Spreading the peanut butter all winter long

I've been in Colorado for more than 10 years now so I definitely take the beautiful weather for granted too often. For example, Sunday, February 15th, was a gorgeous sunny day here so a few of us decided to do a little training run...17+ miles, 3000 feet of elevation gain and 3+ hours. It was an awesome day! I still seem to start out these long runs with a little trepidation and I always seem to finish stronger than I ever thought possible. The real question is “when will I learn?”

The longer I go the stronger I get; both mentally and physically. Admittedly I was a bit anxious about this run because it is the middle of winter and I haven’t been doing any real tempo work…just LSD baby! With my first real ½ Ironman 6 weeks away I better snap out of this lazy LSD thing and get focused on some real work! Yesterday was a great way to start!

I ran the whole distance with Michelle Ford. She is rock solid strong and steady and we spent the entire run trying to slow each other down so that we didn’t blow up at the end. My coach Steve talks about “spreading the peanut butter” and I mock him for it but I will confess here (since I know he doesn’t read my blog) that it is a great analogy for me. Not only do I love peanut butter but the idea of spreading my energy equally throughout any effort makes the workout so much more rewarding. Have you ever run a race and in the last few miles there are bodies everywhere? People who started way too fast, didn’t even bring their peanut butter to the race, and then die 2 short miles before the finish. Steve has taught me how to be patient, be steady and wait for it…this is by far the most valuable thing I have learned in the last few years. If I spread my peanut butter evenly then I will have plenty at the end. Maybe even enough energy to push really hard up the last few yards of the climbs like I did yesterday; it was awesome.

A few other wacky friends had great runs too! John was out there lighting it up for his ½ Ironman and Nicole, Tyler and Sarah each had kickin days! I can’t begin to tell you about the other group…it would be best for you to refer to the 17 Hour Training Day blog if you want to know about the group that ran 23 miles all up hill at a blazing pace.

Thanks to Michelle for keeping me honest and feeding me a peanut butter & honey snack (how fitting!), to Steve for appreciating how hard we worked yesterday and to Troy and Annie without whom I would still be walking home from City View! Keep spreading the peanut butter!