The other day, however, I picked up a copy. It has a full page spread illustrated by a friend of mine, John Tomac. He goes through the thought process from conception to execution on his website, so you can see how the page evolved over time into what it is now, which is pretty neat.

If you’d like to know a little more about John’s story, here’s a video that Runner’s World put together:

I paced John for his first marathon in 2006, when we ran the New York City Marathon together. He’s just gotten back to New York City last year for the 2010 running, and it was great to be able to run a marathon again with him this past March in New Jersey.

He’ll be running for Team in Training again this year, again tackling the New York City Marathon. If you want to help him raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, you can check out his page here: beatcancer.johnwtomac.com

So…let’s have some fun. Leave a comment below with your answer to the following questions:

1. What is your biggest fear about running a marathon?
2. While running a marathon, what has gotten you most upset?
3. What’s been the most amazing moment you’ve experienced during a marathon?

Here are some of the responses that I got on Twitter and Facebook:

Biggest Fear:

• “Oversleeping and missing the start…done it twice in 84 races!”
• “No beer at the finish. And spiders.”
• “Getting injured or a DNF.”
• “Being last!”
• “Infinetley long porta potty lines.”
• “They start too bloody early…”
• “High winds.”
• “Miles 24, 25 & 26 – and the .2.
• “I fear not being afraid when I toe the starting line. I fear complacency. And spiders.”
• “Not being able to get far.”
• “Getting injured during training.”
• “My biggest fear running a marathon is losing.”

Worst Aggravation:

• “Spectators making noise instead of cheering.”
• “You can’t let anything derail you once that race starts. Small things that can be upsetting will happen between the start and finish lines but you quickly have to move on or your race will suffer.”
• “Recently…In the Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon this past weekend. When, at mile 17, the half marathoners in the race (still at only mile 8 ) joined us on the course again. They were with us for the next 3 miles. They were walking side-by-side. Refusing to get out of our way. It was almost impossible to run, let alone get to any of the water stops!”
• “Cars and bicycles on the course.”
• “At mile 25 getting purposely bumped from behind by another runner causing me to have my one and only drop of the race. I did finish ahead of him so that was some consolation.”
• “I don’t get upset it wastes time and energy.”
• “Poor logistics. At the Philly Marathon in 2008, the HM and FM overlapped. At exactly 3:09.50 into both races, I saw some big boned women walking the half being bombarded by 130llb 25 year old skinny white guys trying to get their BQ. One woman got knocked down and her friend turned to yell and she got nailed as well. You had these women scrambling as skinny runners were flying by all around them. Actually, it was pretty hilarious.”
• “Ran a marathon many years ago in the Catskills and the runner next to me had a beeping pace watch sounding off every two steps for 10 plus miles until i picked it up to get rid of him.”
• “My stomach at Mile 14 at Sugarloaf 2010.”
• “Running out of water at the aide stations on a hot day.”
• “Leaving aside cramps, injuries, and the like, I’m really having a hard time finding anything non-trivial. So what if some douche cuts me off? If I weren’t about to pass him, he wouldn’t have been able to get in my way. Sometimes a trivial issue can serve as a goad to create anger than I then use to run faster. However, if I were that guy who was attacked toward the end of the Olympic marathon, I might feel justified anger.”
• “Most upset is still a matter of perception…”
• “Of the few marathons I’ve run, the only time I got really upset was at the GA marathon last month. A lady running her first marathon hit the wall early (mile 10 or 11) and hard. Nothing was physically wrong, she simply had hit that mental block we’re all familiar with. I walked with her for about a mile trying to offer her the same advice fellow runners had offered me in the past, It didn’t work, she dropped out, and I felt really bad I couldn’t help her. I later found out her husband had signed her up for the race (VERY hilly course) and he was several miles in front of her. I think (for this race at least) he shouldn’t have worried so much about his time, but rather being there to support his wife finish her first marathon.”
• “I passed some half marathoners at Mohawk-Hudson last October, but there were so few of them, it really was not a bother.”
• “Last year at Boston, there was a guy running with a “No stopping” parking sign, zig zagging across the street, trying to get a cheer out of the crowd. At Heartbreak Hill, I was finally passing him on the left, with little room between him and the crowd on my left, so I yelled “on your left” as I made my move. He did not hear me and elbowed me pretty hard. Then I noticed he was wearing earphones, so I yelled “turn down your music.” This provoked a predictable profaniity laden rant from the doufus.”
• “The TV guy interviewing runners going up Heartbreak does annoy me, but he hasn’t gotten in MY way (luckily for him).”
• “This year, at about mile 23, some guy in a fatigue colored shirt and shorts appeared on my right. He looked pretty fresh, but I did not think anything of it. Then, he starts talking to me. He asks me how I was doing, and I said “OK” (lie). He then said, “this Marine is going to run with you for a while.” I just kept going. He pointed to the stop light ahead, and said, “I’m going to run with you to that light.” Then he started making comments, like, “Look at you go!” and “Your doing great!” and “Look at this American Bad Ass!” (no lie) After we got to the second light (he decided to run for another one) he said that he was all done, and that I had out-run him. Then he made a break for the crowd, but as he did, he gave me a push on the back, that was not welcome at that moment, and said, “Go get’em!” or something of that sort. I’m still not sure what brought that on.”
• “Getting stuck behind a crowd more than 2 minutes under my target pace.”
• “Getting ‘flat tired’ by a lady who then yelled at me for being in her way. I was in front of her/she ran into me :/”

