I’m tired of the same old pace

Twenty-four hours from now I will have hoped to have stared down 13.1 miles, grabbed it around the throat and choked all the life out of it!

The last 12 week or so have in many ways been the ultimate journey in perseverance. Many a time I wanted so badly to just stay in bed, trying to rationalize it would be OK to do a run in the afternoon. Sometimes that side won out and I would only to find I was more exhausted at the end of the day. So those 4:00AM runs weren’t so bad.

Over this time I have discovered many new things about my body as a 53 year old. Without going into a litany of the aches and pains, the twinges here and there, the fatigue, and the coming to grips with a day off may be the best training for that day, what I discovered is that even at my age the body is an amazing machine capable of doing so much more than what can be imagined.

About two weeks ago I hit a major “wall” as they say in distance running lingo. I was tired, worn out, hurting, bored with all the miles, and quite honestly ready to go. Over the past two weeks I have tapered way off on miles allowing my body to recover, yet my fear going into this week was that I left all my good miles out on my training runs. However, over the past four days as I have done some slow, short 2 to 3 mile jaunts, I have found my “mojo”. So I do believe I am ready to go!

I have also discovered other survival needs and techniques which at times have needed to be deployed. Other than the closest of Team Volenik in Training, the rest of you do not need to hear this now.

A huge THANK YOU needs to go to Team Volenik Manager, Counselor, Motivator, Accommodator, and in many ways most important Master Nutritionist, my  ALWAYS AMAZING wife Kim!!!!

So here is what is on my play list for my 13.1 mile journey. I was looking for emotional rage as I am a somewhat emotional guy, and when my emotions are stirred, my energy level goes sky high.

Rush, Pearl Jam, Page & Plant, Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood, Led Zeppelin, Rage Against the Machine, The Band, Eddie Vedder, Coldplay, and Sundowner in honor of my boys. All pretty much is “live” as this is what I love.

One last thing, in the end, I did it my way. I trained according to what felt best for me. I didn’t follow any prescribed workout plan. My longest training run was 13 miles. I had several 10’s, 9’s, and 8’s. Most runs during the week were 4 to 7 miles.

Who knows, maybe next is a full marathon?