Real David H.

45.1 miles so far in January, with a day to go. I’m not even sure how I got to that many this month. And since I’ve finally got a streak going to zap-the-zero on Monday, I’m pretty sure that I’m running tomorrow.
I really have to make a decision soon about the Shamrock Half. Honestly, I can’t afford to stay somewhere for a couple of days, but since I have friends in the Virginia Beach area, I’m sure I could stay somewhere. It’s not ideal — I love going to the beach that weekend when it’s not crowded at all. It’s become such a tradition … but I can’t use that as a reason to not run Shamrock.

My brain is still spinning. I’ve been trying to gauge my thoughts on previous years, but that’s not really working. I don’t have the first experience from four years ago documented, but I do remember having a strong training session as I was part of a speed/endurance group that had some awesome track and hill workouts. Three years ago I ran fewer miles in January than this year, had a strong February then ran into major foot issues during the race. Two years ago I was just shy of 60 miles in January and had a decent race. Last year was far and away my best January ever. I ran 75 miles in January, 93 in February. The translation — a PR that was a long time waiting.

Today, though, I realized that it’s time to move on from last year and for that matter what happened in years past. Last year was awesome, but if I don’t move on from it, I’m going to do what I’ve done in years past — I’ll keep comparing myself to the runner I’m not anymore. And that attitude is actually what made last year so great. I pretty much moved on from previous years and did my best to not look back.

So what you have in this post is nothing new. I’m no closer to a decision than I was the other day. Sure I’m still leaning a certain way, but the final decision is going to come from a different frame of mind than what it would have even a few days ago.