Amazing Experience:

• “The moment when I crossed the finish line at 3:00:35 on a just for fun race -.-”
• “Crossing the finish line in my first marathon taught me I can do anything I set my mind to.”
• “Maybe this sounds cheesy, but I cry every time I hear the national anthem just before the start. That moment is amazing because I’m so happy to be free and able to run a marathon and share that privilege with thousands of other people at the same time!”
• “There are so many! When my husband, Tom, secretly made signs for all his stops to see me and one in particular that read “My wife, first marathon”, that brough a tear to my eye:)”
• “Amazed that whatever my goals have been. I have been able to reach them all. To do this, first you have to believe you can.”
• “Finishing!”
• “When I ran the NYC marathon course at midnight the night before the real race a few years ago (Halloween) I ran through a Hasidic neighborhood followed by Williamsburg which was full of costumed drunk hipsters. Surreal and amazing!”
• “Hearing my husband’s voice on the other end of the phone after crossing the finish line at my first (and possibly my last), wrapping mylar/foil blankie around me, clutching medal to chest and grinning from ear to ear….”
• “There are a few, but one was when a hunky Marine placed a medal around my neck and said “Congratulations!” right after I crossed the finish line of the 2006 Marine Corps Marathon.”

1. What is your biggest fear about running a marathon?
2. While running a marathon, what has gotten you most upset?
3. What’s been the most amazing moment you’ve experienced during a marathon?

Leave a comment below with your response to 1, 2 or all 3 of the questions.

I’ll even get the ball rolling…the first comment will be how I would answer those three questions!

I got to run barefoot in the stadium at Ancient Olympia, did a lot of hiking through Athens to visit all the ruins, and relaxed for the last few days at the beach on the island of Sifnos. No running, but I still managed to get quite a lot of walking in and my foot seems completely healed. Since then, I’ve run for the past 5 days straight with no problems.

So I got home late on Sunday evening, and had a few voicemails waiting for me from one of my best friends, John Tomac.

I ran with John in college and we’ve remained good friends since. In 2006, I paced him through his first marathon. That’s us to the right around mile 8 on route to his 2:55 finish.

John’s an ever positive individual, a great runner, and a talented illustrator (he designed my logo, as well as the cover for the first version of my book on marathoning.) He’s also in need of some help.

In the past, he has raised money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma society in honor of his fiance’s Uncle, who died a few years ago. This year, he’s raising money on his own behalf.

