Sucking Wind 12/07/2010
  Don't Know, Just Like This Picture Today I had track work programmed in and to tell you the truth, I was excited. I hadn't hit the track in a while and I was eager to see where things stood. To top it all off, I had a TON of energy throughout the day! Well, one thing led to another and I ultimately decided to hold off on the running until later in the evening. A couple points to make on this choice: first, I was comfortable with it because I really like the idea of changing up training times every now and then, especially if your goal is to compete. second, well, to contradict the first, I was uncomfortable with it. I don't really like training in the evening. So because of this, and the fact that I had a little extra energy flowing through me, I figured I could overcome my issues with evening training and put up some good numbers despite the time of day! Well, I was WAY wrong. This turned out to be one of the toughest workouts I have done in a very long time, my legs were heavy as hell, my breathing was strained and it felt like I was running up hill the whole time. I literally hit a wall, and I mean a very distinct wall right at 200 metes, and it was pretty much crap after that. My times were legitimately depressing and I am pretty concerned about this. Sure, it could have just been a bad day, one of those really frustrating ones where you feel great, but just don't have the ability to perform to your known ability; but, no matter what it was, I just did not have it. This got me thinking a little about failure. You see, every day we have something programmed in to do, whether it be fitness related, work related, family related and so on. We have certain expectation of ourselves based on passed experiences and we generally strive to meet or surpass our last efforts at a given task. But what happens when we fall short? What happens when we crash and burn? What happens when we fail? Well, I'm not totally sure what you do, but I know what I do. I wake up the next day and get after it with the same intensity, 100%. I do this because I know I"ll pop out of it. I know that one day I'll run a 72 second 400 meters, and a few days later I'll fly across the finish line in 61 seconds. That's just how the body is. You can't expect to be "perfect" every day. In fact, you'll probably be a good deal less than "perfect" more often than not. But the whole idea behind this journey we all take is to pursue perfection, right? If we were to actually attain perfection, we'd have nothing more to work towards and that would just totally suck. If we have nothing to pursue, our journey is as good as done. No more training, no more challenges, no more glorious finish lines, no more progress, yeah, you get the picture. So, embrace the down days, let it be your fuel for tomorrows training, and keep on working hard! Perhaps a little over-motivating there, but for some reason I am really feeling good about my training program, and having a rough day just pumps me up for tomorrow workout, so, it shines through in my writing. I actually have an article in the works about failure (along with two others...), so I'm sure I'll be touching on this topic a good deal more, and in greater detail of course, over the next few weeks or so. So, here's to our next workout! Here's to giving it our all each an every day, no matter what we define as our all that day! Here's to the journey! Never Stop, GET FIT. Josh Courage 3 Comments Time Trial... 11/30/2010
  Today's workout called for a little running around. I decided, rather than doing my mile run at the track, I would mark off a straight-shot mile from Coyote Point Park just a bit north from where I live. So, I bundled up and bean my mile warm-up jog out to the park. A few block into my run I decided to head to the track anyway, and took a sharp left towards Burlingame High. Well, that turned out to be the wrong idea, it looked like the entire school was out on the track and field running around. So, I did a few dynamic stretching and headed on yet another mile jog out to the park. Once there, I got a little loosened up, and hit the sprint. I finished up at 6:17 on the button and was gasping for air. I'm actually pretty convinced it was a touch over a mile, but either way, I know I need to get my short sprints training in more often. I walked back to collect myself, then hit my hill sprints. Now these were tough as hell, but I realized how much I like the muscle-busting agony of sprinting up a steep slope. That awesome quote from Fight Club "I ran until my muscle burned and my blood pumped battery acid" rang true in my ears and I enjoyed every second of it! The best part about the workout though, I was listening to Christmas Music the entire time! Now I can't lie, I am a HUGE fan of Christmas music, it is so wonderfully warming that it can make me feel so good no matter what's going on in my life. So yeah, I attacked my steep hill sprints with a little Jingle Bells singing in my ear! It was a wonderful thing. And in the evening, Lindsey whipped up an awesome meal of almond crusted cod, garlicky brussel sprouts and sweet potato. Looking forward to a beast of a workout tomorrow! Never Stop, GET FIT. Josh Courage | ArchivesMay 2012  
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