deal (four miles outdoors, not on a treadmill - big difference). The last running session I remember was late November in the rain. It was awesome. I got in the groove listening to some Paul van Dyk (I think somewhere on the album Global, but I'm not sure) and made it up a hill on Old 89 that is a complete enemy of mine (it starts well enough, but suddenly becomes a 35% incline for about 100 meters) and didn't even have to stop. Usually I would stop Today, the same song came on and I sped up... only to slow down shortly thereafter. I hope running is like riding a bike. If I have to work as hard as I did to get to the point I left off, I'm going to be really mad at myself. A lot has happened in the past few months that has soaked the motivation out of me. Most importantly, I miss swimming. I thought that problem would be abated, but I just found out from J that the high school pool (which we thought we would be able to use twice a week) is now under renovation work and won't be open well after the point where we really need to start swimming again.
Even though I doubt anyone out there cares, I'm going to try keeping track of progress here. This season, J and I expect to try doing the Olympic triathlon - a step above the sprint. My goal is to do an Ironman before I'm 38 (within 10 years). Right now, I'm not enthused by the thought, but its a goal that I think is realistic.
Here's to tomorrow...
*I have three different pairs of training and competition shoes right now. The Adidas above are by far the ugliest, but as my weight continues to hover at the 195 lbs. mark, they are great at that weight. My all time favorite shoes, however, are a pair of Nike Air Pegasus. I can't believe I found them in the right size (I have hated Nike for years because of how narrow they run). Once I did, I fell in love. If one were to ask why I run in the Adidas shoes, my answer would be is structure and difference. I like having two different types of shoes to vary running style. I like to tinker with my pace and an easy way to do so is with two different style shoes.
