Stay Calm, Hammer on

It's COLD now.

Well November is headed for a close shortly here and winter temps have finally set in. It's been a decent last month or two of training, but certainly not ideal. I really have no complaints though. I'm doing what I love and I've been trying to ramp back up for another big 26.2 attempt in Memphis. 16 days. 16..... DAYS. I'm definitely dealing with some mechanical issues, even though fitness and speed are there. It's not something I can FIX before Memphis so I'm gonna be a taped up warrior come race day, and we'll see what I can throw down.

I know I still have work to do, so I don't want to talk TOO much about "next year" or allow myself to wind down just yet. But I will say that I am very excited for the things to come. VERY. I latched onto another level this year and I even caught a glimpse of what the level beyond that might look like. It's possible. Big things are possible. There's a lot I want to get out of next year and a lot of building and strengthening that needs to be done over the winter in order to have the kind of structure my body needs to support what's about to go down next year. I'll save my "goals" post for another time.

In the meantime, as the temps drop I've been heading indoors to get workouts in on the treadmill. There is a nice fitness center at the Four Seasons Hotel where I work and it is a great perk to be able to use the facilities as needed. I don't have MUCH time in the early AM's since I get to my desk at 7am, but I have ENOUGH time to get in a solid run, some work on the legs, core, etc... before I have to shut it down. I survived last winter almost exclusively indoors like this, and I'm prepared to do it again this year as well. There will be no excuse to arrive at February/March lacking strength when I have a full circuit of equipment at my finger tips.

Heading into Memphis in just a few short weeks I'm excited. I can't LIE and say I'm not a little anxious about the problems I'm having with my mechanics. There's always the "What if I get to mile 10 and my IT band lights up?", "What if my achilles is shot by the halfway mark?", "what if these last 3 weeks of wonkiness messed up my taper and I'm gonna feel like a slug on race day??". There's alwayyyyyyyyys these doubts. But, I had the same doubts before Cowbell and after having a stellar day out there I vowed to never again let those thoughts CONTROL me. I'm addressing them, but I'm staying as calm as I possibly can. STAY CALM. That's my mantra right now. There's nothing I can do about the little things that aren't perfect besides work on them, and then suck it up for race day.

I am EXCITED though, as I said. I'm ready to give it another shot and end my 2014 season by leaving it all out there. You just never know. I'll be proud of my year and focused on the next, either way.