I don’t know if it’s from

the dark mornings (sunrise after 7am, really??) or knowing that my training is coming to an end (Chicago here I come!) or voodoo, but I have had a heck of a time getting motivated to get up in the mornings to go run. Now to be fair, getting up at 6am (or earlier, much to the disapproval of Ev) is never easy. But it has become a habit for the last who-knows-how-long, so I’m used to getting up. It’s really the motivation that has been on vacation. Even on my long run this past Saturday I considered (for just a nano second) not running ::gasp:: ::scream:: ::zoinks::

Rather than give in to the Motivation-Sponge, I sought external devices. We’re not talking performance enhancing drugs or a stunt double running for me, no how! Instead, I got all technological up in Motivation’s face. Yes, we are in the Digital Age people (as opposed to the Analog Age*). To combat the shady tactics used against me, I fell back into the grips of none other than my iPod Shuffle. You may laugh, scoff, even shake your head for any number of disapproving emotions, but for me, I haven’t run with earbuds crammed just inches from my brain for quite some time (the reasons will perhaps be explained in a future post). For fear that music alone would not suffice, I upped the ante and loaded up a podcast. A PTI** podcast to be exact.

The beauty of a podcast is that I can multitask! Tackle a hill while catching up on the sports world. Sprint a mile while updating my tech-knowledge. To be honest, it beats the alternative. Here’s a little secret: to pass the time on boring runs, when the Motivation Witch zaps the energy out of me, I multiply. Get your mind out of the gutter, I practice mental math. Probably not the juicy secret you were hoping for, but I literally go through 2×2, 3×3, … , 29×29.. I usually get stuck in the mid thirties. Anyway, my newfound interest in podcasts has made multiplication a thing of the past. Sorry Archimedes.

I’m excited at the prospects of all the information I can absorb while running in circles. I’ve run for more than 167 hours this year alone (a little more than 1200 miles). Think of how much time that is! Sorry, Destroyer of Motivation, your time has expired. For now, I have an Internets-worth of information to take in. Once I finish, perhaps we’ll meet again.

The Details:

8 Miles with 3 x 1-mile Intervals:

Route

*Thanks Ev 🙂

**PTI is short for Pardon the Interruption, a sports talkshow on ESPN where two old guys yell at each other about the latest sports news.