Wednesday coffee and chat

Wednesday, October 30, 2013 · Mike Davis

Good morning! As we move to mid week, this is not so much a hump day for my wife and I as we have our weekend drill coming up. This is actually an important drill as we have an inspection that the entire base has been preparing for over the past 12 months. I don't know anyone that is not happy that it is finally here so that we can put it behind us! In a career that has now spanned 31 years, I can honestly say if you took away these unrealistic scenarios, most of us would be elated. Oh well, such is life in the military! Last night the Seacoast Half Marathon training group ran for 60 minutes and for me it was a complete contrast to a similar run on Sunday. Having biked along side this same group on Saturday as they completed an 11 mile run, I wanted to get some running in on Sunday, so my plan was to run for 60 minutes. I'm not sure if it is my attempt at changing my running gait or what, but Sunday's run was horrible! I was at mile 2 feeling like I was would be lucky to make it another mile. As I have done many times, I focused on one mile at a time with only the goal of getting through that particular mile. Eventually I labored back into our cul-de-sac and wondered what just happened? My running has been sporadic at best during this time of training the half marathon group for many reasons. An injury has affected a good part of the training time and using a bike on the long runs so that I can cover more of the runners certainly hurts my running own running. Having done this training group for a while now, I have seen the same effects but this year I have definitely done a lousy job of working around the group with my own personal training. Without any event to prepare for I am not in any way pressured to be prepared for a certain distance. This brings us to last nights similar run of 60 minutes with the group. I can honestly say that most of the day I was feeling less than excited about the run after my lousy run on Sunday. In my mind I am laboring to the completion of this training group so that I can take a quick breather and begin my own personal training. Don't take this the wrong way, I really enjoy coaching groups, but I definitely feel strongly that when I am coaching groups that my personal running comes second to their training and support. I have never run a race that I have trained a group for, instead I am out on the course encouraging and supporting each runner to the finish line. Anyhow back to yesterday. All day I was tired for some reason and this was not helping my psyche at all but I told myself to keep drinking water and when I was a little more than 2 hours out I went to my go to fuel; Greek yogurt. Facing the group at 6:00 I was still feeling less than motivated but I was ready to get it done! As we took those first few steps I felt better and initially stayed in the back of the pack chatting with those along side me. I really do enjoy the social side of groups, you hear so many great stories and there's so much pride in their accomplishments. As we moved through Portsmouth I continued to work on pushing off and using my gluts more and it was feeling somewhat less taxing so my speed was naturally picking up. I ended up moving toward the front and before I knew it I was comfortably out front. While it was a bit chilly I felt great. Somehow I got out further than I thought and was by running alone for a while but I picked it up some more and was able to catch most of the group to run the final couple miles with. It was nice to move along and see check on others before settling in with some of the guys to finish up with. Pulling into Runners Alley I was ecstatic to have felt the way I did and man what a difference from Sunday! Was the difference in the 2 days just because that's the way running can work? Maybe that was some of it, but the fact that I prepared myself before last nights run probably played a part, but I also believe that each time I run with a more efficient gait, I am getting more adept at it. My willingness to analyze my gait and as important my willingness to change my gait of 30 years is not any small thing, but I believe the results will be healthier and more efficient running. Believe me, it is not fun or easy to consistently correct my posture or my typical stance phase of running, but nights like last night make me feel like I'm making progress. Time to go strength train and work on those specific areas that affect my running. Have a great Wednesday and go Red Sox! mike