Running With Jack

Yesterday we had roofer’s fixing a problem with our roof at home so I didn’t have to commute to work. The problem is that instead of working 8 hours I worked 12, at least I made a dent in the project I’m working on. I still managed to get in a 16K/10M run in the dark last night. It was 8C/46F earlier in the day, but as I ran my loop the rain changed to sleet, then snow – so I guess it was more around freezing by the time I ran. Despite the cold and darkness I still managed to keep up a fair pace, 5:36/K (9:00/M). The rest of the week will be getting even colder – time to dig out the hat and gloves.

Ranting and Raving

You may have noticed that I posted my tentative race schedule for 2007 yesterday. On the way to work this morning I was thinking about my training schedule. Over the next couple months I won’t be making any big changes, maybe a little more training on asphalt. The biggest challenge for 2007 will be time, it looks like I am going to have to be satisfied with a maximum of 80K/50M running per week squeezed into probably 4 days. This should be more than enough to complete all my long race goals, but probably not enough to improve my speed much.

I have had people tell me that you make time for things that are important in your life. I know people who put their hobbies first, even before their jobs or families, and usually they excel. But at what price? Some fortunate people seem to be able to juggle better than others, maybe they have a flexible job and a spouse who is super-supportive (or are single).

I could drop all my cross-training, home improvement projects, time with my wife etc. and squeeze in 5-6 days of running and more mileage, but I ask myself if the price for, e.g. a 30 minute marathon-PR, is worth throwing my life out of balance.

This may sound boring, but I am content to just run my races (as opposed to race my races). This doesn’t mean that I am not competitive and don’t at least try to improve. Rather it is more the acceptance of the fact that I am not willing to devote the time required for big improvements because I know that this would offset the balance that I seek so hard to achieve in my life.

For some wishy-washy, for others you know what I’m talking about. Each of us has to decide what is more important and adjust our lives accordingly. Sometimes our circumstances make the decision easy, other times it can be a real juggling act. But I think for most it is the love of pounding the pavement/dirt that keeps the fire burning.