Pre Lives!

I bought these mothers today!



They are a tribute Steve Prefontaine, one of the greatest American runners of all time.
You can read about him here.

To give anything less than the best, is to sacrifice the gift.
-Pre

14 & 16 Milers

Ok so its been a little while since I've posted, I've been recooping. Yes, I'm joking. The 14 mile run was the hardest thing that I had ever done (look at the map above). That was until the 16 mile run. I really felt like they were close to the same in difficulty. We ran the 16 mile run in Abbeville, SC. The first 8 miles was no problem (I mean we had already run 14). I was feeling great until about mile 11, then we started feeling it. We had dropped off some SmartWater, Gatorades, and gells all over town. It was like we were just trying to make it to those areas for refueling both physically and emotionally. Well, we finished it and I have never felt such a feeling of accomplishement or pain. Well, I will try to post more frequently. We will be running 18 miles next Sunday!

SmartWater
Gatorade

12 Miler

The 12 miler that we ran on March 2 was a brutal uphill battle (bothways). We ran from downtown Central, SC to Clemson, SC and rounded Perimeter Road and connected to Cherry. From there we headed back towards Hwy 93 and completed our exit with the same path of our entrance. It took us just over 2 hours to do. This was our first run using enery gells. We also had a drop/pickup site for hydration. We put Accelerade in a water bottle. This was an interesting thing for us, but for our longer runs from now on, we will have to continue doing it. We will be running a 14 mile run tomorrow. This is nearly 3 times as far as any of us had ran when we started this training. Below is a map of a route that we may use. Hopefully it will go ok.

8 Miler and other stuff

So last Monday night we all ran an 8 miler. It was, by 2 miles, the longest run we had ever run...ever. It really wasn't as bad as one would have expected. Holly, Tripp and I talked pretty much the whole way making the hour and a half go by much quicker that usual. Running for an hour has always been something that I wasn't sure if I would ever be able to do because I would feel like it would be too boring, but the more I do it the more I realize just how therapeutic running is. Most of the time if I start out running in a not-so-good mood it changes. I have heard that endorphins are released while exercising in any way, but I also think that there is a sense of accomplishment when you finish a run, particularly one that you maybe had never done before. It’s like breaking into a new horizon. Well, the rest of the week wasn't too busy. Since we did that long run on Monday night we couldn't exactly run Tuesday morning, well, because we were just tired. And Wednesday is our normal day off, and Thursday I over slept so I finally got back out there yesterday and ran a 5 miler. I'm beginning to like those more and more. They feel so short after a while. Well, today we have only a four-mile run, which I am really looking forward to. It should be fun.

Music of the day: Derek Webb's Mockingbird

5 Miler

Today Tripp and I ran another 5 miler. Holly is out of town right now, so she hasn't been running with us for the past couple of days. The run went pretty well. We really picked it up on the last mile or so. I don't really feel that out of breath when I finish distances such as 5 or 6 miles, but my body really feels it. I am very grateful for the day off that we have tomorrow. I think that I wll sleep in until 7:00.

Music of the day: Mae

6 Miler

This is my first post. This blog is dedicated to my quest for San Diego, CA. While there I am hoping to run the San Diego Rock and Roll Marathon. My girlfriend, Holly, and roommate, Tripp, will be joining me on my trip to the wild west. We began our training several weeks ago. We have just started our 4th week today. We ran at the YMCA around the 8th of a mile track 48 times. Yes, that's 6 miles. I know that's not too long for many people, but for Tripp and I it was our longest yet. Hopefully I will be making post every night that I can and I will keep you up to date with each run.

Music of the day: NeedToBreathe