2 weeks ago, John noticed some problems with his retina and went to see his doctor. A few days and many tests later, he discovered his white blood cell count was 40 times what it normally should be. He’s pretty lucky that he caught it as early as he did, and what would have been a death sentence 20 years ago is now treatable and won’t affect him any more than having high blood pressure might bother a sedentary person.

On October 15th, John will be taking part in the “Light the Night” walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. Light The Night Walk is The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s evening walk and fundraising event. It is the nation’s night to pay tribute and bring hope to thousands of people battling blood cancers and to commemorate loved ones lost.

You can learn more about the walk at John’s fundraising page:
http://r2w.us/JohnsWalk

I would consider it a personal favor if you would be willing to help John in his fund-raising efforts, and here is what I’ll do:

1. If you donate at least $25, I’ll send you the call in details for a live coaching call next Wednesday night (10/14) where John and I will discuss our experiences with running and racing and we’ll answer any questions that you may have. I’ll also send you a recording that you can download and listen to on your iPod, so don’t worry if you can’t make the call.
2. If you donate at least $50, then not only will you be invited to the coaching session, but I will also include a downloadable version of my latest coaching CD that isn’t even available for sale yet. This coaching CD details the nuts and bolts of how to raise money for non-profit organizations through your running, and has a retail value of $19.95. (It seemed an appropriate gift under the circumstances.)
3. If you at least match my donation of $100, then you will get your invitation to the live coaching session, a copy of my coaching CD, and a downloadable copy of my book, Marathons Don’t Have to Hurt, which people have paid as much as $27 for. The book details the nuts and bolts about every step on how to prepare for, run, and recover from your marathon.

After you have made your donation, just copy and paste the “Organization Information” section from your confirmation into an email to me (make sure the confirmation number is displayed!) You can email me by clicking here for my contact page.

Later this weekend, I will confirm your donation and will tell you where you can sign up for the coaching session and will send you the coaching CD and a copy of my book if appropriate. I’ll try to do that as soon as possible, but please give me a day or two to respond.

I don’t personally get anything from your donation past the good feeling of helping out a friend in need, and John and I both appreciate your good thoughts whether you are able to donate or not.

By the way, John’s always an optimist, and he’s got a pretty humorous look at how Philadelphia has ruined September for him for the past 3 years running and his story on how he discovered he has Leukemia on his blog, if you’d like to read it: http://r2w.us/philadelphia

There’s a link at the bottom of his blog post to his donation page, or you can just go straight to: http://r2w.us/JohnsWalk

Thanks again! I’m looking forward to talking with you on the coaching call.

Photo by boxercab

I was recently asked what do you do when a dog is not on a leash, and it looks like it may want to chase you?

I have had mostly good luck following the steps below, but I will also be the first to admit that I have also been bitten before. I have not been bitten very many times, and I plan on continuing to follow these steps as being the least intrusive to my run, the least danger to both myself and to the dog, and from my own experience has the highest success rate.

What to do when a dog chases you:

1. Stare down at the dog before he really starts making his move, even if you have to slow down and/or walk backwards.
2. Make an effort to move away from his turf or his owner so that he doesn’t feel as threatened while you are asserting your dominance, which is what you are doing in step number 1. Move slowly; you want to discourage the dog from chasing you, and not give it a new game.
3. Talk to the dog and try to calm it down. I will usually say, “Good puppy” or something like that in a soothing voice to try to calm the dog down and show that I am not a threat. It probably helps that I have a deep voice.
4. If he makes a break for you, stop and bring your hands, arms and legs in towards your body. If you are a man, put your hands in front of your crotch so that the dog can not bite you there. You want your body to be in a straight line so that there is nothing hanging off of you for the dog to attack and grab hold of. Many dogs are just friendly want to play with you or check you out; I don’t assume that the dog going to bite me until it does, but I also do not want to make it easier for the dog to injure me.
5. If you are bit by the dog, kick it in the head. If you can, try to kick it below its muzzle on its chin as that will cause the most pain while being the least likely to permanently injure the dog. The goal is to give it one good lick that will teach it not to bite runners in the future and hopefully confusing or hurting it enough to leave you alone in the present. Get away from the dog, and call the game warden or your local sheriff at the first possible convenience.
6. Start moving away or continue your run depending upon whether the dog just wants to sniff you or is being playful or is still threatening to bite. Unless you were bit, do not move too fast until there is some distance between you and the dog. You can probably out run a dog over the long haul, but in a sprint you are all too likely to lose.

