Monthly Archives: December 2009

I saw this quote yesterday and thought it was good.

“When you have the enthusiasm and the passion, you end up figuring how to excel.”  Deena Kastor, U.S. Olympic Marathoner

If you want to keep up with my progress during the half and full marathons you can click on the link below (find your runner) and follow me during the race.  My number for the half marathon is 32030 and for the full marathon my number is 3258.

find your runner

The greatest concern that I have for the Goofy is my pace.  I would say two fold.  First, since I have not run the Goofy before I have not quite decided on the pace I want to run for both races.  Secondly, once I do decide on my pace having the discipline to stick to it.  I really enjoy the half marathon distance and typically get caught up in the emotion of it and let myself go whatever pace I can hold.

I know for sure I don’t want to go 100% or even close but at the same time I will want to put in a good hard effort.  That would leave me the marathon on Sunday which I plan to run just a tick slower than normal and see how I feel down the stretch.  The one thing I will be trying to put some thought into the next week is the pace concern and making sure I have enough in the tank for the marathon while putting in a good effort for the half.

I wonder if there is a good training program for this race

“Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.”  This is the definition of success, according to legendary UCLA Basketball coach John Wooden.

Less than 2 weeks for the Goofy.  To make it seem closer just 8 runs remaining left on my training program between now and the races.  Really will make sure to dial in on my nutrition and hydration for the next two weeks and make sure I feel good for the race.  Hydration does not begin on race day.

As many of us are with family this weekend, a couple of quotes for you.  Enjoy your time with family!

Family is just accident…. They don’t mean to get on your nerves.  They don’t even mean to be your family, they just are.  ~Marsha Norman

The only rock I know that stays steady, the only institution I know that works is the family.  ~Lee Iacocca

“To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you”  Lewis B. Smedes

Merry Christmas!

We are two weeks away from the Goofy Challenge at the Disney World half and full marathon weekend.  I wanted to give you a quick update on training and progress.  I am as ready as you can be for the Goofy Challenge and I wanted to thank you for your support to help our team in the fight against breast cancer and the support of Deb Wills with Team AllEars.   

You can help us to fight this disease.  You can learn more about our team at http://allears.net/pluto/teamallears.htm

I still have a few more miles not yet sponsored of the 39.3 miles I run on the Disney Marathon weekend.  I would be happy 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.

I saw a great film this week.  It was Invictus with Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon.  Invictus is a poem from English Poet William Ernest Henley.  This poem is referenced by Morgan Freeman (playing Nelson Mandela) as what helped him survive for 27 years in prison and come out ready to forgive and move on.  Incredible movie and a great poem.

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

Life’s challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they’re supposed to help you discover who you are.
     - Bernice Johnson Reagon

With the last of my 20 mile runs behind me I see the finish getting close.  (By the way avoid running 15 miles on a treadmill if at all possible.  A little lesson I learned this week!)  This race is something I am very excited about but I think I am more excited about the who than the what for this race.

Both of my parents will toe the line for the Disney World half marathon in less than 3 weeks.  This will be 3 for my dad and the first for my mom.  The one thing I have learned from the races is that the true finish line is the start line!  To many I am sure that makes zero sense but getting through months and months of training is the hard part.  Making the training a priority and sticking to it is the real race.  Race day is just your victory lap in your training.

Watching them both make the training a priority and follow through on it has been exciting and I look forward to seeing them at the finish.

I am in my last really tough week of training.  I am looking at my 10 and 20 mile runs back to back this week but it will be the last of those.  I am really excited knowing the training is wrapping up and we are this close to the race. 

One of the things I try to do in my training runs is picture the course and where I will be.  So I am very thankfully I get to stop at mile 20!  That is enough but it is nice to visualize the course during a training run.  The other thing I have learned well is to plan what is next.  Especially for the Disney race.  I have spent so many months getting ready for this challenge and the Disney races are just the best that it is easy to have a let down after this race and get the post race blues.  Making sure I have my plan down for next year helps.

That will be an area of concentration for the next two week and during my taper is to get an idea of what I will run next year.  Having that next goal helps on the post race blues a little bit.

The part of a year in review that helps me the most is to write it all down.  This is a good reason to use a log, journal or something to record your actions.  From running to your work and personal life it is a good idea to write any or all of it down.  That is truly the only way to get some idea of where you started the year and where you are today.

You can’t measure feelings or what you think.  The only thing you can measure are direct results.  I will spend time over the next couple of weeks, just a few minutes a day writing down what the past year has been for me.  With this done it is very easy for me to assess what worked and what did not.  Working on next year becomes so much easier as I begin to see the areas I need to work on.

I am not much on setting new year’s resolutions but I am pretty high on setting some goals for the year and keeping track of my progress.  I guess it is pretty close to the same but I don’t see mine as turning over a new leaf but setting expectations and tracking those throughout the year.

To me the tracking of your progress is vital.  It really gives you a good sense of what you truly did this past year.  I will give you an example.  This year I missed the mark on many of my fitness goals.  My first reaction was one of failure and missing the mark. 

This is the reason I write it all down.  At the end of the year like now I begin to write down my goals hit and goals missed.  When my first reaction was failure I had a chance to reflect on my goals hit.  I hit two PR’s this year for a 5K and 10K.  I finished my first two ultramarathons.  I had another successful marathon and had consistent race times all year long.  I missed a few goals and those I missed will help motivate me next year and zero in on how to focus on those areas.

