Joy To The World: Jan 31 - Feb 6

Three Dog Night composed the hit single in 1971. This past week I returned to the land of 70's and had to once again learn to run happy.

SUN
9 miles in Keystone Canyon w/ Pottey & Hannah
*you can good game your friend after a good run and you can play Top Gun on a run, but you can't good game your friend while playing Top Gun on a run

MON
10 miles to-from Wal-Mart w/ Ronnie
*way out all the way down which means the way back was up, up, up! and legs didn't seem none to happy to run. ice bath after school helped settle things out.

TUES
10 miles along Switchbacks w/ Sean in AM; 8x200 in PM for 4 miles w/ Tegan
*helped new roomie with her workout in afternoon....really interesting to workout mainly for the betterment of someone else. congrats to Tegan for cranking out sixteen of the half-lappers.

WED
7 miles solo around Galena High School
*legs heavy - that is all

THUR
11 miles in AM w/ Sean along BLC route; PT workout in PM
*got our cruise on! PT workout kicked my tail....oodles of wall sits and side bridges while holding your leg in the air.

FRI
7 miles in PM w/ Potteys in Keystone Canyon
*really helped to have running partners today, as the energy was low

SAT
14 miles solo in AM through trails and BLC route

WEEK
72 miles! Feels good to be back after last week's break.

How does a person "run for fun" or with passion? How does a person avoid being chained to the rock of training and wake up to a similar fate of Prometheus? As a close friend said, "It is not what goes into the body that matters, but what comes out of the heart." The nature of The Task leads me to put many things into my body: miles, diet, sleep, core, stretching, PT, chiropractor, etc. The subsequent goal is to achieve the desired outcome. In this process, however, I have the tendency to output negative results - fear, worry, obsession, tunnelvision. This is when running becomes a chore, an activity which sucks donkey balls. The friend posed the statement with the point that all the hard work can actually ruin the experience if the resulting product actually hinders success. So then the age-old question returns, "How do I run with passion and zeal and fire? How on earth do I run for fun? How do I return to a month past where I loved ten milers? Where running was a game!" How do I bring the joy back into the world of running?

I know that not every run can be fun (or can it?). And I know Bedford said called the majority of training a drudge. I get that - it IS hard work. But I want to love running.


In the mean time I get to use an iTunes gift card provided by a little brother! So far I like Sofisticated (Stereo MC's), Que Sera (Wax Talor), Honey (Moby), Unleashed (Massive Attack), and Cellphone's Dead (Beck). Any further suggestions are welcome.

Thanks for reading.
Patience.
Miles.
Consistency.