Gut Check

I had an awesome run today, one of the best I have had in a while.  My legs just moved, my mind and body just felt strong...I just felt...fluid.  It is really funny to me how on some days you can crank out 8 miles and feel great the whole time, while other times it seems torture to eek out 3.  I think today's great run was due to a number of factors:

1. My roommate Albert and I split an entire 20" pesto pizza last night. That's right, we are pigs.  Snort.
2. Bree Wee's blog last night was super inspiring and fun.  Maybe I was channeling that little girl I used to be who loved to just...run. 
3. A fellow Timberman 70.3 entrant (who I met through a forum on Beginner Triathlete) gave me the heads up on a great podcast called Motion Traxx.  Wow, it was awesome.  If you haven't tried it, you should.
4. It was warm, finally around 25-30 degrees.   Some of you may take issue with that being warm, but trust me, it that is warm for Caratunk in January.

Probably it was the combination of those things.  Well, maybe not the pizza.

I wish I could find that place every time I run, bottle it up and let it out just before I step out the door.  But really, a great run like I had today is something that you earn through toughing it out on some no-so-great runs (which in the end, are always good runs).  And if your runs were always great, what would you do when you run out of gas in mile 8 of the run portion of a Half Ironman? Or mile 20 of the marathon?  You might not know how to pull through.    Worse, you might not have the guts to pull through.

Runs like I had today are to be savored.  You have to put in quite a few runs that feel so-so to earn one of these babies.  Hard runs - runs that make you dig deep to go one more mile - those are equally important and teach us more than the runs that feel effortless.  We need the gut check in training so we can pull through when it comes to a race - or one of the other challenges life has to offer.

One more thing before I sign off.  No more pizza. Promise.  At least not half of a giant one anyway.