Eat and Run. Or Not.

So Mike waltzes back in, all gung ho and ready to resume the battle. I’m totally fine physically – I actually feel better than I have in a while and am consistently running around 7.30-7.35 pace for 6-7 mile runs. All seems aligned for me to give Mike a beat down.

However, mentally I am not at all in marathon mode. As I am sure I droned on about already, I have done several marathons so the thrill of finishing or running a fast time (sub 3.35 or 3.30) doesn’t really motivate me. But the idea of taking on Mike and CrossFit Endurance got me excited to train for one (i.e., do an increasingly long run every weekend) and I getting almost excited to start doing 9 miles or more. And then Mike got hurt and the air went out of the balloon and it became me challenging myself to run far. And that isn’t a challenge that interests me anymore. I proved I can do a not quite slow marathon – been there done that.

And then I read Eat and Run by Scott Jurek and it took the deflated balloon and shredded it into 1,000 pieces. Jurek essentially filled 250 pages on his life which boils down to running long distances and living a very strict vegan diet. That is it. That’s his life. The highlight is when he describes his wife’s explanation for leaving him – “I was dull and boring and lived an uninteresting life.” Ya think?

I over associate with books – if I am reading a book about an Ironman champion, Navy Seal or Bobby Kennedy, I want to be like that person. Not Jurek. The idea of living a monofocused life like Jurek seems so unappealing. Of course my version of it is running 40 more minutes than normal each week and eating less In ‘n Out and more Hi-Tech burritos but it still turns me off.

But if Mike wants to pop off about a sub 15 minute two mile run as some sort of accomplishment, then I am more than happy to reengage.  I just need to read Rich Froning’s book as soon as it is published.

FYI – 44.40 the last time I ran 6 miles on the treadmill and I am regularly shattering the sub 50 minute time for my 6.6 mile route in Mill Valley. And I dead lifted 140 pounds 10 times after just two weeks back doing it.

Bring in bitch.