Sunday, March 7, 2010

Difference between long runs in Minnesota to Mussoorie!!:)

Where do I even begin explaining the OBVIOUS differences between a Mussoorie long run and a Minnesota long run!! FIRST, I thought there were killer hills in Duluth, MN......theeeeeen I came to Mussoorie, where those hills back in Duluth would be considered speed bumps, not even joking!!! SECOND, I thought running from the beaches of Lake Superior to my house, a whole whopping 200ft. rise in elevation was "high altitude training!!"........ theeeeeeeen I came to Mussoorie, where a 200ft. rise is basically my walk home from school everyday!! I'm going on runs where it's nearly a 500-600ft. rise and we're already 6500ft. + in altitude!!! THIRD, I thought it was tough running 2+ hours without a water bottle and needing to stop at a gas station to get a free cup of water or drink from a drinking fountain, OR yes even running off the road to a ditch and putting my head in the side of the roads water!!!...... theeeeeeeen I came to Mussoorie, where today I ran for 2hrs. 46 minutes with NO water at all!! Cause you can't just pull over to a gas station and drink their "fountain" water without pooping for the next 24 hours straight!! And in NO WAY would I ever stick my head in the side of the roads drainage system here, unless I want to die!!!:) So those 3 main differences between a long run in Minnesota (primarily Duluth, where I trained for most of my marathons) and in Mussoorie have been really fun to think about!!! And I'm sure runners in Kenya think the same thing if they were to run here (Mussoorie), and how easy it is compared to back at home!!! NOW the mental differences between Duluth and Mussoorie!! I know, borrrrrrrrrring, but hey quit reading at anytime!!:) There aren't as many and I'm not going to go into listing order, but more describe what I feel during long runs here!! I guess the biggest mental road block I have while running my long runs here is if it's long enough!! Back in Duluth I could easily get 18-20 miles in within a 3 hour limit!! Here though, today I ran from Mt. Hermon to Everest House and back in about 2:46:38 (okay not about that was my actual time) and it was only 12-14 miles!!! Granted, as stated before, there was a 500-600ft. rise in altitude both up AND down during the run which may have a small part to play!!! But mentally I keep thinking, man is this enough!??! I know the hills play a huge factor, but on paper only being able to write down 12-14 miles for a long run, which I know for some of you that would seem extremely long, but for a marathon runner that's like a medium size run, and counting that as my "long run" is really scary, since I still have 12.6 more to go for a full marathon!!! HOWEVER, the GREATEST training motivation is fear while training!! Cause on my 4th and 5th marathon, I knew I could do one so that fear wasn't there, also a little burnout was there too, and I slacked off a little during the training!! But now that fear is back, it's keeping me on my toes, well for most of the runs;), and keeping that eye of the tiger inside running strong and determined!! Like most of you know Rocky 1-6, YES ALL 6, are my favorite movies of all time!! And in Rocky 6, Rocky says to Mason, who said he wasn't scared for the fight, "but fear is good, everyone gets scared, it's if you let fear take over that will cripple you." So right now still keeping the fear as a motivational tool and not as a crippling weapon!!:) In my heart I know, right now, I'm doing everything I can do get ready for the Paavo Nurmi marathon, and my heart has never lead me wrong yet, so why would it start now, even on the other half of the world, in a country where my heart can't understand half the conversations going on!!!:) And some of those are even in English too, stupid high school teachers and their big educated words!!;) So those are my thoughts, and as for the run today it went REALLY REALLY well!!! Everest House can now be crossed off of my list: Major Hills to Run to During Training!!! Now all that's left is Benog Tibba, Nag Tibba, Top Tibba, and Pepper Pot!! Pepper Pot is coming up next weekend, with Nag Tibba (the hardest one by far) will be in about 6-8 weeks!!!! BUT come time to run it BRING IT ON!!! Going for a Woodstock record!! Under 11 1/2 hours baby!!!! Kleiner, you got nothing!!!! HAVE A FREAKIN FANTASTIC WEEK EVERYONE AND HAPPY SMILING!!!:)

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