Heart of an indoor cat

As opposed to my good friend Kevin Witkowski, whom Ive deemed a "lion" due to the sheer will and heart that his physical agility and indoor soccer skills thrive off of, I in fact no longer have the heart of a lion. I have the heart of an indoor cat. A shaggy, half shaven, toothless, indoor cat. I dont know when it happened, but Ive gotta get over this hump.

I came to this conclusion yesterday... well before our 4 mi run. At this point in training, I dont think that I should have to talk myself into going for a 4 mi run. I think I should just go bang it out and be done with it-- chalk it up as an "easy" day. Not yesterday. The first mile I was straight dragggggging. Just couldnt get in the groove. The second mile was not bad considering it was all uphill. Poor downtown planning, by the way. Id like to give a quit shoutout to the settlers of Middletown who I blame for this terrible, terrible urban city planning. Glad I got that off my chest. So yeah, the way home, was fine though- GREAT even, here's why.

It takes somewhere around 20 minutes (around 2 miles or more) for a bunch of awesome things to happen in your body. Without getting all sciency- It takes 20 min to warm up (ie, regulate breathing, set a pace, loosen up muscles, etc.). Thats a problem for me and it always will be. It is usually hard to get over that hump, but lately its just be extraordinarily hard, thats all. Ill get over it, though. You can say Im having a "Hump Slump" (haha).

When I tell most people my mileage and that Im training for a marathon the usual reaction is this- "Thats insane. Youre crazy. I cant even run 2 mi. I cant even run 1 mi."

Oh contraire my dear friends. Most people CAN just go out there and run... and run farther than they think, but they are in what I will now refer to as "2 mile denial". What they dont realize is that they CAN do it, it just sucks at first. It sucks for everyone. If i was in primo shape or in terrible shape- those first two miles feel exactly the same. Just killer. After that its smooth sailin. If people (and by people, I mean me) can just get over that initial reaction and get into a rhythm, its all good in the hood. Its not the same for everybody, and maybe not to the same degree, but the physiolgical reactions stand true.

The good part about this 20 min rule, is that this just so happens to also be the time that endorphins start kicking in, giving you more energy, a positive mindstate, and extra motivation. Good timing huh? For example, most of the time when I start my run, I have scowl on my face and am visibly tense. Lets just get this shit over with. Stupid sneakers suck. Stupid sidewalk, why dont they clean this shit up. By the time Ive hit my 3 mi mark, Im waving frantically at every neighbor and drug dealer I pass! Its just science.

So, while the majority of "training" is physical, for me, my focus right now is mental. Getting over the hump and training my mind to get over the wall so that I can be prepared to handle any mental opposition I might have. Any ideas are welcomed. Like, really welcomed. Holla.