Confessions of a Masochist

Just finished watching today's stage of the Tour de France. When you think about what these guys are doing, it is just amazing. Tomorrow they are doing 120 miles! That is just 1 of 21 stages. Incredible. I just want to take this moment to say how much VsHD sucks. Vs is the network covering the Tour. Since I am a gadget geek, I have HD, so I've been watching the Tour on HD. Unfortunately, their signal is highly compressed, and the pixilation is so bad it makes me want to puke. I think I will be watching the rest of the Tour in Regular Def. Oh, well.

I have a confession to make. I almost quit today. But you don't get anywhere by quitting, and, as a masochist, I would be depriving myself of some great suffering! So I am NOT quitting! Whew! I have run 6 50K's, and completed each one. No DNF's. 2 or 3 involved ankle sprains that I kept running on to finish. I don't quit anything easily.

Even though I am not quitting, maybe it will make me feel good to list some things that I am NOT doing:

1. Badwater Ultramarathon: 135 miles run in the summer in Death Valley, with temperatures up to 130 degrees F, so hot that you have to run on the painted lines on the road, if you don't, your shoes will melt. I hate, HATE running in hot weather. This is most definitely NOT on my list of races that I want to do some day. I have the movie. It is SICK!
2. Hardrock Ultramarathon: 100 miles, with the lowest point at 9,000ft! As a low-lander, something like this would be suicide. If I ever move to Colorado, I may change my mind.
3. Barkley Marathon: this has various distances. Most years, NO ONE FINISHES! Only 8 people have ever finished. I think the average pace is 30 minutes per mile. This is not running.

When I say "quitting", I mean I was about to give up trying to be a competitive runner. Just because I have to put a lot more effort in, now that I am an old guy. In my 20's, I could half-ass my training, and still do somewhat respectably. Now, I have to pay attention to my diet, fueling before the run, hydration during the run, recovery after the run, ice on the joints, take vitamins daily, and most importantly, quality training. Skipping workouts just doesn't work anymore.

A rude awakening, but it is ok.

The cool thing about running is that I am learning new things about myself. Isn't that what life is all about? Learning about yourself? I'd much rather put myself through tough track workouts and learn about myself than sit on the couch vegging out with the TV.