Mindset

Sometimes it seems that in running we sometimes forget to enjoy the moment and embrace our success. We run slower then we want to, don't finish were we expect and get down in the dirt, worrying that our training isn't going as planned, or that its time to train harder. So when we hit that point, what do we do? Do we start over, do we increase the training load or just finish out the year. Running can be an enjoyable and fantastic experience, but during the hard training we sometimes forget it as is basic purpose and find new ways to be unhappy with it.
I have been having a much harder time this particular year really getting focused on improving my own running and just haven't had the desire to do better and do what it takes to become faster. Strides, drills, stretching, lifting and intervals all add together to make the athlete better, but its the desire to actually do what is required to be the best that is always hard to find in anybody.
I am guilty for not enjoying the moment, and instead find myself worrying about why I was 21 seconds slower then last year at the Classic 10k, or why I cant run faster then 3 years ago at one of my favorite 5k's. I found myself thing about all of this today, and realized that its time to figure out what I want to get out of my running. What do I want to do, hit pr's in the 5 and 10k, get faster and stronger or just enjoy running. I will sit down with the guy that was coaching me for quite a while and figure this all out. I need to figure out what workouts I enjoy, and what I don't and find a balance. The base it there, but the wheels can't run faster without working out faster. I think I will stick to my goals of someday running under 14:20 for the 5k, and under 29:30 for the 10k. You always have to have a good goal in mind to push for. I have been very lucky to have a great group of guys to run with this summer. Everyday we all just run all around Colorado Springs on the many different trails that we are lucky to have. It amazes me to think that I can run somewhere different every day and not hit the same trails all the time. By the way, on a Sunday run with Robby Young recently we concluded that Gold Camp road is out Magnolia road and we would not have it any other way. I think we saw one other person in 8 miles of climbing that day are were rewarded with fantastic views of Colorado Springs from about 9500+ feet up.

Alex Hoag Run for Sunshine

Sailin Shoes 10k

Well I haven't been at this very much lately due to no real specific reason. I think trying to get one all the time and let everybody know what I am doing every day for training would be plan boring. So, I look at this post and reflect on what has been a very different year of running so far to this point.

For many people who follow me in racing around Colorado, they most likely have not seen my name much recently in results. Since the beginning of the year, I really started to run less races and really focus on ones that were important to me. In the past I would run the Winter Series, the race on new years day and some random ones in between such as the races in Pueblo last year. One of those races, the Cinco De Mayo Run For the Rose decided to drop the pretty nice prize purse that was offered last year, so I had no reason to drive to Pueblo for a race I was not really wanting to do. I also spent a pretty good chunk of time driving from the springs to Pueblo three days a week for school during the spring, so I try to not do it in the summer if at all possible. Another factor this year has been motivation to race. It just hasn't been there like in the past. I stopped doing workouts basically last April, and did just a few in January and February. I did run a few indoor meets which are always fun, but that was about it. Getting sick in March didn't help at all and made racing a chore rather then something I enjoy doing. I have found that there is a thin line between doing something such as racing all the time and getting sick and tired of showing up just to be there and I don't want to end up on the bad side of that line. The last factor is one that has made a big difference as well: I no longer run for a running store team and have to pay fr all of the races I do. I didn't have to pay for races for almost 2 and a half years which saved me alot of money. Now if I want to race here and go to Denver the next day it costs a pretty good amount of money when you factor in gas and food.

Lately I have raced a little bit, running Alex Hoag Run For Sunshine here in the Springs, the Mile High Mile in Denver and Sailin Shoes here in the Springs. I had the chance to race the Boulder Bolder citizens race winner in Denver and was blown away as many of us are now. I have never seen someone run 4:16 like it was nothing, and run 29:46 the next week, run 50 minutes for 10 miles in the Garden and then turn around and run 14:34 in Denver the next week. If this dude runs the Classic or one of the races at Evergreen we could see times that may never be approched again. What a runner!


On a side note about races, I wish that if a race director says the course is 6.2 miles, it was actually 6.2 miles, not 6.33 or 6.34. How hard is it to actually make an effort to get it right? We pay good money to race, so it should not be too much to ask to have an accurate course.

Milage progression

I guess I have been too bored today with all of the posts I have done. Here is another one that kinda goes along with running progressions.

2002- 20 races 1185.47 miles
2003- 30 races 2109.7 miles
2004- 27 races 3008.81 miles
2005- 21 races 3477.23 miles
2006- 26 races 3377.05 miles
2007- 19 races 3793.5 miles
2008- 21 races 3898.85 miles
2009- 5 races 1277.38 miles so far.

22127 miles in 7 years. 169 races.

