More from RTR

It looks like the RTR crew has posted some videos from the kickoff. I’m easy to spot; here’s one that was shot after we finished up.

I’m definitely a weirdo. I’ve probably run only a handful of times over the past three or four months, never longer than a half hour. Yet for this, I got about 4 hours of sleep, brought along what I figured I’d need for fuel, and banged out 14 miles. How I did that has inspired some thought.

I figure for me, I can do basically anything I want to do. It’s a matter of how fast I get it done, and it’s a gift. I’ll dissect this.

The first, and most important element is this: do I actually want to do it. If I do, I will do it. It’s that simple. I will run or ride well beyond the point that my body tells me to stop. I am not programmed to quit. I literally can’t do it. This will probably be my undoing one day, but the fact remains that I don’t know how to stop. Even if I slow to a crawl, I keep moving.

The second element is fueling, which in tandem with training, bridges the difference between me being competitive and simply finishing. If I can eat properly and take in appropriate fluids, my physical potential is available. That potential’s upper limit is determined by training the relevant systems.

This year’s hillclimb comes to mind. I know I am at least a 1:30 finisher. Joey Adams feels that I am a sub 1:15 finisher. But having missed so much high intensity training this year, coupled with bad fueling, I barely made the summit in under two hours. I went through a slice of hell that day. But I still finished.

Same scenario in the marathon. Back then I had yet to really understand how to fuel, and having trained only a fraction of what was necessary, I was in for a day I’d rather forget. But I was still there in the end.

And let’s not even talk about 6 Gaps.

I don’t know if this is really going anywhere; I think it’s only proving to myself that if I focus on something and actually train for it, I may actually do pretty well. Long way to go to come to a point that is, well, pretty g*ddamn obvious. Anyway, Wednesday’s run was effective at driving that point home.

I’m spread too thin though; there are too many different things I like to do. Like cross!

Cyclocross season is upon us. First race is on Sunday in Bedford, MA. This year I actually have a geared bike. I appear to be in reasonable shape. So it will be very interesting to see how it goes. Check in again on Sunday night.