March 11: I need something to train for

For those of you who know "Training for Berlin David" you have probably noticed a lack of intensity in most of my running posts since then. The "Training for Berlin David" saw every city he visited/lived as just another city to pound the miles with only one goal in mind - Berlin. My dedication to this ideology was, infact, ingrained in the title of this blog.

The "I have achieved my goal, I am have been training consistently hard for the past 2 years, I am going to take some time off David" soon followed and has made himself quite comfortable since October. During this time my blog could (should?) have been titled something like "Running from running" or "Pudgy butt and beer gut". Ok, it really is not that bad - I am just making the point that running has really turned into a very recreational event for me vs. a very strict, regimented, pre-planned (24 weeks in advance), sometimes my day (and EVERY weekend) will revolve entirely around my run(s) kind of activity.

Sure, I am signed up for 2 marathons in the near future. But those are just for fun.

In the past couple of weeks my body (and mind) have started to give me signs that it is getting restless and needs something to keep it honest. Every run that I go on my body just keeps accelerating - it has done nothing the day before to really stress it to cause it to slow down. My mind will not tell it to do otherwise because it knows that there is nothing coming the day ahead to prepare for. So I end up doing bursts here and there, sprinting for ridiculous goals such as a walk sign that just turned to red and I am still 100m out (and actually making it!), seeing if I can beat a car during the final mile stretch to my house (and thanking the last red light just before the traffic circle that stops him one last time to see me cruise by), seeing how big of a puddle I can jump without breaking stride (and realizing that I will never be a Carl Lewis), among many other things that "Training for Berlin David" never had the patience (or the energy) to do.

So, what should I do to keep honest and give my running some structure again? Absolutely nothing. I have not had this much fun running (solo*) in very, very long time. I look forward to my runs every day again and feel so revitalized after I am done (this is done a feeling you get when deep in the heart of a Jack Daniels binge session). It feels great running.

That being said, I ran 7.25 miles today as follows:
7:34, 7:05, 7:13, 6:57, 6:14, 6:34, 6:10 min/mile

A+

* I would gladly trade any of my solo running fun for some sweet, sweet intervals with "The Beast", trade trash talk with the Suga Land Boyz, pace the Koza to sub 20 minute 5 km, or to give bones to whoever is the parking lot after the run.