I think it is important to do this in all areas of your life.  I will go through some of these in the next couple of weeks as it is helpful for me personally and if you have not done a year in review personally it might give you some guidance as well.

“Effort only fully releases its reward after a person refuses to quit.”  Napoleon Hill

I read this in my quiet time this morning.  I think it will become a part of my thoughts and motivation for my final 20 mile training run next week.

3258 for the full and 32030 for the half.  Those numbers means nothing to everyone else in the world but it means a lot to about 36,000 of us running in Disney next month.  We received our waivers with race numbers yesterday which is a signal that we are getting really close.  When you can identify yourself with a number reality sets in.

I do have miles that are still not sponsored to this point so if you still want to participate in the fight against Breast Cancer with our AllEars Team let me know.

With the passing of Jim Rohn whose teachings have influenced millions around the world I thought I would give a few of my favorite quotes he had.  Jim was a teacher, leader and mentor who left quite a legacy.

“Commit yourself to something bigger than yourself.”

“Learn to say No to the good, so you can say Yes to the great.”

“How long should you try?  Until.”

I did finish the 2nd of my 3 20 mile runs in prep for the Goofy challenge on Saturday.  It was quite a different outcome than my first 20 miler a couple of weeks ago.  I really just crept my way through it 2 weeks ago trying to put one foot in front of the other.  I started to lack a little confidence at that point as well.

Saturday was quite the opposite.  I felt strong all the way to the end and probably could have gone a little further but that would have been plain stupid.

I was a whole minute per mile faster than on my last 20 mile run which is substantial in my mind and I did not really feel like I pushed but ran the comfortable pace I was looking for.

It was probably the best 20 mile run I have done since training for the Greenville Marathon last year.  Hydration went well and body felt great.  It really gave me a boost of confidence with just over 4 weeks to go now.  Coming home I was in a much better mood knowing how good I felt.  I still have one more left and 2 good weeks of hard training before the taper but my confidence level had certainly increased.

There are many reasons but this is one of my favorite races and it seems to improve year after year.  Of course the fact that my two fastest times for the half marathon are on this course does not hurt how I feel about it.  I enjoy running through the streets of downtown Atlanta and finishing at Turner Field.  The course is also very fair.  It is Atlanta so it is not flat but the course is good and there are some parts of the course where you can make it happen.  Where the 13.1 in October seemed to just find all the hills this course does not.

It is a point to point half marathon so I always hop on the Fleet Feet bus that drops you off at the start line and picks you up at the finish.  The course is very familiar to me because you basically run the Peachtree Road Race course and then of course further.  I am usually a believer in start slow.  However in the Peachtree and in this race the first half is certainly the easiest.  The first 7 miles of this course is reasonably easy.  I usually figure if I am going to make it happen I will do it there and grit my teeth on the hills later.

The weather turned out perfect.  It was probably in the high 30′s for start time and most of the race in the 40′s I am guessing.  They have done a great job starting the race in the past 2 years.  It used to be just show up and everone starts.  They do have Corrals now with different waves depending on the time you submitted.  I felt fresh from the start and reasonably strong.  I did not do out too hard and thought my pace was what I was looking for.  I am in the middle of training for the Goofy and wanted to use it as my long run for the week so I had no intention of a PR and would hope against.  I am concentrating on staying fit and healthy for the Goofy.

My pace was steady and consistent.  Even once I hit the hills I felt good.  There were about 10,000 runners in the half so it was a good crowd during the race but not overwhelming.  There was also pretty good support along the way which seems to improve each year as well.  The one part of my training this year I have changed is more hill work.  It really seems to be paying off.  I avoided hills last year during my training.  I don’t enjoy the hills but there seems to be less of a problem with them this year for me.  Not training for hills hurt me in Disney as I forgot about 3 different overpass hills which are a shock to the system after running the flat roads.

Once you get into downtown the run gets even better in my mind.  Running through the heart of Atlanta down Peachtree is also enjoyable.  Probably the worst part of the race for me is near the end as you run up by the Capital.  After you have run about 12.5 miles you hit a hill and it seems like the steepest hill I have ever run.  It probably isn’t but it feels that way.  They were taking pictures at this point and I saw mine this week and you could certainly tell I was not having fun at that very moment.  You also have the sun right in your eyes so it makes it hard to see how much farther the hill goes.

Once you get past the hill it is not bad after that.  In fact the final stretch is downhill for the last bit of the race.  I finished with my 2nd fastest half marathon time about 4 minutes from my PR.  I was very pleased with my time and did not want to be much faster and take more out of me than I could have.  As always I enjoyed the race and still had my fastest two miles to finish the race.  That is always the best way to finish in my mind.

More importantly I finished healthy!  That leaves me 5 weeks out from the Goofy.  I have 2 20 mile runs coming up and can’t believe it is this close. 

I still have open miles to be sponsored as our Team Allears are still trying to hit our goals for the fight against Breast Cancer.  Send me a note if you want more information on donating and I also have more details in older posts as well.  (You can sponsor each mile for $25 donation and name it what you want or in honor of who you would like.  You can sponsor as many miles as you would like)