Marathon Season, Week 1: Welcome to the Good Life

Love him or hate him  . . .
It's the good life
Better than the life I lived
When I thought that I was gonna go crazy
-Kanye

I used to do something called the week in song lyrics.  This evolved out of songs that got stuck in my head during my long run that seemed to really stand for what was going on in my training life that week.

Pink started playing on my Slacker Radio station right around the midway point of my 9 mile run this weekend.  I was feeling pretty pissed that I was so slow.  I mean, I know the heat index was over 100, but I've been doing this for almost 8 years now.  Shouldn't I be faster!!? That led to all these thoughts about how will I ever get close to a BQ? 

And then this song came on.

Where there is desire there is bound to be a flame
Where there is a flame, someone's bound to get burned
But just because it burns, doesn't mean you're gonna die
You gotta get up and try, try, try
You gotta get up and try, try, try

OK then.

Week 1.

You'd notice something odd about my training plan if you looked at it: it is unconventional.  For the most part, that means I go CONSERVATIVE as hell.  My long runs are light and not as frequent as most. To keep injury at bay, and to keep my triathlon fitness, I also cross-train more than usual: at least a weekly ride that ends up being 20-50 (even 60) miles, and/or a swim, plus strength.  And then other times I have to be aggressive because of my schedule.  Rarely, this means put two hard workouts together, or my long run only 3 weeks before my "A" race (many reasons).  That's the point of having a Coach, even an online one.

Now, I know I probably can't keep such an oddball schedule and BQ, but that's ok. This isn't a PR or BQ year at all, but I've still PR'd every single marathon I've ever run. I have a goal for this one (because if I didn't, my Type-A tendencies would cause me to twitch), but I am perfectly ok just getting through it considering the circumstances.

Which brings us back to that 9-miler. Pissed. Slow.  Hot.  Rainy. Etc.  That Pink song came on and, for some reason, I thought back to when running 10 miles was so challenging that for a few days after I did what I affectionately called the "10-mile waddle."

Now I start the first week of a marathon plan with a 9-mile run.  And then I go ride hills the next day.  And weights the day after that.  And there ain't no waddle. And, thanks to KDub, I have found a gel that doesn't make me poo my pants.

Better than the life I lived
When I thought that I was gonna go crazy

So maybe I'm not exactly BQing yet.  But I'm getting there.  I'm well enough to be somewhat consistent.  And I'm finally feeling fit enough to not be killed by a 9- or 10-mile run.  And I've maintained enough fitness to jump into a 9- or 10-mile run whenever I need to do it.   

Welcome to the Good Life.

Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey . . .
I'm good

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