Okay, so a few weeks ago I got a little carried away with my “prestige” post. But now that I think about it, it was a classic case of foreshadowing. Yes folks, I broke 70 today, no I shattered 70. I shot 68 with 6 birdies, missing a 5 footer on # 6 and narrowly missing 3 birdie putts on the last 4 holes. And it was from the blue (mens) tees on my home course at Southern Hills Golf Club at Hawkinsville, Ga. with one my great friends as a witness. On day one of the US Open, this was really a dream come true. All the hard work, I have been playing golf for 16-17 years and just 3 weeks before I turn 30, I got it down. Wow! The funny thing is I have only played golf twice in 6 weeks, and they were both outings (scramble tournaments). I have been sleep deprived the last 3 weeks with the birth of my son, and today I swam 1300 yards and should have been fatigued. I did 2 hard speed workouts this week and was a little sore? Wow, I still don’t know how I did it. Truly something I have always dreamed of and was never sure I would ever accomplish it. For a runner, this is my Boston times 10. If you set a goal and you work hard towards that goal, it is possible. You can do it. Never give up and believe nothing but the fact that it can be done. This is living proof that great things can be accomplished !!!!

I had a strange childhood.  I had the “pleasure” of listening to Anthony Robbins tapes when I was like 13 years old.  Yeah, I know, pretty messed up.  What did I learn?  Well, one of the simplest concepts that has stuck with me until today and that has helped me handle a lot of situations is the concept of Pain vs Pleasure:  Tony says that every action we take in life is based on 2 things:  the desire to gain pleasure, or the desire to avoid pain.  Think about anything and tell me this is not the truth.  Everything we do revolves around these 2 basic principles.  So how does this relate to running and how has it affected me:  Well, as we all know, running can bring serious pain at times.  Running as hard as possible during a race, the pain of trying to keep your breath, the pain in your muscles and legs, the mental anguish late in a marathon..pain, pain.  And the pleasure, the pleasure of stopping, yes that would feel good at the time right?  Taking a drink of water when you are thirsty, yes pleasure..duhhh!  Okay, you get the point.

 But think about the overall big picture.  I ask myself sometimes, why do I do this, the intensity of hard training runs.  The pain of a wind-sucking 5k and the 3-4 hour mental and physical grind of a marathon.  There is no other thing like it I have experienced.  Words cannot describe it, it has to be experienced.  Unbeleiveable discomfort, pain, and absolute gut-wrenching fatigue and brutality.  Well, it is simple.  Take a marathon for example.  When you cross the finish and finally catch your breath, you begin to realize what you accomplished.  The pleasure of the feat is insurmountable, huge, legendary, so big that no level of pain can overtake it.  It is such a major accomplishment that so few ever achieve.  You realize that all the pain you put into it, months of training, injuries, sacrifices, and the grind of the race itself cannot overatke the pleasure you feel.  You have won!!  The pleasure barometer has defeated the pain scale. 

 As I continue to race and train, I realize that many others have not been so fortunate.  They decide to do a marathon and then retire from running.  I hear this all too often.  I recently had a friend that did this.  He ran a half-marathon, he grinded through it out in over 3 hours to the finish.  He said that was it not for him.  In his case, the pain was too much.  It outweighed the pleasure he associated with the achievement and the experience.   Another co-worker said he ran a marathon several years back, and never ran again.  He had some sort of pain with his leg when he attempted to run again and that was the end of it.  Again, too much pain associated with the activity, the pleasure was gone.  Why??  Last but not least, my father ran his one marathon.  He weighed 176 when he accomplished this feat.  Add 100+ pounds and that is where he is at today.  Lots of alcohol, red meat, and the like will do that.  He is facing potential diabetes at 56.  He walks, I’m not sure he can run anymore at this stage.  Okay, Tony we need your help buddy!!

 Well, one of my favorite quotes from all time and again from Tony Robbins is “the past does not equal the future”.  So true in anything in life.  This is such a strong statement.  Just because you failed a hundered times, does not mean the next time is a failure.  I am in sales and use this all the time.  Just because I had a bad 5 k time recently doesnt mean the next race will be the same.  New race, new day, the past does not equal the future. 

I just hope I can maintain these thoughts as long as possible.  My desire to gain pleasure from running is everytime I look in the mirror.  I see who I want to be.  I can understand the late Ryan Shay.  He was willing to except any pain associated with running to excel, even if that meant his life.  Sometimes we just don’t know how much we can take.  I often think of Ryan sometimes when I run, you have to admire someone with that much heart.  I hope this spreads to those who are fighting the pain demons.  As Lance Armstrong has said recently in some of his magazine advertisements  

“Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever.”

