In Keeping with the Movie Theme - Rocky

Mickey: Why do you have to wear that stinkin' sweat suit?

Rocky Balboa: It brings me luck, you know?

Mickey: Brings you luck. I'll tell you what it brings - it brings FLIES! Now here's what I want you to do - I want you to chase this little chicken.

Rocky Balboa: Hey yo, Mick, what do I got to chase a chicken for?

Mickey: First, because I said so. And second, is because chicken-chasing is how we used to train back in the old days. If you can catch this thing, you can catch greased lighting.

Rocky Balboa: Well, I'll do it if you say so, but it ain't very mature.

Mickey: Yeah, well NEITHER ARE YOU, very mature!

You can never get enough of Rocky, admit it. Despite the over dramatic scenes and seemingly predictable endings (What? You mean Rocky pulled it out again in the end?), the Rocky series provides tons, I mean tons, of good motivational quotes. Not to mention the funny ones aimed to point out that The Rock may have taken a few too many to the head.

Gazo: How's about investing in condominiums? It's safe.

Rocky Balboa: Condominiums?

Gazo: Yeah, condominiums.

Rocky Balboa: I never use 'em.

But what we see in the first quote is Mick attempting to get Rocky in shape for his fight. Both have their own unconventional beliefs about what works. Rocky has his lucky sweat suit while Mick has his old fashioned chicken chasing workout. Both believe strongly in them because they are reliable, a little off but reliable.

I’ve gone down both roads. I’ve worn clothes and shoes out until there are holes in both, and now I noticed that in all of my tri pics I have the same hat on. Go ahead and look up at my header. All the same hat. It's blue and fits the noggin perfectly. I’ve got to give it it’s due. It’s been a good hat. It’s made by Sweatvac and does a pretty good job at living up to it’s name, but it’s time for a change. I recently picked up a new Zoot Sports visor that I’ll sport as long as the weather is nice. It’s going to take some breaking in, but I’m sure it’ll do nicely. It may even smell a little better. You never know.

As for the second part of the quote, I’ve run the same route through the neighborhood so many times that I think that I could do it blindly. There are a couple of established routes throughout town that are hot spots for runners throughout the week, and I’ve used them both way too much. It’s gotten a little old chasing the same chicken. It’s time for a change. It's time for a new chicken. With as much running as I’ve been doing it’s merely a matter of keeping my sanity and fighting off the monotony. So with this, I sign off and head over to mapmyrun.com to look for a few more routes. Thanks for reading!

Marathon Training Update for the week of Nov 5 - 11
Mon – Core and strength
Tues – Track work – 3 miles total
Wed – 5 easy (40 min)
Thurs – 7 tempo (7:10)
Fri – Core and strength
Sat – Rest
Sun – 14.5 miles – 1:46:20 (7:20 pace)
Total miles – 29.5

"Run Forrest! Run!"

"That day, for no particular reason, I decided to go for a little run. So I ran to the end of the road. And when I got there, I thought maybe I'd run to the end of town. And when I got there, I thought maybe I'd just run across Greenbow County. And I figured, since I run this far, maybe I'd just run across the great state of Alabama. And that's what I did. I ran clear across Alabama. For no particular reason I just kept on going. I ran clear to the ocean. And when I got there, I figured, since I'd gone this far, I might as well turn around, just keep on going. When I got to another ocean, I figured, since I'd gone this far, I might as well just turn back, keep right on going." Forrest Gump

And that’s how it feels sometimes. I’m in my 2nd full week of training for the Mercedes Marathon and things are going quite well. It’s seems a little easy to be truthful. It’s certainly less time consuming than trying to work on three disciplines. My body has responded well to doing less work even though the work that I am doing is a little more stressful on the knees and joints. There are no aches or pains to speak of so far which I can only attribute to keeping the weekly miles in check. I can’t say enough about my shoes either. My Brooks Racer ST’s are fantastic. They are light weight flats with plenty of support and comfort for the long runs.

Mentally, things are good. I worried coming into this that I’d get too bored to finish 26.2 miles. At least with Tri’s, I get to feed my ADD tendencies by changing sports twice during the race. I do though break the rules of “A True Runner” by staying plugged in on my ipod. There are some diehards that are against it, but for me it gives me an option of either getting lost in Johnny Cash or my own thoughts by turning it off. There is of course something to be said about listening to your own footfalls and breathing on a chilly morning.

This weekend, Lauren and I are headed down to the beach for a quick weekend trip. This is the first time in a while that I haven’t taken my bike with me. Sadly, it’s had to take a back seat for a while. NOT FOR LONG THOUGH! It still calls me daily. Take care and thanks for reading.

"Now you wouldn't believe me if I told you, but I could run like the wind blows. From that day on, if I was ever going somewhere, I was running! "