Planning ahead

One of my biggest bug bears about fellow runners is when they make excuses for not being able to train. If you plan carefully enough and are flexible enough with your schedule then you can make it happen, no excuses. We've all got busy lives, family, work commitments, etc. but if we want to get something out of this sport we can all make little sacrifices here and there to make it happen. My buddy Tim, for example, very busy, young family, will often find himself heading out the door at 10pm to get it done. If that's not for you then don't do it, that's fine, just don't come running to me later saying you didn't have time to train. Lets face it, we do the simplest sport there is. All you need is 30 minutes and a pair of shoes and you can do it.

That being said, a little forward planning can also help in optimising your training. For example, this weekend I knew the weather here was going to be crappy so I got my 18 miler in on Friday morning. Yes I had to get up at 4.30 and yes it sucked, but you know once I was out there I got in to my groove and it was fine. 2 hours later and all I had to worry about for this weekend was squeezing a few miles on the snow when I could.

Then next week I usually do my hard workout on Tuesday or Wednesday after work, but can't next week as I have obligations to attend with Emily. So I sent a note around, rallied some troops and am planning a group track workout Monday after work instead.

I don't mean to sound all 'preachy' but it just annoys me when people make excuses when they really aren't necessary. If you don't want to do something, fair enough, but if you want it enough you'll MAKE it work.

Anyway, enough of the sermon, I'm hoping i can head out later today for some running on the snow, and then hope it clears out of here pretty quick so can get back on the mileage horse next week!

Post Script. Nathan Stanford did his 22 on the dreadmill today- now that's flexibility (and insanity, obviously)

Coach in town

Tim was passing through Charlotte on his way down to South Carolina so made a welcome appearance at the Tuesday CRC workout last night. Unfortunately he has been riddled with flu the past few days but he was still able to warm up and down with me and even jumped into a couple of the repeats I was doing to provide some valued assistance.

Details of the workout are in my log but suffice to say it was another decent effort after Saturday's good one and I'm feeling happy with the way my fitness is developing currently.

I'm currently 'enjoying' my down week, ready to launch back into the higher mileage again next week. My only concern for this week is when I'm going to be able to get my planned 18 miler in. The weather forecast from late Friday through the weekend is particularly grim. I'll get it in somehow, I usually do....

Home from home

What a miserable day of weather today- definitely a reminder of winter in England! It was a day for staying inside, crashing on the sofa and eating the contents of the fridge, so I did- it's amazing how a trip to Blockbuster can keep a 3 and 6 year old happy for hours at a time (yes it was a "bad parent" day)

I got my 16 mile run in early. It was miserable but luckily Jordan and Tom joined me to help pass the time and ignore the rain. As I drove home at 8.30 the roads were pretty deserted except for the cars of the few people who didn't consider it too wet to go to church and the 4 or 5 lone runners I came across. Getting it done, regardless of the weather, good stuff.

The 16 enabled me to surpass my previous weekly record mileage high as I head into next week's 'down time'. I won't know what to do with myself tomorrow and the next morning as my next run won't be until after work on Tuesday. Hopefully it will have stopped raining by then

Tempo fun

Tim had me down for a 6 mile AT tempo plus 1 mile fast today so I rallied the troops and emailed 6 or 7 others to join me. So I rock up at Mcalpine to do the workout this morning and see about 15 other skinny dudes (and gal) ready to get to work. Excellent! It was great to head out on the trails with such a big and talented group of people and a great start to the weekend. You can check out R2W for a recap of the workout but suffice to say it went well and I'm feeling the legs and fitness coming along nicely at the moment. Life is pretty good right now...

Of all the places....

So it was a beautiful Spring-like Tuesday evening and CRC workout night. Having worked out the week before at the beautiful floodlit JCSU track where should we go tonight? I know, how about a cemetery!!

No, to be fair the workouts we were doing called for road rather than track work and the cemetery seemed as good a place as any for a central, traffic free location. You can see my workout comments on R2W but let's just say it was a rather surreal experience and not a place I will likely return to for a night time workout!

The funniest and scariest part of the evening was when a group of 20 or so of Charlotte's fastest cyclists came bombing past with their headlights blaring. Anyhow it completed another solid Tuesday of work and today's 7.25 put me on target to hit upwards of 75 this week. After a few days of beautiful weather we are forecast some heavy rain and a return to colder temps which is a bit of a pisser....

Glorious

Spring has sprung here for a few days at least. 8 miles in Mcalpine this am, most of which shirtless. Even the daffodils have started to sprout in our yard. Freaky weather so far in 2010!!

Having got the run out of the way it was time for lunch. it was up to the girls to decide where they wanted to go. Thankfully they chose Five Guys over Mcdonalds or Chick Fil-A so an assault on the Cajun Fries ensued. I love the burgers there, but it's the fries that swing it for me. Being English I love my chips. Not your American chips, they are crisps, no, chips as in wedges of potatos fried and crisped to perfection. Although still too thin to match the chips from home, Five Guys certainly have the best fries I have tasted in Charlotte...

70-75 miles, two workouts and a long run on tap for this week. that should take care of today's dietary lapse!

Closing out the week

Finished up my week with a couple of so-so efforts which you can read about in my log log. I have also added the link to my log in the sidebar so I won't be regurgitating my workouts every day from now on in the blog.

Tomorrow is a planned rest day and then back to it on Monday when I am looking forward to being able to head out in the afternoon when the temps should be in the 60s!

Just me and the kids this weekend as Lisa is off visiting family in VA. We're having a blast!