This may end up being the lamest post ever in the history of blogdom, but it is something that crosses my mind from time to time so I thought I would write about it. Prestige - “reputation or influence arising from success, achievement, rank, or other favorable attributes”. Now, how does this relate to running. Well, first I have to discuss my golf game. I have been playing golf since I was around 13 years old. It has been a seasonal disease that I have been unable to shake. I am currently a 5.2 GSGA index, once a 2.4, but never better. Okay, so I can play a little golf, right? Well, I have never broke 70. I have shot 71, 72 at least 3-4 times, 73 recently, etc.., but never in the 60’s. This has been a goal of mine for a long time, but it is one of those sacred things in life that I cannot bring myself to do, unless it means something, hence the whole prestige thing. I refuse to play an easy course, easy front tees, or any other shortcut to just shoot a low round. Ridiculous, I know! I feel that I will break 70, but it has to be for real, on a real course, from the mens tees or the tips, with witnesses, etc. On the other hand, I want to break 70 now. I know I have the game, but I can’t get by this whole prestige thing.

And now I find myself setting ridiculous running goals, like breaking 3:11 and qualifying for The Boston Marathon. Absurd! But, my thoughts of prestige are already starting to enter. Should I bang for a fast course, a Steamtown, a St. George Utah, a downhill course or one that is marked shorter!! Yes, they are out there my friend, and I am getting sucked in!! Just break 3:11 man, who cares enters a thought. Dude, is running 26.2 ever easy? Are you kidding me? And like shooting 68 is real easy, right!! Damn this prestige garbage, I am playing the red tees this week at somewhere like Bowden and I am destroying the course!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am running the fastest possible marathon I can find, I have already found a list on the internet. California International, here I come baby!! Over 26% of the runners qualified for Boston last year, over 1,200 people!! St. George, 1,280 runners, 26%. Okay, I am in. When you reach the starting line in Boston, does it really matter? You are at the the pinnacle of athletism for everyday people. How many people can honestly say they have done this? Probably .001% of Americans, maybe. I will check back after I demolish Bowden from the red tees……………………….

I guess I need to give an update of my recent marathon in Nashville.  My goal was to run in the 330’s going in and I thought it was doable.  I finished in 3:43:33.  I still consider this a huge success:  1)  Completing a marathon is always a success  2) It was 17 minutes faster than my first   3) I did not die or have any major problems   4) The course was more difficult than I had imagined   5) The course was also .4 of mile longer than 26.2.   When I factor all these variables, I think a 338-339 would have been the target. 

 2 weeks later, I am still on cloud nine and I am still enjoying it!  But, resting on my laurels is not usually something I do.  The bar must be raised, I have proven I can get better, and there is no reason to stop now.  I know many have a dream to do a marathon, and when its over, they’re done, on to something else.  I like too much now where I have gotten.  I weighed 185 today, I was 200 at one point, ridiculous!  A new phase of training began yesterday.  It goes a little something like this:  speed, more speed, and some more speed.  Ok, and after that well I will run selective 5k, 10k, and half marathon races leading up to the MCM in Wash. D.C. on Oct. 26.  My goal depends on my progress.  Realistically, I know this course is not the easiest and its a big race.  To break 330 right now would be huge!  I have much to improve on before I can honestly think about pushing for a sub 3:10:59 time to qualify for Boston.  Yep, thats the way it will be until I turn 35!  Right now, its one step at a time.  5 k under 21 minutes, 10 k under 45 minutes, half marthon under 140 and we’ll go from there!

Quickly learned this today in my afternoon running session.  The fact that my outdoor thermometer read 87 degrees did not deter me from going out.  My throat was parched before mile 2.  I guess I need to get more creative with putting water stops along the way.  I really hate carrying water bottles or anything attached to my body when I run.  Oh well, running in adverse conditions makes your body tougher and it can adapt.  I’m not saying I am going to run across the desert or something anytime soon, but I figure you need to be prepared to face any conditions on race day. 

 When I was in Colorado earlier this year, I ran on the treadmill (was middle of winter) and I struggled to go for 20 minutes.  Of course, the altitude was 9,300 feet where we were staying.  I can see why elite athletes push their bodies in adverse climates and varying conditions.  The GA summer heat we all know can be brutal.  When I was 12, we had a summer soccer camp and our trainer was from Tunisia.  He was like a camel, and the heat did not faze him.  He refused us water breaks.  Parents complained, some threatened to take their kids off the team.  It was miserable, but our team become unbelieveable.  In the indoor soccer league, we beat the best travelling team in Cobb county.  They had a pro coach for years and were all the supposed super stars.  Our conditioning dominated them.  I guess that is when I learned you have to push your body sometimes to get results, just dont over do it. 

Okay, so I figured I would write about something that gets really annoying over time.  I’m sure we all have experienced certain people and their general lack of etiquette.  In golf, slow players not letting faster or smaller groups through.  Especially with no one in front of them.  People walking their dogs and then allowing them to take a large dump on your yard and leaving it, yes people do this all the time.  And last but not least, walkers that for some ridiculous reason get to the front of a marathon/half-marathon race and then walk at the start.  Now I first want to say that I have nothing against walkers, slow joggers, or anyone that would fall into this category.  I admire anyone that is motivated to be physically active.  But, those who decide to walk a marathon/half marthon, please get to the back.  I remeber running my first marathon, the Las Vegas Marathon and there were a group of people about 4-5 across walking that seemed to block half the road.  Runners were weaving in and out of these seemingly walls of people that really have no clue.  Please, get to the back of the bus!

