Motivation....

   First and foremost let me just take a moment to wish all of you a Happy St. Patrick's day! One of my most favorite days of the year! Don't worry if you're not Irish like me because today, everyone's allowed to say they're Irish! The fireplace is kickin and the corn beef and cabbage is almost done! Gotta love it!

   I managed to log 36 miles this week. My cross-training has been progressing nicely too. I can feel myself getting stronger by the week. I'm actually starting to love dips and pull ups. Well, almost! The new running route by the new house with all of it's winding hills and regular incline training on the gym's treadmills has given me some really good staying power. So far the anterior ankle injury seems to be gone after incorporating some additional stretching into my post workout yoga routine. 

   Unfortunately my diet has been absolutely awful. I just can't seem to find the desire to eat better. Too much garbage food, too much alcohol, zero portion control. Starting tomorrow I'm going to try to drastically cut back on all that mess and focus on getting that side of my training back into line. If you think that you can run and then eat whatever you want, then you're wrong. It catches up with you! You are what you eat is a very true saying. 

   I finally did it today! My motivation has been lacking and I really needed something to focus on. Originally my wife and I were planning on running the Wineglass Marathon in Corning, NY this fall. It's rated a very fast Boston qualifier course. Not that I'm even close to being able to run a 3:15 marathon, yet. If you check out the elevation on the race's website the race is all down hill. The finisher's medal is made by the Corning Glass Works too and has been rated one of the top medals in the nation. But due to some travel logistics and lack of funds I've decided to put that race on the shelf for now. So, today I officially registered for the Flower City Half Marathon on April, 28th and the Rochester Marathon on September 2nd! Two races that I've run many times and know like the back of my hand. Together they cost what Wineglass would've and I can easily drive to the start line of both come race morning. 

   I'm really looking forward to both races this year. Last year I tirelessly trained to make my marathon goal pace become my easy pace. It was hard as hell to cut 45 seconds off my mile splits. But I did it and this year I've kept that effort level there for all of my running. It feels easier now so I'm going to try to cut another 15 seconds off that time. That means hopefully I'll be crossing that finish line with a 3:45 on the clock in September. I've done some experimenting and I think it's possible. But it'll be hard. This will also be the first marathon I'll run in the 40 year old age group. Ah, another chance to place in my age group!

   It's going to be a great year and it'll be good to go back to the race where I broke the four hour mark last year. As time's gone by I've been wondering if it was a fluke. Was it just a really good day? Did all that training really produce those results? I need to prove to myself this year that it wasn't a fluke and that I really am a sub four hour marathoner. If I can log a 3:45 this year then my friends it's time to shoot for IT. Yeah, that's right, BOSTON in 2015! After ten marathons I've proven to myself that I deserve to be called a distance runner. Only 0.01% of the nation has ever run and completed a marathon. I enjoy being in that group. But out of that group only 25% EVER log a BQ (Boston Qualifier). Boston represents the pinnacle of marathoning for me and every other marathoner.

   The corn beef is done and I'm starving. So it's goodbye for now. It's good to have goals. Without them you can stagnate and loose focus. It's good to have something to shoot for now. Run for your lives my friends!