Photo by James CharronWhen I am confronted by a dog, I do not want to hurt it. If I am attacked, though, I will do what I have to in order to protect myself. It is not the dog’s fault if it attacks you; it is the dog’s owner’s fault. A dog should not be let to run loose in a settled area without supervision; in many places that is illegal.

If a dog chases you off of its property, then you should call the sheriff or game warden even if it does not bite you. The owner will probably get upset with you no matter what happens, but if they have been served a warning to keep their dog under control then there is a slim chance that they might actually put it on a leash or stand outside with it to keep it under control. This will make the dog less likely to hurt a runner or a passing child or anybody else, and it will also protect the dog from getting hurt by traffic.

If you are bit by a dog, and it breaks your skin, then you should probably go to the emergency room and make sure that you are up to date on any vaccinations and shots that you might need, as well as to patch up any tears that you can not treat yourself at home. Rabies is not the only thing that you would need to worry about, and in fact is probably unlikely, but the treatment right after you are bit is much less painful than the treatment that you would get if you gave yourself time to succumb to the infection.

What others do when a dog chases you:

My method is not the only way of dealing with dogs, and it may not even be the best method. Here are some other methods that people I know have tried to varying degrees of success:

1. Run away as fast as possible. I am not a fan of this method, as it only encourages the dog to chase you. If you have enough of a lead, then you might be able to get far enough away that it will give up and go home, but I do not really trust my sprinting abilities that much.
2. Carry mace or pepper spray. Mace or pepper spray can be useful not only against dogs but also against two-legged assailants. I do not like carrying anything more on a run then I have to, though, and 99% of the time I do not get chased. Another problem that weapons pose are that they can be used against you, and are really only useful if you want to hurt something. I prefer not to hurt the dog until it has definitively shown me that I am in danger.
3. Throw an imaginary rock. I have never tried this, but I have heard a few people use this method. Maintain eye contact with the dog and reach down to the ground for a rock, even if there isn’t one there. Stand up, cock your arm, and make a throwing motion at the dog. Supposedly, this will usually scare the dog away. If it doesn’t, though, then you are only teaching the dog that he doesn’t have to be afraid of you, and may encourage him to attack you. I have never tried this, though.
4. Yell, clap your hands, and stomp your feet. While I have on occasion yelled to make a noise and startle the dog, I have had less success compared to trying to use a soothing voice. The problem with clapping your hands or stomping your feet is that it provides a target for the animal and might encourage it to jump on you if it isn’t startled away.

My dog history

I have been chased by numerous dogs before. Sometimes, the dog will want to run with me, and even had one keep up for about 9 or 10 miles. I had to drive it home, since there was a river and a few bridges in between the end of our run and the dog’s home.

Usually, the dog is only trying to protect its home or its owner, and is satisfied when I leave them both in peace and move away. My run might slow down for the 20 seconds it takes to pass a driveway, but otherwise we both manage to get along just fine.

Photo by Lance McCordNow and again, a dog will really want to play and be friendly, but it is hard to tell the difference sometimes between a dog tearing after you to play and dog chasing you to hunt. I have also been bitten by a dog before when it wanted to play, and it obviously was not trying to hurt me so I just let it be. He was just overly excited and his owner had slipped on the ice and lost control of him.

And a couple of times, I have been bit. When I lived in Connecticut, there was a dog that chased me any time that it was outside when I ran by. I was in my teens and it had not yet occurred to me that I could call the game warden to control the animal. After it had chased me perhaps 8 or 9 times, it managed to catch up to me once before I was far enough away from its house for it to lose interest, and it bit my leg. That was the first time (of only twice) that I have felt a need to kick the dog. It yelped and ran away, and it never bothered me again.

