Friday's Quick Intervals

Friday, April 04, 2014 · Mike Davis

Good morning runners. Fill that cup and enjoy! Yesterdays run ended with a walk as I strained my calf about 2 miles into my run. This particular calf had been a problem a few weeks ago but I rested it, stretched it and was back running without any tightness. Dumb me, I jumped out there yesterday without any stretching and of course the tightness returned. I understand running injuries are a part of the deal, but sometime we are our own worst enemies. Here's to hoping I will be ready to run tomorrow. Boston is a few weeks away and if last week wasn't most runners last long run, this weekend should be. Marathons require preparation, discipline and intelligence; tapering falls under the ladder two. Cramming most often leads to disaster. One of my runners was struggling with her motivation this week and emailed me looking for some "coach motivation". I try to be careful in giving constant motivational speeches as they tend to become just words and they lose their effect. So instead of trying motivate her, I talked about my similar struggles and how for me it is all about the discipline of just "moving my feet". It is never really that I dig down for some type of motivation but more that I fall back on my discipline and just tell myself to start moving my feet. Once I start those feet moving, usually I keep them moving. Yes once and a while I find some motivational ways to get me going, but discipline is far more successful. Which do you use to most often? Do have a different strategy? Share it with us please in the comments. Speaking of comments, I was hoping that the additions of a comments box would bring some fun and insightful conversation, but it hasn't seemed to catch on yet. Why is that? Really, I am interested in why no one leaves comments. Is it that you read, drink your coffee and run? I really thought it would be a fun opportunity. Just wondering... Where are all the single guys? At last Tuesdays 10K group training I had a conversation with a guy who like me is on the right side of 50 about why there were so few guys in the training group. I have been doing this group training stuff for a while now and every group has been 90 percent woman. Not that I want to turn running groups into Match.Com, but where else could you find a better opportunity to meet someone than a running group? I told this guy that men's ego's tend to keep them from thinking they "need" a training group. He responded by saying that it is too bad that younger guys don't have our mature thought process. I totally agree! Few months back we invested in a two in one Breville coffee maker. I researched it quite in depth and found this particular coffee maker was the best on the market for grinding and making coffee. Some of the reviews mentioned that they had to return their Breville because it would grind but not make the coffee. Well last week that happened to us and after contacting the company ours was on its way back with another on its way this direction. I am not sure I would recommend this coffee maker as it makes pretty strong coffee and it has also had issues operating consistently. If you wanted fresh ground coffee the only other option is buying both a grinder and coffee maker, so that can be a hassle as well. For us we are trying to drink healthy coffee so we will hang with the Breville and hope that the new one works as it should. The strong coffee is a challenge as I drink it black, but that I can deal with. Well it is time to move my feet and get my strength training done. I am tired, sore and tired, but nevertheless I am going to start my feet moving. Have a great day and a better weekend! Share your thoughts with everyone! Mike