The run

The weather in my area had been very warm. It still feel like summer. Tonight, taking advantage of the Indian Summer, I put on my runners and hit the road right after work.

For the past few weeks, I am running longer and more often. The body is slowly getting use to being on the road. I went along a regular route that lead me to a trail along the river.

Darkness came earlier since winter is creeping up. By the half way in the trail, it was getting dark. Along the trail, I ran into two strangers. They stopped and asked me about a parking lot. It turned out they were lost. I walked with them to the parking lot. I was traveling the same route anyways so that didn't matter. It turned out they were from out of town and the father decided to go fishing today.

I led them back to their car and continued my route.

On the way back, I thought about the odds of them bumping into me. I had some hesitation on hitting this trail since I hadn't run as much since Ironman (in July). If they didn't bumped into me, they would have gotten lost as the trail had no light.

I felt great going back home. I started the run with the 'hold back from going too hard' mode. After I led the strangers back to their car, I decided to turn it up a notch to 'let's push until I breathe too hard' mode. There were one long climb and I felt great. Legs were light and responsive. In the last 15-20 minutes, I ended with 'let's keep it easy' mode.

In the last mode, I felt very comfy and I was reaching the same speed during my training.

I can't wait till this training season....the theme is hills, hills, hills. Unfortunately most of my city is flat. This means I will be doing a lot of hill repeats...hmm... I like :).

Tonight, I was asked to speak in front of a group of walkers on Nov 21st. We discussed about what should I talk about. The organizer suggested I speak about motivation. The audience are mid 40s-50s w/ kids. To be honest, they are more likely to motivate me than vice versa. I mean, to train, with kids and full time job and pay the bills....well that ain't easy. I don't have a family to take care of and I still live with my parents.

We ended up with the topic, 'discovering your passion'. I figure this is a good topic as I did not choose triathlon, it discovered me. I just so happen to stumble into this sport. Almost as if I tripped over a rock. And I am glad to turn over this rock :).