 Who else has some good lack of etiquette examples that they would like to share????

I guess it would be fitting to begin this blog to tell everyone how I came to this realization in life and how I finally became a committed runner.  I started playing soccer when I was 5 and played throughout high school and until I was a freshman in college.  I had stints on the cross-country and track teams in high-school, but I could never committ to it.  I wanted to play golf, so that is what I did.  Last year, as I apporoached my 29th birthday, I realized I wasn’t getting any younger, and the dream and lifetime goal of running a marathon was now or never.  With the day to day pressures of work, fatherhood on the horizon, mortgages, and the like, I decided to make a change.  I was going to run a marathon.  My father ran one in 1980 (the Marine Corp Marathon) in 3:53:58, yes that is correct.  Of course, I had to beat his time.  It was June, I had to start training.  I read books, made a plan, and would committ 5-6 months to prepare.  I would pick the most suitable race for around Nov-Dec., I would sign up now, get flights, hotels, etc.  There would be no backing out.  I chose Las Vegas.  I had been there a few times and it would be extra motivation to do a race.  I was committed, there was no turning back now. 

 I am not a morning person.  I started training, around 5-6 in the afternoon in June and July.  What have I got myself into ?  I had a decent base, jogging occassionally, and all that soccer, but was not prepared for something like this.  I made it 2.5 miles in 20 minutes the first trip, not bad, but I was toast.  Was I nuts?  I bought a camelback to do these runs in the afternoon, it was the only way.  I pushed on, doing my first races, the Jim Herrin 10k and then the Labor Day Race.  I was gassed, but I decided I would do a half-marathon in Asheville in September.  Wish I would have looked at the elevation chart.  Was the most hilly and brutal terrain I have ever run and still is.  I came in at 1:55 and took pride in finishing in under 2 hours.  On the ride home I started to believe, this is for real!  I might just be able to do this! 

 My first goal was to finish the marathon.  My second would be to break 4 hours.  My third, was to beat my dad’s time.  Training kept on.  I didn’t do many races, but I trained hard.  I decided to do some hills and I aggravated the muscle under my right shin.  It would not heal.  This really hurt my progress and I nearly postponed the race.  I took 10 days off at one point, this helped but did not fully heal it.  I decided to skip a couple long runs.  My longest run was 16-17 miles.  I felt ready enough although I missed some crucial workouts.

Dec 2 rolls around.  I am ready.  Cold conditions, 35 and colder with the wind.  Wow!  I was off and ran an exceptional first 17 miles, too fast.  Avg pace was 833 for these first 17 miles.  The last 9 I averaged around 10 minutes.  I finished at 4:00:17.  I was excited to be done.  I had told myself somewhere around miles 16 this was my first and last marathon.  This thought ultimately cost me.  I did accomplish goal 1, but I did not break 4 hours and I did not defeat my dad.  Truth be told, this was a blessing in disguise.  Had I ran a 3:52, I may have quit while I thought I was ahead.  Instead, I made a committment that day that I would not be denied.  Not only would I break 4 hours, I would shatter the 3:53 mark.  I even now believe that running the Boston Marathon is a realistic goal.  I have recently run 2 half-marathons at a comfortable 8:00 minute pace on difficult courses.  I have introduced speed training and hill work-outs, something I did not do prior to my last marathon.  I have done a few more long runs, 18 miles today in hot conditions, and I have participated in more races (5 and 10k).  I also invested in a road bike, and cross-train when my running legs need rest.  My next big event is April 26 at the Country Music Marathon in Nashville, TN.  My goal is to produce a result in the 3:30’s.  I know its hard to predict a time when weather conditions can vary, but I realistically believe I can do this.  I am also going to run the MCM in Washington D.C. later this year in October.

 Just a few things have happened since I started a consistent running routine last June:

I have lost close to 15 pounds.

My 34 waist pants and shorts that were nearly too tight are now nearly too big.  I need about 5 belt holes just to wear them!

I sleep better at night and I have much more energy during the day.

I have met many great people associated with running.

My resting heart rate is 55-58.  My blood pressure is very low.  My body is much leaner and muscular than it was prior.

I enjoy travel and now I have plans to run some of the major marathons like NYC, Chicago, Boston, and London.  I have always wanted to visit many of these places.

 I don’t have to do sit-ups all the time to try and make a gut vanish!

I now have a strong purpose to accomplish something.

I take work less serious, and running has become a therapeutic event for me to unwind.

Everyday I wake up I can say I am in the club!  It feels great to have completed a marathon !!