Day Forty Eight - "Off Season"

“You cannot propel yourself forward by patting yourself on the back.”
Unknown

Every day that goes by, I am enjoying life more and more. For some, the opposite occurs. The thought of getting old, loosing hair, gaining weight, loosing people you love or even retirement plague individuals to the point there are more negatives in their lives than positives. This thinking or worrying will only shorten your time and you will miss the little things in life that unbelievably can be just as important.

Over the last year, I have developed a lot of new friends and acquaintances and strengthened my bonds with family and old friends. For me, my athletic nature has opened the door for new people to be a part of my everyday life and I welcome the times I am able to spend with them.
This outlook on life has had a positive impact on my health and the relationships I have with my wife and daughters as well. Stress that creeps into our lives daily is easily diffused and the bond I had with my daughters has become stronger than before. By “not sweating the small stuff” I can spend the little amount of time we have between work, training, their schooling, the activities and their friends with little outside disturbances. Quality of time is the key to our family life and by making the time meaningful for all gives us a balance.

This morning is Bob’s favorite day of the week: Track Workout. This morning we had a crew of runners heading out to the track for our weekly ritual of tearing up the oval at AHS. The group consisted of, Jay, Bob, Ann Marie, Susan, Swimmer Susan, Stacy, Chris and I. The plan for 75% of the runners was 10 X 400M’s with a 400M RI in between. The remaining had longer sets to accomplish between 600M’s and 1200M’s.

The weather was cooperating with us after a downpour last night. A few times on the drive over to LTF, the rain started up but quickly ended. The temperature and wind was ideal for a morning of consecutive loops of 400M’s around.

Upon arriving at the track I could tell Bob & Jay were eager to snap these 400M’s off. We all did our 400M scout of the track marking the 200M split on the back end near the visiting section of the bleachers. I was a little concerned with the amount of track participants that the oval was going to become congested but figured it would work out if the spacing were adequate.

At the end of the scouting run, we prepped ourselves by tearing off the extra layers we ran over in to lighten the load. Bob & Jay stuck to themselves and took off for the first 400. Ann Marie and Susan followed them. I gave a 10-second head start for Bob & Jay and then took off. Since we all have, a set time for the 400M’s Anyone ahead or behind was no consequence. The goal was to stay focused and achieve the marks, which for Bob & Jay were 1:35’s, Ann Marie, and Susan, 1:39’s and my time was 1:20.

After each 400M, we took a 400M recovery run around the track. Chris and Swimmer Susan were well into their sets and Stacy who was having some groin issues was trailing the pack of 400 runners. Stacy was taking it a little easy not too aggravate the pull anymore.

During each 400M the Dynamic Duo (Bob & Jay) feel into a rhythm while they continued to hit their mark. I passed them on a couple of occasions due to the time differences on the 400’s, but decided that I would stagger myself and allow them to “do their thing”. The Duo are two highly competitive athletes and I know for at least Bob he would like to have “shown me up” by kicking it up. This would not have done them any good in their goal so I fell back with Ann Marie and Susan and let the boys have their fun.

Everyone was hitting their times at the half way point and maintained this consistency to the end. The Dynamic Duo were a few seconds fast with one 400M being knocked off at 1:22! Ann Marie & Susan were very consistent coming in 1:36’s or so. I had decided on my 400M’s last night to increase the pace a by a few seconds to 1:20’s. For my 400M’s: 1:19, 1:20, 1:20, 1:18, 1:18, 1:20, 1:15, 1:17, 1:18, 1:18. Fast I know but the laboring was about 90% of max. I felt good and could have gone a few seconds faster on each one, but decided to hang at this effort for the 10.

Chris, Swimmer Susan and Stacy completed their sets early and took off back to LTF. The remaining runners finished and cooled down with one more 400M before making our way back to the LTF as well.

It is glad to see the Dynamic Duo, Ann Marie & Susan though disappointed about the closing of Boston, focusing on their goal for Huntsville. The strength and determination in Sarah and Wren are showing as well. They are not letting this setback deter them from the objective. I need to contact my sister, Tracey today to see how she is fairing with the news.

The runners I surround myself with are strong, motivated and determined individuals who propel themselves through life by not telling about their greatness, they just show it. I am there to give them the support and encouragement with a pat on the back for a good job.