Progress

The pic above is of Jeff and I at the top of our run at Chautauqua Park. Quite an awesome trail
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“You can only work with what you have been given. If you are progressing, then you should be happy. The only time that you are unhappy is when you are comparing yourself to someone else.”

This quote is from Justin Daerr. Very smart guy with a lot of insight. I was talking to him about my running and how I unsatisfied I was with it and that I never seemed to get better. This was his quote to me. Basically if we are progressing forward, then we should always be satisfied with that. It is only when we go backwards that we should “raise a brow.” Our unsatisfied feeling comes when we compare ourselves to others. In any case, just thought I would share because I think it can apply in all facets of life, not just running or training.

Well, the past couple of days have definitely gone a lot better with altitude. I still continue to struggle with the run, but the swim and bike are definitely improving. I think my run is a two-fold problem, one we are at altitude, but it is compounded by the fact that I came here in poor running shape. I will be doing a benchmark running test soon to see where I am at and then will do it again a few weeks later to see how much I have improved.

If you are interested in what I am doing day to day, I am logging my workouts on www.athleticcore.com. You have to create a logon, but once you do, you can click on my name to the left and it should bring up my calendar. In any case, I have sort of funny story. I guess it is not necessarily a story, but just a quick lesson about the ways of the people here in Boulder. I was out on an easy ride for about an hour and half. I was keeping my heart low, just kind of spinning. About 20 miles into the ride, I see a rider up the way, but not much to think of it. Eventually, I catch up to him cruising along and pass him pretty briskly. About 5 minutes later, I had this funny feeling that someone was behind me. So I turned around and it was this older fella riding on my wheel. He pulls up next to me, breathing pretty hard, and we have a short conversation of 30 seconds and he pulls back behind me. Now mind you, when I went by this guy, I was going quite a bit faster, so for him to catch up took some work for him. Well, not thinking much of it, cruising along there was another fella up the road. I roll by him much like the first guy and the same situation occurred. I went by him with my new buddy in tow and before I knew, I had two new friends. That guy road up next to me, “Nice bike, blah blah blah,” and then back to the back. The story really ends here, but I guess what was quite comical to me was people here in Boulder are quite competitive....at all ages. These guys were about to cough up a lung riding in tow and I am not for sure why, but hey, it gave me a good laugh for ride. I told the story to Gordo and Monica (G’s wife) and they chuckled. G said, “You think that is funny, try being a girl riding by, they would almost die before they would let that happen.”

Well, that is all I have for now. Tomorrow we are heading out to a place called Carter Lake, should be about an 4 hour ride.

Hope everyone is doing well and good luck to those fellow classmates that haven’t taken PANCE and a congrats to those that have finished.

Until next time,
J