Chaos Practice

The last few weeks have been tough as far as training is concerned - not because I have upped the volume, added quality workouts or pushed myself harder, but because I have not been able to run at all - save for the odd jog to confirm this sad fact. I am still training - working on my core strength and upper body power in an effort to not lose sight of my goal, which is to stay fit and - one day - run well. The year is coming to an end and this is not the way I had hoped to go out. I feel a bit down and very frustrated. I feel, frankly, that it is all a waste of time and that given the weakness of my body I would be better off embracing it and avoiding situations that lead to pain and frustration. What's the point, really? It is a horrible question but one worth looking at from time to time. What's the point of running in excess of 70 kilometers a week, of finding the motivation deep inside myself to do something that requires a huge amount of discipline and dedica...

My running in September, October and November is now irrelevant - December is what matters.   I've decided to stop posting running stats for the day on the grounds that it is boring.   "There will be worse days, and this was a way to hedge against them." That was the last line I wrote in the entry prior to this one. The next day I ended my streak, or it was ended, after 138 days. Work and life and rain all ganged up on me to end it just two days short of 20 weeks (without a day off from exercise).  This afternoon I was standing in a kids' playground watching my young son and his friends climb and run and slide and scramble, and I said to a friend and fellow father, "I can't believe no one has been hurt yet." Within two minutes someone had. Not seriously, but it resulted in a nasty bump on a little boy's forehead and a few stressful moments for his dad. I should stop trying to be so fatalistic and / or tempting of fate. At best it's not h...