Patience

Daily Quote: "I've never known a runner who had as much patience as he needed, but any and all amounts of this precious quality are invaluable. We runners simply don't get better fast enough to satisfy ourselves. Like the hare, we blast away from the starting line with visions of glory. We should be more tortoiselike. For that's the path to success." --Amby Burfoot, from his insightful book, "The Runner's Guide to the Meaning of Life."

I often preach to others about the importance of patience and consistency; consistency is easy for me as I simply LOVE running, the hard part for me is patience as I would often push myself to add more mileage or faster speeds. Today is a good example, what to do with my weekly Tempo Run? The last two weeks my Tempo Run has been at 7.9 mph (7.36 minute miles) for four miles, I could maintain this exact same workout, but feel ready to either increase my speed or maybe my distance. I know that I can't increase both speed AND distance as that would be too much stress. What to do? Well, I decided to run the same pace, but if I feel good I'll continue another mile. Am I ready to go farther at this speed?

2:10 a.m. (after work) Warm-up: 10 minutes on stationary cycle. 35 minutes Weight Circuit Training. Cool-down: 10 minutes on Concept roller. Very tired, after my weight lifting I wanted to skip the cool-down, but dragged myself to the roller anyways.

Slept 9 hours!! I haven't slept this long in quite some time. Morning heart rate was 39 bpm. Breakfast was oatmeal topped with frozen blueberries.

12:20 p.m. Tempo Run, 9 miles. Life Fitness Treadmill set at a 1% grade. Warm-up: 2 miles at 6.3 mph (9:31 minute miles). Tempo: 5 miles at 7.9 mph (7:36 minute miles). Cool-down: 2 miles at 6.3 mph. Average heart rate: 164 bpm. Cardiac Drift: 185 bpm. (Note: My maximum heart rate is 190 bpm) When I reached four miles during the tempo portion I was having doubts about continuing, I was breathing pretty heavily, almost to the point of panting...thought, what the heck, I can do this, finished the tempo and felt euphoric! I'm happy with my progress, no aches nor pain, not even a blister!! Next week I'll attempt to run 8.0 mph for three miles and see how my body reacts to the new stress. Another round of doubts, am I being impatient again?

No time for lunch as I must rush for work. I'll try and grab a little something off the Roach Coach at the airport's holding area for cabs. It's going to be a longgggg night!