dedication

When I'm near the end of a tough workout, I often say out loud, "This is the marathon. The marathon is not the marathon."

My friends who don't run are often amazed that I'm going to run 26 miles. I tell them, that's the easy part. The hard part is getting there. Case in point yesterday...

I was scheduled to do a track workout mid-day with a co-worker. 4x1600. This is on the heels of 15 miles three days before. Also this week I also have an 8 mile tempo, and then 20 on Sun. So, while 4x1600 isn't too tough, it's a tough week.

Well, things feel apart and the run didn't happen as planned. I was determined to get the run in so we decided to go to the track at 6pm. It was totally dark, cold, and one half of the track was covered in ice/snow. So, we ran half, then turned around. It was like running 8 x 200m ladders.

I'm a sucker for films with a "Rocky" kind of theme. Underdog treated unfairly, given second chance, trains like crazy, changes his/her life, becomes a champion ... even better when the action is realistic.

If you're with me on this, you'll want to see "Stick It!" No, not the kind of movie you would normally want to be seen walking out of the video store with ... I mean, it's about women's gymastics of all things. But wait ... this is the real deal ... it's not about 12-year-old freaks ponsing around in spandex, but proper athletes -- the cast includes a world champion or two and several Olympians -- in hard training and competition.