One Week To Robie

Yep, this was the last week of training before the big Robie Creek in Boise. This crazy idea started after reading an article in Runnersworld magazine that said Robie Creek was the toughest half-marathon. For some reason I thought it would be cool because A) it's in Boise where Paige's parents live and B) it would be something that would force me to push myself. Now the time has finally arrived and the time for preparation is all but over.

This week the idea was to cut back on cross training and run more. So I ran 4 times this week. First on Monday I had a nice time running the "suburban loop" with Ells. The "suburban loop" is a nearly 5 mile loop through some trails in the forest by my work. It's got one really nasty hill about 2/3 the way into it and is a regular run during the summer. The trails have finally dried out so we gave it a shot. I could tell that my training for hills is paying off. Usually when I charge up the big hill, I really want to die and end up walking some of it. This time I didn't feel so bad. Hopefully that will help me get up Aldape summit next Saturday.

Wed. and Friday were both at the gym on the treadmill. Nothing too special. Used the incline on both runs just to get me used to what I'll be facing.

Saturday was "long" run day. I did 9 miles from the house and got to head up the forest road near where we live. It's a really nice dirt road the goes through the forest and gains about 100 ft per mile. This was the first week it's been open since the snow started which is probably what explains the lack of cars on the road (didn't see a single one). Again I ran without ipod but didn't come up with any awesome poems this time. Probably because nothing crazy happened. It was just a nice peaceful run through the trees. My stomach was giving me fits, but that was probably due to the pizza the night before and the pancakes that morning.

Deep thoughts alert!

I had some interesting thoughts after Wednesday's run. It had been a rough day at work and somebody had mentioned how glad they were it was "hump day". After my run I felt much better and got to thinking about what it is that makes me happy. I came to the conclusion that a big part of happiness is just enjoying life for what it is. Everyday presents a new challenge and new opportunities to grow and learn. I think this is analogous to running. Each run is challenging, sometimes the biggest challenge is just getting going, sometimes it is completing all those damn speed intervals. But in the end I'm always glad I went and even during the run I find moments of pure joy. So instead of being glad the weeks almost over, I'm going to try and enjoy each day for what it is.