Monthly Archives: November 2009

I have reached a point this year that I figured might come but was hoping it would not.  About three weeks ago I caught a cold and of course I have been in recovery from my ultra for the last month.  Since my ultra I was trying to do a reverse taper and build back up to my base mileage and pick up my training for the Goofy.  Well it has been a tough last 30 days and running at times has been on the back burner.

The biggest struggle I have right now is I don’t have a goal for the Goofy.  I did not realize exactly how that would impact me.  For me there needs to be a reason why I get up at 430am for a 10 mile run.  When I understand to hit a time goal for my race that I must get up and get this run in I don’t think twice about it.  However my goal for the Goofy was just to finish.  Well I don’t want to take this race lightly but I feel like finishing this is not a problem and I could probably just wing it. 

Now that I am mostly feeling better again the motivation has been tough to come by.  My mileage has gone from about 50 miles a week to 20 and not really increasing.  This week I forced a change.  I will get the miles back up in the upper 40′s this week and I am feeling better each day.

Two things that helped me this week.   They were telling my body what to do and setting a goal.  I just had to force my body into action this week as much as it did not want to cooperate.  Each day I have felt better, stronger and much more motivated.  The other thing was I did lay out a goal for this face.  It is a goal I might not reach but it will give me purpose to run a 20 mile run this weekend when I just don’t have the desire to.  I don’t want to run 20 miles this weekend but I do want to hit my goal for the Goofy.  The only way I have a chance to succeed is to get my 20 in this weekend. 

Watching my son practice basketball this week I just kept looking at the basketball goal and laughed.  How much fun would the game of basketball be without the goal to shoot it in.  Something to think about.  I love to run but I need the goal.

By the way we are 7 weeks out from the Goofy challenge and I still have open miles in you are interested in helping our team raise funds for the fight against breast cancer.

I am trying to get each mile of the 39.3 miles I run on the Disney Marathon weekend sponsored to run for you or someone you would like for me to run for.  You can contact me directly to sponsor one of the miles(tbrush3@yahoo.com).  With each $25 donation I will be letting you name one mile after you or someone you would like for me to run in honor of.  I want to make sure each mile is represented and I want to make sure I know who I am running for each mile.  You can sponsor and name as many miles as you would like.

You can contribute online by visiting http://www.avonwalk.org/goto/debwills2010 Please be sure to put AllEars Trey Brush after your donation.  You can also send checks made out to Avon Walk for Breast Cancer C/O Deb Wills, 3520 Sugarloaf Parkway, Suite F03-105, Fredrick MD 21704.  Please be sure to write Team AllEars Trey Brush on the check in the notes.  Thank you so much for your support.

You can learn more about our team at http://allears.net/pluto/teamallears.htm

“To be a consistent winner means preparing not just one day, one month, or even one year – but for a lifetime.

Bill Rogers

It had been an interesting week as I had been traveling and in Orlando most of the week of the race.  With temps near 90 and humid all week it would be quite a change for race day.  The forecast would have the high in the 40′s and 50′s with mist and rain.  Since I was taking the family I felt bad for them.  It would be fine running weather for me but not ideal for them.  I drove back into town on Friday so it would be a quick turn around to Greenville the next morning.

The nice thing about a small race is that nothing is too difficult.  Easy to get the number on race morning, getting to the start line and even the bathrooms.  Everything is always easier to do.  I would guess there were about 2,000 running that morning.  The start was uneventful and I felt really good.  The course is really pretty, especially the first half.  My legs felt great starting out and pretty much maintained the pace I was looking for.

The first half of the course has limited hills and plenty of aid stations along the way.  My memory let me down on this course as I forgot how much tougher the second half of the course is.  Plenty of hills!  I had planned on the same strategy for the Atlanta 13.1 earlier in the month.  Run the first 10 miles solid and see what I have in the tank for the final 3 and finish strong.  The hills and fatigue would make me change my strategy.  With about 3 miles to go I could feel the ultramarathon from 2 weeks ago in my legs.  I was not miserable and not that tired but I could feel the same finishing kick would not be there.

