Back in the saddle

I feel like I should re-introduce myself because I've been away for so long.

Hi, I'm Willie, rush chairman, damn glad to meet you. (Hopefully some of you remember Animal House)

You may wonder why I haven't written for so long. I wonder that too. Truth is I just wasn't inspired to write. It's not that my life has dropped to a lower level and I just had nothing better to offer up than the boring dribble I normally put forth on this blog, it's just that I didn't have my normal urge to bore you with it. Then it became such a long time since I'd last posted that I felt my next post should be something eloquent and meaningful and I just don't do eloquent and meaningful that often.

Then I remembered that you guys and gals are just fellow runners and you don't need eloquent. You are happiest when you are covered in sweat and have snot dripping from your noses. That I can do! My peeps!

I have been running. Last week was one of my hardest weeks of training this year. I've started my Tuesday speedwork sessions and my Thursday tempo runs again. I've done my last 20 miler. I've run the Edmond hills. What I haven't done is found my stride. I just don't feel as comfortable on the run as I did at the end of last year. I have lost so much speed. My speedwork is that in name only, it's nowhere near as fast as I was running last year. I can run my tempo runs at about the same pace but it is much more of a struggle. I'm not sleeping well and sometimes my feet hurt. I feel tired most of the time and I can't concentrate. Depressed yet? Stopped reading yet? Well I cut my hair off so I look stupid now too. There, ha ha, now who's down?

Actually given all that crap I'm still pretty confident. I've been through this before and am sure it will pass. It may sound ridiculous but I honestly believe it's because I haven't run a marathon yet this year. I know I'm supposed to love running in it's purest form and not need the thrills and excitement of racing. I also know that I'm very much a child at heart and I've embraced that immaturity and I need to race! I need to stand in a crowded starting corral, I need to hear the starting gun, I need to hear someone tell me I'm almost there and that I look great at mile 19. These things I need. These things will bring Willie back to life.