The second time I was attacked by a dog and felt a need to kick it, the dog bit at my hip through my winter running clothes and clawed at my legs. Thankfully, I had full length pants on. The owner threatened to call the police on me when I had the gall to kick his dog when the dog ran out of his yard, ran across the street, and attacked me. I told him to go ahead and kept moving, and then called the police a few minutes later when I got home.

That guy gave me the evil eye every time I ran by and he was outside after that, but he always grabbed his dog when he saw me coming. Unfortunately, I think he only controlled the dog when he saw me coming, because about a year and a half later the dog had to be put down when it attacked a kid on a bicycle. It was not the dog’s fault, but I guarantee that the dog’s owner still has not taken responsibility for what happened.

That was a lone occurrence, though, and the vast majority of my interactions with dogs while I have been running have been friendly or at least brief and uneventful. Most domesticated dogs will not attack you, especially if you do not give them a reason to.

Have you ever been chased or attacked by a dog? What have you done to protect yourself, and how effective was it? Do you have any good tips that I can add to my list above?

The owner and the dog were walking towards me as I ran down the sidewalk. The man tried to control the dog as soon as he noticed me, and was doing his best to keep the dog from being friendly. Unfortunately for him, the dog helped him slip onto his backside from the ice on the sidewalk, which allowed the puppy to come up on me. He did pull the dog back after it got one nip and kept him from chasing, though, which was good.

Sometimes, a leash just is not enough. However, most of the time it is, so if you are walking your dog in a public area please keep a leash handy if not on the dog. If you see somebody coming, leash the dog up and let them go by. We trained our dog to come the first time that we called, and he would sit at our heels until we told him he could go back to running around and having fun. His butt would quiver and he would want to run up and make friends, but he (usually) obeyed and would let other dogs and runners pass.

1. They encourage procrastination.
2. The weather is demotivating.
3. The weather can be dangerous.

Procrastination
If you find that there is something that you do not like about yourself, why would you wait until January to effect the change? Why not just act at the moment that you realise that something is not the way that you like it? Saying that you will wait and make it a resolution for the new year is just one more excuse to put off effecting the change in your life. Once January rolls around, you then assume that you have an entire year to make that change, and you keep putting it off until it becames the next year’s resolution. Always doing the same thing but expecting different results is madness.

What if it is around the time of the new year when you look at your life to decide what you want to change? Shouldn’t that be a good time to start on your new goals? I don’t think so. Besides the reasons below, you should be reassessing yourself more often than once per year. You need to find out what works and what does not work all year round; don’t just wait for the new year.

Demotivating
One problem, especially if you live up north, is that the weather can be demotivating at this time of year. The days are short, it is often dark out, and if you work in a windowless room in the middle of a building like I do there may be days where you do not even get to see the sun because it is dark when you arrive at work and dark when you leave. This can be very demotivating and help you prevent yourself from doing anything new or anything at all.

Season depression is such a prevelant problem that they even came up with a funny name and acronym for it. They call it SAD, seasonal affective disorder. Very clever, eh? But my point is that trying to make a lifestyle change when you are depressed means that your change is less likely to take root in your life. Rather than a positive experience, you are still going to be depressed for completely unrelated reasons and you will quit. Having quit, you will think that you will never be able to accomplish anything and any attempts at self development go right down the drain.

Dangerous
Making a financial resolution may not be particularly dangerous, but any sort of fitness resolution is liable to be dangerous at this time of year in the northern hemisphere. The weather tends to be a little less than ideal for working out outside. For the inexperienced, you will need to quickly learn how to properly clothe yourself, how to run in different elements, how to make yourself visible, and how to properly warm up before working your muscles to keep from pulling something. While those issues still apply in warmer weather, the consequences tend to be a little easier to deal with if you are not as diligent about picking up the tricks of the trade right away. Getting hit by a car, suffering frost bite, and slipping on some ice are not the most enjoyable ways to spend your time.

