Snow and Sleet did not stop me from running

Yep, I woke up 3:45 am and ran while it was snowing on April 24. I think I was the only person outside running in the whole of Reykjavik. I completed my run and took a flight to Copenhagen on business. I have been sticking to schedule and have been running every other day. On April 26, it was a clear day until I was half way into my run then it started sleeting... after a while the sleet stings your face, but I completed my run as planned.

I ordered a toy to help me in my running, It is the Garmin Forerunner 305. I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of it so that I can track, measure and improve on my running. So far I should say I have been pretty disciplined on the plan, I hope to keep with it.

My goal is to run the marathon in 4 hours, which means that I need to run 6.5 miles in an hour. I think I am running at the rate of about 5 miles an hour, so I need to improve considerably I just hope I have enough time to do that... the marathon is on August 19, 2006

Natural Elements, Psychology and Marathon Preparation

On Wednesday (April 19), I woke up at 4:45 am and ran 4 miles without walking or stopping. I think I roughly did it in about 40 minutes, it felt really good! I felt like I was in the zone and could have run longer. As per my schedule I rested the day after and woke up again this morning at 5:00 am and started running, the first issue that was bothering me was the constant drizzle of rain and after about 1.5 miles the wind, the grey clouds and every natural elements was appearing to wear me down. I stopped running and walked for a bit, I was feeling really bad that I am loosing out to the elements. I am rejuvenate after the run, as the last 1.2 miles I gritted my teeth and said come what may I am going to run the rest of the distance and I did!

Actually, it was my mind playing games with me... It has nothing to do with the elements. It was actually much warmer than the days before and I just let myself down with regard to focusing and completing my goal. I learnt an important lesson, if I really focus and fight the elements within myself I can overcome them... It is only when I start feeling that I am loose do I really loose. It is a pretty good lesson after about 7 outings. I am really excited that I am taking on this challenge and I hope to learn a lot more about myself.

Running Schedule & other items about my Marathon Prep

Well, I started my training for the marathon on August 19, 2006 last saturday. I think I ran and walked about 4 miles, I am not sure since I did not know the markers or the distance. I am planning to drive my car today and calculate the distance. Sunday, Monday and Tuesday I was down with Strep Throat, my daughter gave it to me. It was pretty bad, I could not eat or drink anything since my tonsilites was the size of two golf balls and it was pretty painful. Thank God for Penciliin that I am feeling much better.
However, I went running on Wednesday night after dinner... bad idea. My diaphram was really struggling given my full stomach so could not do much of a run. Today, I went for a run in the morning, had an excellent rhythm and was able to run the same marker as the last saturday's run with much less walking. I could sense my stamina is picking up and I am really excited about that. Made a schedule today, I am really looking forward to run the Reykjavik Marathon... Wish me luck ;)

Ultra Marathon Man -Dean Karnazes

I have started reading a book by Dean Karnazes titled Ultra Marathon Man. I never knew that a human being is capable of enduring such physical hardship. If he can do that I can at the very least be happy and maybe run the Reykjavik Marathon.
You see I have started thinking about running the marathon but have not started the preparation. Maybe I need to remind myself not to procastinate. Anyway, I am hooked... Be on the lookout for my running plan and progress. Reykjavik Marathon here I come :)