You can't go it alone

The remarkable thing about practice that year was that I don't really have a good memory of what we did.  There certainly were not any "distance runs" and if there was it was a few loops around the school property.  After a few days you had an idea of who was capable of what.  I was fortunate in the speed category, so anything we did I was at the front.  After two weeks with no standard to compare ourselves with, off we went into our first dual meet competition.  Looking back we had absolutely no idea of what we were doing.  Our coach was a young guy who's job at the high school was to supervise the kids serving suspension.  There was zero introduction to the sport.  Being somewhat inclined to understand the sport, I found a primer on XC and learned how the scoring worked.  What happened at our little race taught me it is possible to see results one way and end up with a different outcome.

So after work yesterday we had to be somewhere at 5:30.  That meant no miles for the dog.  She got even though and tore through the trash in the middle of the night to get at some left overs.  This rarely happens, but the thing is after she completes the deal she wakes me so I can retrieve her water.  No conscious.  At 13 she is no different than when she was 3.  One difference.  She will still blow after wildlife and pull something and then be on the IR a few days. 

A large part of me understands that to continue as a runner some compromises need to be made.  Forget about the slow down phase that has come.  The next progression involves extending the running life by reducing the act of running.  I'm not ready to accept that because as most people I'm different and I'll fix the problem.  What that involves is thinking about grand schemes to make that happen and put very little effort towards those fixes.  Let's face it at some point there is a running version of me I just don't want to see and it does not involve race times.  It's like this, I have found a way to get out around 2 hours a day and basically be okay.  The issue is once you double or triple that time in an event my body balks.  If you like running ultras that can be a problem.  I see it two ways.  First I continue the way I am and hope nothing changes.  Second I contrive a running schedule that is smart and efficient, change my eating habits, and begin exercises to support my running deficient areas.  Like my buddy Eric says.  "If your gonna be dumb you gotta be tough."