Time to get Serious

I ran today in my Psycho Wyco trail shoes. They felt like they were permeated with cement - stiff and unyeilding. I developed a blister after four miles! How are the mighty fallen in the midst of battle!... 2 Samuel 1:25. But the time for excuses and lamentations is drawing to an end. I intend to get serious about consistency and quality of my workouts. Fewer junk miles; less whining. It's worked for my pal, the Boz. He went from the neophyte randonneur you see on the right:

To this:
simply by getting serious about his goals. I've mapped out a schedule for the next six weeks which takes me up to the Brew-to-Brew on April 6th. I'm going to see what happens if I stick to schedule of mixing hard and easy efforts and practice intentionally raising my AT rather than avoiding it. Maybe there's not much need for 400 meter intervals in preparation for a 44-mile race. But practicing 8-minute miles will make 9:30's a lot easier. What the heck, it's only 47 days - if I don't like being serious, I can return to my life of sloth and avarice.

Psycho Wyco 2008

Fun, fun, fun. Lots of mud and lots of walking but I finished. The first loop of this 50 km trail run was tough and it only got tougher as the weather warmed and the permafrost turned to alternately slick, yet shoe-grabbing, soupy mud. For 20 miles. It took a while, but it wasn't bad for a first effort.

Stephen kept us moving forward and made sure I didn't tarry too long at the aid stations. I enjoyed it. I have to think that any future trail run less than 50 miles in length has got to be easier than Saturday's run. Once the old legs loosen up, I'm going to register for Brew-to-Brew.