I was fine with that.  I knew I could maintain my pace and finish strong and enjoy the experience.  The best part of the whole race is the finish.  You come down Main Street and enter the minor league baseball stadium.  You start on the right field warning track and finish behind home plate.  I did see my wife and kids as I finished.  The only thing I did not care for about the finish were slow 5k runners.  The 5k started 30 minutes after our race and I spent the last half mile or so running around walkers to finish the race.  I was only about a minute or so off from my time earlier this month in Atlanta.  So even with tired legs I felt good about my run.  Greenville does a great job with this race.  I think they might bring back the full marathon next year.  I thought about running it but I will have to forget the hills to do so!  Not sure it is a marathon I want to do again because of the hills.  However it is a good race.  Next up is my favorite half marathon here in Atlanta on Thanksgiving day.  It is always a good time and my half marathon PR course from last year.

I had a chance to see the true character of endurance in action this week and hear all about the traits that matter so much.  At the age of 87 my grandmother passed away this week.  She was a unique person who inspired others throughout her life and beyond it.  She showed true endurance her whole life.  She was steady, day in and day out.  To be an endurance runner you have to train on the days you don’t want to train.  Well she did the same in life.  She lived the same way on days I am sure she was tired and probably did not feel like it.  She endured and was the same to everyone on everday.  She served without tiring and lived a life of passion for her family and friends. 

She never got too high and never too low.  She reminded me of marathon running, when you pace yourself and take one step at a time.  You can’t go out to fast, just keep the pace and stay patient.  That is how she lived.  She was a great example and will give me something to think about on my runs.  Her last few years she lived the definition below.   

Endurance- The ability to withstand hardship or adversity; especially : the ability to sustain a prolonged stressful effort or activity.

I look forward to running the Goofy and Atlanta Half Marathon in the next few weeks.  I will do so, NOT with heavy legs or a heavy heart.  Instead I will do it the way she would have wanted to me run.  I will do so with the same passion she lived with day after day.  I will do so in an effort to show the same character traits in running she showed in life.  That is the only way I know.

It was been a tough few weeks but probably has done me some good.  I never put together a race report for the Greenville Half Marathon.  I will be doing that.  Since then the running has been rough at best and sometimes not at all.  Starting the week of the Greenville Half I was traveling that week and got in very little running.  The next after the race I began fighting a pretty bad cold and have been dealing with that since then.  I did get in a good 13 miler this past weekend but the schedule has been tough. 

That being said the time has given my body some time to recover which I probably would not have done on my own.  I am just 8 weeks away from the Goofy Challenge and 2 weeks away from the Atlanta Half Marathon on Thanksgiving.  I will be putting together a race report for Greenville but it was a good race.  That being said I could tell I just ran an ultra 2 weeks prior.  My legs did lack the kick they had from early October.

As I often mention I like to breakdown a word and need a dictionary to help me in making sense of a word or an idea. 

Waste: To use, consume, spend, or expend thoughtlessly or carelessly.  To fail to take advantage of or use for profit.

I do believe each person is on the earth for a purpose and a reason.  I am also inclined to believe that that purpose might even have seasons.  My purpose now is probably different than it was ten years ago.  Every choice you make day in and day out will determine how you live out your purpose.  Will that decision or add and fulfill to your purpose or take away from it?

It is something to think about day in and day out.  The decisions that I make today no matter how small they seem will have an influence on whether I have a fulfilled life or a wasted life.

Fulfilled: Completed to perfection.

I sat stunned Sunday afternoon watching Meb Keflezighi run away from the rest of the field.  Enjoy his last few steps of the first USA Champion since 1982 of the New York City Marathon.  It was quite a performance.  Ryan Hall also finished fourth to give 2 of the top 4 places to Americans.  I kept wondering when they would fall off pace but just the opposite happened as Meb took it home strong.  Meb has overcome serious adversity the last couple of years from losing his close friend Ryan Shay and dehydrated with a broken hip in the Olympic qualifier in 2007.  It was quite a performance this past weekend.