If you are going to make a fitness resolution, and you do not want to act on it whenever you happen to think of it, then aim for the Spring or Autumn. In the Spring, the weather is constantly improving, it gets warmer every day, and the days get longer each week. It is very motivating to get outside and enjoy life as it comes back out of hibernation. In the Autumn, it is usually ideal conditions for any sort of outdoor activity.

When I say that New Year’s resolutions are bad for you, I am not talking about planning your training or deciding what races to run in the upcoming year. I am talking about resolving to make sweeping changes to your lifestyle that you are likely to have forgotten about within a few months, weeks, or even days. Instead, you should take a look at your life on a regular basis and make improvements as you go along. Incremental changes are much more likely to stick with you anyway.

So on that note, Happy New Year. I am looking forward to 2007.

One reason I dislike the gym in January is that it is always crowded with people who will not be there in a month or two.

Do not assume, however, that you need to have a training schedule that is set in stone. Sometimes you will have to swap workouts around, or skip a workout entirely and make it up a different week. Sometimes you might even skip a workout entirely and not bother making it up. Work, family, and your health are three things that can throw a wrench into the best plans, and being able to maneuver your training around obstacles will make it that much easier and less stressful to train. Here is a real-world example of changing up the training:

I am running the New York City Marathon in a little over a month. I have wanted some fast shorter distance runs in the meantime, but the goal is to run another easy 3 hours to pace a friend through his first marathon. My long runs that I had scheduled in preparation were a 15 miler a couple weeks ago at race pace, an 18 miler last weekend, and a 20 miler this weekend. I got my 15 miler and my 18 milers in without any trouble, but I am going to hold off on the 20 miler until next week. Because my training is fairly flexible, I can move things around and still be able to plan my workouts accordingly. Having my 20 mile run next weekend means that I will have a little less than a month until the target marathon afterwards, so I will probably not have anything longer than 12 miles or so after that.

There are two main reasons why I decided to move my 20 miler to next week. The first was due to sheer exhaustion. After getting hurt over the summer, I have been steadily building my mileage back up and have not had a cut back week for a while. I also have not been sleeping well for most of the week, so the Eliot 5k road race yesterday left me very tired after running in the mid-high 16s. The afternoon was then spent man-handling heavy furniture and a treadmill around my wife’s grandparents house, and bringing the treadmill back to our house. Both of us were so tired that we skipped our original plan of going out dancing last night. I actually managed to sleep in until 8 o’clock this morning, which is unheard of. So, the first reason I skipped the 20 miler and only ran 10½ miles was because I have been tired and was ready for a cut back week.

The second reason was that about 2 miles into my run this morning, my right leg decided to stop supporting me. I stretched it out and kept going, and after about a half mile it stopped giving out on me, but it left me a little worried. There was no pain; I’d just take a step and stumble a bit. At this point I had decided to continue with the original plan of running 10 miles, stopping at the house to get water and food and use the bathroom, and then run another 10 miles. Less than a mile from home, however, the same thing began happening again. I decided that it was in my best interest to cut the run at half way and to get the long run in next week. Injuring myself now is not the recommended way of preparing for a race.

The next two weeks will be the last higher mileage weeks before I taper, so hopefully I will be a little more rested for having rested a bit this week. Next weekend will be a 20 miler, and I will probably work in a couple of 12 milers the week after with one of them incorporating some sort of speed work. After that, I will have three weeks to bring my mileage down a bit and concentrate on speed work and rest before the marathon.

There are a few ways to stretch your arch. If you are doing a “Figure 4″ stretch and you can reach your toes, you can pull them back towards you and do a combination stretch. The easiest way does not involve that kind of flexibility, though. You just roll your foot over a tennis ball along the floor with your shoe off. You can also use some other ball of the same general size. I use a wooden juggling ball. The next method is not technically the safest way for you to stretch out your arch, but it is very effective. First, a little background:

As I have been picking up my mileage, I have also been picking up some minor aches and pains. Over the past few weeks, my left arch has been hurting throughout the day. It is usually not too painful (if painful at all) while I am running, but sitting around later it can hurt quite a bit. I have also been getting a few other aches and pains for the last few days, so I decided to take the day off from running yesterday.

