Last fall when my son was excited about being part of the Navy Sea Cadet program he came home with a postcard on the BattleFrog event scheduled for March 14-15. The Sea Cadets will be expected to work the event, and I commented, "Wow. That looks cool," with no intention of running the race. My son reacted with a surprised look and said, "No, dad. I don't think you should do this. This is pretty tough. You can't even run a regular run without being injured. I don't want you getting hurt." This was during the early stages of my Achilles rehab program, so he had a point. That didn't lessen the stinging feeling left by the remark. Needless to say, I signed up to compete in the event.
So I'm going from a proud showing at the Gasparilla Distance Classic (given my early stages of recovery from the Achilles injury) to looking with concern at a 5K race that's only two weeks away. I talked Akim into participating with me. Akim is an alumnus of the youth group where I sit on the Board of Directors. He's an incredible kid, and today serves as a leader and counselor to the 67 kids who participate in the youth group. I took him out yesterday to workout, and while he's in great shape, he had a tough time with distance running. After 1.25 miles, he pulled up with a sore Achilles, and we walked back. When we returned, we did a couple rounds of exercises, including working on the monkey bars on the playground. It was rainy and the grip was slick, but I was surprised at how difficult it was going across the bars.
The lesson: between here and the BattleFrog, I'll be doing pull ups and crunches so I can NAIL the course in two weeks. I hope Akim will be doing the same with his running.
Running feels real good, although speed has dropped a little since training a bit before the half marathon last weekend. That could be because I did a bit more than planned between yesterday and today. Consistency with my training between here and there will be key. In other words, I cannot miss days like I did over the past month. All should be good if taken one day at a time.
Tomorrow, the alarm goes off at 4am and the new routine will start. First, cold shower to awaken the nerves. Second, spend some time contemplating (a) gratitude; (b) strength; and (c) three points of focus for the day. Third, throw something together to eat. Fourth, loosen up the body with the lacrosse ball before heading to the gym at 6am. Fifth, once back make sure there is time to focus on PULL UPS and CRUNCHES!! The core needs to be solid prior to BattleFrog.
Here we go!
So I'm going from a proud showing at the Gasparilla Distance Classic (given my early stages of recovery from the Achilles injury) to looking with concern at a 5K race that's only two weeks away. I talked Akim into participating with me. Akim is an alumnus of the youth group where I sit on the Board of Directors. He's an incredible kid, and today serves as a leader and counselor to the 67 kids who participate in the youth group. I took him out yesterday to workout, and while he's in great shape, he had a tough time with distance running. After 1.25 miles, he pulled up with a sore Achilles, and we walked back. When we returned, we did a couple rounds of exercises, including working on the monkey bars on the playground. It was rainy and the grip was slick, but I was surprised at how difficult it was going across the bars.
The lesson: between here and the BattleFrog, I'll be doing pull ups and crunches so I can NAIL the course in two weeks. I hope Akim will be doing the same with his running.
Running feels real good, although speed has dropped a little since training a bit before the half marathon last weekend. That could be because I did a bit more than planned between yesterday and today. Consistency with my training between here and there will be key. In other words, I cannot miss days like I did over the past month. All should be good if taken one day at a time.
Tomorrow, the alarm goes off at 4am and the new routine will start. First, cold shower to awaken the nerves. Second, spend some time contemplating (a) gratitude; (b) strength; and (c) three points of focus for the day. Third, throw something together to eat. Fourth, loosen up the body with the lacrosse ball before heading to the gym at 6am. Fifth, once back make sure there is time to focus on PULL UPS and CRUNCHES!! The core needs to be solid prior to BattleFrog.
Here we go!
RSS Feed
