Monday, October 22, 2007

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 :).

5 comments:

brendaj said...

I like your enthusiasm for your hill training! Today we drove through a lot of the hills that we've biked in the past, and I realized I really miss being out there.

Anonymous said...

Awesome website. Congrats! www.runningroomsucks.blogspot.com

Brent Buckner said...

Yeah, I could do hill repeats.
On a treadmill

:-D

cdnhollywood said...

You may have accidentally turned over your own rock, but maybe you're helping these other people stop and find the rocks they've been stepping over all this time.

As a relatively new parent (my daughter's now 3) it's very, VERY easy to put yourself last and "just survive" as the days go by. The real challenge, and the real reward, is in living life while existing in it. I'm getting better at this, as is my entire family, and let me tell you that being a husband, dad and professional while being a triathlete is the most rewarding thing I've done yet.

And because of that, sleep truly is overrated.

Keep up the good work, Cliff!

Tri-Dummy said...

I can't imagine why someone would want a cancer survivor, organ transplant, Ironman finisher to speak about MOTIVATION.