I find that mowing my lawn relaxes me and I enjoy doing it. I have a small lawn with a push mower, and it takes me on average a little over an hour to complete. It is mostly flat, but there are a few steep parts leading into my back yard, and there is a very steep drop off along the back of the property that leads into a brook.

What I did to stretch out my arch was mow the lawn barefoot. I feel the need to add a disclaimer that if your lawn mower’s manual does not tell you to always wear shoes when mowing your lawn, then it should. It is not the safest way to mow your lawn. A shoe may not protect your foot much if you get it caught beneath the mower, but it can prevent your foot from getting there in the first place. It will also protect your foot from anything discharged out the back of the lawn mower.

So with that disclaimer being said, why would I want to mow my lawn barefoot?

1. Walking around barefoot will naturally stretch your arch as you move along.
2. Pushing the lawn mower provided more resistance than merely stepping forward, which gave me a better stretch.
3. Pushing the lawn mower up and down the steeper parts of my lawn provided a little bit of strength exercises as I supported my foot off of the balls of my feet.
4. Mowing the lawn kept me walking around barefoot on grass for over an hour, which probably would not have happened if I was just walking back and forth randomly.
5. My feet got really dirty, and the process of scrubbing them clean gave the arches a good massage in the shower afterwards. And this morning. And probably tonight and tomorrow. My feet got really dirty.

So, while I can not recommend that you do something as potentially dangerous as mowing your lawn barefoot, I can relate a positive experience that I had with it. My foot that has been hurting over the last few weeks felt great when I went to bed last night. I do not expect that to last very long, but hopefully a day off from running combined with the stretching will mean I am that much farther from actually getting injured.

When you are at the top of your game and at the peak of your fitness (whether that is a 10 or 15 minute mile pace or that is a 4 minute mile pace) you can sometimes have some break out runs that really get you going and make you feel good. In fact, the less fit you are and the less experience that you have, the more often you are going to have a run like this as you are getting into shape.

More often, however, those sorts of runs are going to happen on a random day when you are least expecting it. You might have had a stressful day at work and you are just able to completely unwind. Or perhaps you wake up in the morning and are running into the sunrise. Or you are in a horrific car accident and are really sore, but decide to run anyway and it really loosens you up.

The idea is that you really do not know when these types of runs are going to come, so you should try to avoid finding excuses to skip planned workouts. You may be tired, you may not feel well, but once you are out the door you start with a clean slate. You do your warm up and if you still are too tired or too sore or lethargic, then perhaps you change the workout then. But first, you give your legs a chance to express themselves. You just might surprise yourself.

Here is an example from my own experience. Today, in fact. Last night was my bachelor party (at which I had a lot of fun), and I did not go to bed until 4:30 this morning down in Boston. I got up at 6:30 and hit the road by 7 am to come back to Maine. I got home at a quarter past 10, and began making myself some breakfast; I hadn’t had anything but water up to that point. The general plan was to eat some breakfast, take a cold shower and take a few hour nap before heading out for my run. Halfway through cooking breakfast, I began to get a migraine. For those of you who haven’t tried it, I really recommend against cooking eggs (or anything else) after you have gone mostly blind.

Needless to say, it was not a very good afternoon for me. I spent most of the time laying around feeling sorry for myself. I cooked my fianc� and I dinner before our dance lessons, and planned on running when I got home. Beginning my run at 8 o’clock in the evening, feeling a little light headed and exhausted from no sleep and dehydration (a side effect of my migraines unfortunately), I was not sure if I would do my planned 6.6 mile route or whether I would do the less hilly 4.4 mile route. A mile into the run, I figured the longer distance would suit me.

Tonight, I ran what a fartlek is supposed to be. No structure; just going with the flow. A down slope? Run fast. A car coming up behind me? Run fast until it’s past me and out of sight. A hill ahead? Run fast up it. I got home about 5 minutes faster than I have been running that route for the last few weeks (about 3 minutes faster than I normally run it) and decided I should add that extra 5 minutes. I ran past the house to the end of the road and turned back.

