O Canada, part deux

So ladies and gents, I've spent the last 4 days here in Canada in the lovely little town of Gimli...




No, no, no! Not THAT Gimli...


There we are...that's more like it! I've been up here for a work deal all week and it's been kind of lonely. It's a sleepy little beach town that's really a pretty place, just not much to do. The only place to do ANYTHING after 9 is in the hospitality room the conference put together. I officially miss my wife (awwwwwww..... :) ) At least I have this guy to keep me company.



While the trip has been a little long, it has actually been a nice break from the heat back in Kyle. While it's incredibly humid, the highs have been in the low 80s. A welcome break from the 100+ degree weather we've had for the better part of 2 months back home.

Now that we're caught up on where I'm running around these days, I have an announcement to make. Justin, Josh, Matthew, Gerry (maybe), and I have decided we're going to test our mettle against all that Mercury and his old running buddies in the Parthenon can throw at us. Foolishly or not, we've decided to compete in the Cowtown Marathon on February 27, 2010. That's right ladies and gents...this merry band of misfits will brave the mean streets of Fort Worth to push our bodies to the brink by running 26.2 consecutive miles. Why? It's not quite as easy an answer as to why I decided to run the half marathon last November (sheer boredom). Something about all that running grabbed hold of me as I trained for that race and continued to run after it was finished. The competition with myself to improve both on the road and physically has proven to big a draw to just quit running. Fortunately the improvement has come. When I started training I ran a 10 minute mile and thought I would die after finishing. This afternoon I logged 5 miles in an interval workout and clocked in at an average speed of 7:13 per mile. I'm pretty happy with that sort of improvement over the course of 9 months.

It's not just the desire for better health and faster times that draws me to the marathon, though. The marathon is hallowed ground of the running community. The biggest of the big, the baddest of the bad (okay, there are ultra marathons out there, but those are for the folks that are seriously warped), the marathon is not for the faint of heart. Which is why this merry band of recreational runners has decided to take it on. The marathon isn't just a physical battle, though there's a reason I'm already training in August for a race the last weekend of February. It's a battle of your will to finish off what you've trained for over the course of months. I've heard people say the marathon has 3 stages: the first 10 miles you run with your legs, the second 10 you run with your brain, and the last 6.2 you run with your heart. I'm looking forward to testing myself against that final, soul-sucking 10 kilometers in just a couple months. So, my contribution to the blog for the next little while will primarily consist of training updates so people that care (all 1 of you) can keep track of how it's going. My goal is to be up to 30 miles a week by November when we start a training plan in earnest for this thing. So far this week I'm up to 13 with an easy 3 or 4 planned for the morning and a 7-8 miler on Sunday morning which will put me in the low 20s. Not a bad position to be in. So, if there's anyone else out there that feels like pushing yourself to the brink and testing yourself in extreme ways, give me a shout and we'll get you in training mode too. And don't be afraid of the marathon. The Cowtown offers up a half marathon, 10k and 5k at the same time, so runners of all distances should get involved. Until next time!