Website link to article

Here is a link to an article written about me by Jeff Arnold of the Southern Colorado Runners Club.
http://socorunners.org/news/articles/2006/AdamRichStory_2006Dec.htm

The experience Part 2

Well at this point in my life, I was at the gym all of the time. I had really started to focus more on basketball, and was playing sometimes 4-5 hours a night. I was hitting the plyometrics harder then ever and had forgot all about running. I had pretty much decided that I didn't care about doing it anymore and just left it behind. I was working at Best Buy and decided that I would ride my bike to work every day, which I did for almost a year. I bought a Giant ATX-970 Norba Downhill Bike and proceeded to replace everything on it. I spent something like 2 grand on all new components and thought I would ride it alot. I would also ride to Palmer Park, ride home, and ride to work some times. This could be considered my replacement for running. Well at this point a fellow worker of mine challenged me to train for the Boulder Bolder. This was in January of 02. I was still in my I don't want to run mode and told him that I didn't run anymore. Well he kept asking about training and I finally gave in. I started running again in March of 02, and jumped right back into it, too fast I might add! I thought that going to Palmer Park every day and hammering out 8 miles was the way to go, and I was using an old pair of Nike Prestos which was another bad decision. I got Patella Tendinitis very quickly, and had it in the Boulder Bolder. We didn't know about qualifying times back then, and were put in the QQ and the ZZ waves. I ran I believe 48 minutes on their official time and think that I started out like 8 minutes after my wave got going. If anybody wonders why I never run the Boulder Bolder, its because of my experience with the 02 race. Now I know it would be completely different now, but I just have never felt motivated to go back. We kept training that whole summer and ran 20 or 30 races that year, so we were now becoming runners.
I would keep going about the progressions that I had from year to year, but that would just bore everybody. The short of it:
I ended up finally running for Western State back in 05-06, transferred to UCCS where I sat out for a full year because of the transfer, decided that I didn't like UCCS, switched schools again and have been at CSU Pueblo ever since. I have not completed in college running since 06, and will never get to use up my 3 years that I have left. I still train just as hard as I was back then and can be seen around at the races. I hope every has a good season. Have a good one.

The experience Part 1

Well I have had a good time reading about where everybody came from as far as their running, and decided that I would throw my story out there.
I don't have much of a cool story but here we go:
I started what I call "running" in around 6th grade. I would get in trouble or have an attitude problem and my mom on time said go take the dog for a run and cool off. Well this little thing became a routine for me, and I started to go run just for the heck of it. I had this route that I ran with the dog and we tried to run as fast is we could go every time. I remember doing well in the 6th grade track meet, but didn't think much of it. I got to middle school and ran a mile on your old dirt track in 6 something, but I really wasn't into running back then. I continued the running with the dog training, and started to focus more on learning how to jump higher instead of running. This became something that I did all of the time. You could catch me out in the middle of the street doing plyometrics with jump soles on. I even was dumb enough to go run 3 miles with those things on one time!! Could not walk right for a week because my calf's were in so much pain. I finally decided to give running a try my senior year of high school. I remember going on the cross country retreat somewhere outside of Canyon City at Coach Millers cabin. Doug Hugill was still the coach when I was there. My first experience with a distance run was during the retreat. They put everybody in vans and drove out this dirt road. At every mile, they asked who wanted to get out and run back to the cabin. I finally got out a 8 or 9 miles and headed back. This was the hardest thing I had done, and I remember thinking, "How on earth will I make it back??!!!" Well I did fine and feel that that jump started my season. The season went pretty well as I progressed quickly and was in the 16's. I ran well for the rest of the season but did not run well at state. That's part one of the experience:

I ran track as well, but just wasn't into it as much. I remember running the 4x800 at regionals as I led off. I ran what I would call the dumbest race ever, running behind, running in the pack, running almost on the dq line and finally running in the front. I came through in 2 flat and handed off the baton, but somehow tripped in the process and fell right down on the track scraping my stomach and shoulder pretty badly. I had to run the mile later that day, and ran horribly. At this point, I had missed out on qualifying for state and started what I call the decline period of running. At the same time, Coach Vandenbusche from Western State wanted me to run for them, but I just wasn't into running enough to make that type of commitment. I pretty much stopped running, and ran I believe one more race in 1999, the Jingle Bell Run here in Colorado Springs.

Getting back to it.

I actually ended up having a pretty good rest of last week.
Friday was a good 10 mile run in Palmer Park. Saturday was not great weather wise, but the run in Red Rocks was good, about 11 miles or so. I actually did a fairly long Sunday run of 20 miles, which I hardly ever do. Ran from El Pomar all the way south until the trail stops and ran back. The wind on the way back killed the pacing, but overall it was a good run. Today was another 10 miles in Palmer Park.
I feel that if I can just keep up the normal training for the next few weeks I should be able to run fairly well at the Cherry Creek Sneak.