The moral to this story is that I had a fantastic run. I feel so much better now than I did 2 hours ago. Had I decided to continue feeling sorry for myself and skipped my run, then I would probably feel horrible in the morning. Instead, I will get a good night’s sleep and have a good lunch run tomorrow noontime.

If you are sick or have an injury, then this advice does not apply and you may need a rest day. The same if your woes are coming from over training. This advice is just meant to inspire you to get out the door on a random day where you randomly do not feel like it. For some people, those are few and far between. For most people, they can come around quite often. Most of the time, you may not get one of these great runs. The times that you do, though, make all the other runs more than worth getting out for.

Do you have any of these great runs that came completely out of nowhere and just left you in a really good mood? Share your story below.

[...] You have this goal, a marathon, an ideal weight, a mountain to climb, your perfect job, whatever. You write a blog about it, you talk to people about it, you make friends who have a similar goal. The goal becomes your passion. You center your entire alotment of free time around it. [...] After all this, you finally make it. The scale gives you that magic number, you cross the finish line, or your new employer hands you your first check. Life is good. You made it and you bask in the glory for few weeks while friends and mentors pat you on the back. Then you wake up one morning and realize you have no idea what you are going to do now. [...]

I can understand where he is coming from, but I can not really relate. I rarely set one goal and then embark upon that goal. I string myself along with multiple goals, and never leave myself in a void. It is not that I do this on purpose; it is just the way that I am.

Sometimes, one goal is something that needs to be accomplished before I can finish that other goal. Running a Boston Marathon qualifying time, for example, so that I can run in Boston. Maybe now that I have run Boston I will run it again some day with some actual training under my belt.

Other times, the goals may be similar in nature but not related to completing each other. For example, I wanted to run a marathon under 3 hours, and I want to run a marathon in every state. I can accomplish the one or the other on the same track, but I can also complete one and never accomplish the other. I’ve already run a marathon in under 3 hours, but I am only 12% of the way towards running a marathon in every state. (Update: As of 2007, I’m 20% of the way towards every state, plus I’ve run an ultramarathon.)

Some of my goals are only loosely related or not at all related. I would like to be competitive at both the marathon and the 5k or 10k distances; I want to compete in a triathlon at some point; I want to maintain a high state of fitness through lifting weights. I also want to make this website successful, and to write and sell books on topics that interest me.

By not setting one goal, such as finishing a marathon or climbing a mountain, my focus doesn’t get lost when I complete (or fail to complete) a goal. My attention may be divided a bit and sometimes my goals may compete with one another for attention. However, I can concentrate on the goals at hand and then move on when I need something fresh. There is always something else that will need doing.

Of course, not everything is great about mid-day workouts. You do not get as long to do the workout. You will most likely need to spend half of the time that you do have in various states of changing, showering, or traveling to/from a place that you can do the workout.

That said, I like doing the 20-30 minute workouts in the middle the day whenever I can. The gym that I go to is about 3 or 4 minutes by car from where I work, and the community pool is about 2 minutes away. That gives me time for a 4 or 5 mile run or a half hour swim. Most of my weight lifting workouts can not really be done in the time available, but when I do do them at lunch time the crowds are much sparser than in the morning or after work. They get so bad after work that I will very rarely bother, unless I happen to work late and planned ahead for it.

I tried my first mid-day swim today. I had been going at 6:00 or 6:20ish in the mornings that I swam, and the crowd has not been too bad. A few more people than there were today at lunch time. I am told by both groups that it is busier than usual, so maybe that is just the season. I felt good for having had the extra few hours of moving around before swimming. I also had a few hours of breakfast/snacking in me, which I am sure was one of the reasons that I felt so good while swimming. On Wednesday I was a bit tired.

The only real problem was that my “sleeping in” until 6:30 did not really work because the cat figured that I was supposed to be getting up at my normal time an hour earlier (despite my feeding her at 4:00 this morning). I finally got her to settle down at about 6:25, and then I dozed off until a quarter to seven. Not the end of the world.