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November 6, 2006
Sleepy Monday
I fell asleep at work today during rounds. They were going on and on and on about giving copper to liver patients and I just could not keep my eyes open. I thought to myself - "I'll just rest my eyes for a few seconds." Famous last words... :)
AM swim workout:
2500 yds total @ YMCA (800 yds warmup, 700 yds cooldown)
10x100 w/10 secs rest
1:20.8
1:20.9
1:20.6
1:19.3
1:18.4
1:17.9
1:16.9
1:16.7
1:16.1
1:16.1
total time - 13:03.7, ave 100 - 1:18.4
I complained last week about having to do 500 repeats - long and hard. Well let me complain this week about doing 100 repeats - short and even harder. Some people just can't be pleased with anything... :)
This evening I came home for a run. I knew it was going to get dark on me but I had a tempo run of sorts and so I wanted to run on the trail that has all the miles marked out (and is soft and flat too). So that's what I did.
PM run workout:
10 miles total - 70:08
First 4 miles were easy warmup (30:30). Surprisingly I felt good. I thought Saturday would have done me in but I must have recovered yesterday during my day off. The next 6 miles were to be at goal race pace for my half ironman in June. My dream goal race pace would be 6:45. No telling if that's realistic or not but that was my aim today - run those last 6 miles at 6:45 pace. I started off with what I felt was a comfortable yet challenging pace that I could sustain over the next 40-45 minutes. My mile splits were 6:47, 6:38, 6:35, 6:35, 6:36 and 6:28. If anything, you can call me consistent.
I figure if I keep running 6:30-6:40 pace (which seems to be the pace for all my recent workouts) one day it will just become "my" pace. It definitely feels more comfortable than it has in a long time, I'll give you that.
Anyway, during my run I was thinking of Coach a lot. Several of my high school teammates called/emailed me today about his death and every one of them said something along the lines of "I know you guys were really close so you are probably devastated, etc..." It surprised me - that they all thought I was so close to him. But if I think about it it really is true. We literally ran together every day. And from now until the day I stop running, I know he will always be my favorite running partner. I can't tell you how much I wish I had one last run or even one last conversation with him. I feel so much regret about it. But there's nothing I can do now. I remembered today during my run what he always used to tell me in high school - "There is nothing you can do to replace belief in yourself. All the hard work and talent in the world won't make a difference if you don't believe that you can accomplish what you set out to do." I put up my favorite picture of Coach by my desk today - to remind me of his life and his legacy, of the belief he had in me and in all his athletes, of his infectious smile and most of all, of the fact that life is short and we have to live it as such.
Posted by beth at November 6, 2006 8:17 PM
Comments
Your post is beautiful. It makes me teary-eyed. It reminds me that some things will always be more important than other things. The details of life (like my current all-consuming research project) just shouldn't be all consuming, huh? There are a lot of precious moments to be had if we pick our heads up. I'm glad you've had so many with your coach.
Take care.
Posted by: Audrey at November 6, 2006 9:41 PM
Hmmpfh. Any chance you're really swimming 80 yd repeats instead of - what you think are - 100 yd repeats?
1:18 100's?!?! You're wicked fast, and I'm on fire with jealosy.
Triathlon reminds me of that old engineering saying: "Lighter, Stronger, Cheaper... Pick two." For me it's: "Swimming, Biking, Running... Pick two."
You can guess my two.
Posted by: Joseph Vinciquerra at November 6, 2006 9:42 PM
Oh. I'm really sorry to have charged head-first into a comment on the trivial-ness of fast 100's. I hadn't made it down to your last paragraph until after my jealosy subsided.
I just wanted you to know I liked what you wrote about your coach, and I'm sorry to hear about his passing. I'll be filing that quote away - on believing in one's self - for the harder days ahead.
Posted by: Joseph Vinciquerra at November 6, 2006 9:45 PM
... it is not so much that Life is short but that Death can be sudden...
Can you live like Life is short, when you have no way of knowing how long it will be?
The more blessed and fortunate you are, or vice versa, the more the perception of Life's duration will vary from soul to soul.
Can you live like Death is sudden, when we know it often isn't?
The unexpected shakes our core beliefs. We start to wonder how long Life lasts.
So it is probably not a bad idea to do some belief training every so often. Irrespective of what you believe in. Like your wonderful smiling coach said....
re performance: "My mile splits were 6:47, 6:38, 6:35, 6:35, 6:36 and 6:28. If anything, you can call me consistent."
Not enough. I would call you, by and large, Consistently Progressive :)
Posted by: corrado giambalvo at November 7, 2006 4:04 AM
I just read the first entry of your blog from 2004. You mention a book called Once a Runner. I was set to buy it until I saw the price from Half.com and ebay - over $100 for a soft cover novel - unbelievable! My library system does not have it either. I have found a new quest, to find a copy of that book for less than $25.....
Posted by: James at November 7, 2006 6:57 PM