PR Updates & Lone Wolf Running

*I started this post yesterday, and just never finished it. Just thought I'd post it today.*

So obviously, a new PR has been updated with my Half @ Angie's Half Crazy Half Marathon. Just a little plug for the event here, but I think they put on a first class event, especially for the size. 1600 runners and it was well organized, although started a few minutes later then planned. The medal is awesome, and I'll go back and attach a photo of it later. Very cool, as well as the stuff in the packet. A mug, a tech shirt... great event.

Anyway, I could have updated my 10-mile PR time, but I'm going to save that for, hopefully, the 10-miler in October. I've only run a 10-mile race a couple of times, and didn't fare all that well in either. Now, I'm setting PR's for 10 each time I do a half. Not to mention, I'm not 100% sure this mile marker was accurate, but it very well could have been.

I'm working on my racing schedule for the summer, and know I'll be knocking out a few 5k's, as my training goes up. I plan to train through most of my racing, but will target a few races. My Half time equates to a 15:49 5k, or something like that. As coach would say, the shorter distances are where my strength is, so there's a good possibility I could run a 15:45 or even a 15:40. Not sure. At this point, with my last ACTUAL 5k race having been a 16:30-something, I'm really only gunning to get sub-16 for my next one...especially with the hot months coming. But regardless of that goal, I would like to be able to go into a race and really attack it...really get after it and see what happens. Honestly, that's what I feel like I did for this weekend's race. I pushed my own pace early, then pushed again in the middle of the race, and it paid off. I was happy to see that I had the strength not to totally fall apart. Gives me confidence for what I could do down the road, and how my body may respond when I really put the hammer down. That I may be able to sustain an effort that I have never run before.

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I've contemplated lately the idea of how I run and train. I've joked on a few runs with my occassional running partner about my "lone wolf" training ways. She even stopped a couple of guys that are good friends of hers to say "hey, do you know Sam Rodriguez?" and of course, they didn't know me, and I only knew them by name, but had never met them. So, I've started wondering and thinking about why that is the case. And probably for the most part, I don't do stuff too much different than most...my easy runs almost always by myself, workouts sometimes with a group, and long runs sometimes with a group. Now I do often get into a mode where I'm doing workouts alone and long runs as well. And in a lot of ways, I have found I prefer it that way.

First off, one of the main reasons is that I'm not in a place where many guys can train with me. I'm in a spot where there are guys so much faster than me, that I may do the same workout, but definitely not working out "together", per se. I'm trailing them and huffing and puffing just to not be embarrassed. Then, there's a group of guys that cannot run with me on a workout or a hard effort. So, I'm in kind of a no-man's land right now. Are these just excuses? Perhaps.


I'm learning as I go along that I may not have the most dynamic personality. I like to talk running...especially with runners. I like talking about what they have done, want to do, are doing, what I've done, want to do and am doing. I like talking what works and what doesn't, workouts enjoyed, workouts hated, etc. Outside of my daughter, that's the extent of most topics I can really have much to say on. At least that's my opinion. I'm sure I've had conversations with folks that go into other areas, but I'm sure of the few folks who read this, if you've had any extended conversations with me, those two things are where most of my attention goes, and therefore my conversation as well.


All of that is okay, though, because I'm not a tremendous talker when it comes to running. I'm content to not talk much during a run or workout...if I talk at all.


I enjoy the time in my head, and actually take a lot of that time to do things on the inside I don't get to do at other times in the day...thinking about personal struggles, spiritual struggles and needs (not to mention using the time for prayer and thankfulness), personal goals, parenting struggles and hopes/needs, relationship hardships, and things along those lines. I think I used to be a pretty positive guy, and that all seemed to change the last couple of years of my marriage, unfortunately, so going back, that takes it back at least 4 years. Now, I'm not necessarily a negative person, but I know I'm not quite the positive guy I used to be, and naturally people tend to gravitate a little more to those who ARE somewhat positive. Just a personal observation. This is probably why I enjoy the alone time so much, and maybe that works against me to some degree.


The Kenyan Way has provided me a place to train with others with the Hill Workouts and the long runs on Saturdays, so that's been good. I do enjoy the comraderie from working out together, running long together, and going through the pain and work that goes into completing those two things. It's fun talking after about the workout, where folks struggled and where they felt they were running well. All of that is fun to me. Plus, I won't lie... I kinda enjoy when someone thinks I make it look easy, when I know I was working my tail off, especially now when I have some very specific, big, long-term goals in mind that drive why I do what I'm doing. But I know there are other groups out there that hold social events that I don't attend, and things like that.


One thing I know I'll be doing here in the next year to change things some is to make it a priority to volunteer when I can for races. I've helped out with a few in the past, and found it pretty fun. Something I could do a few times, and it will help me get to know some more people and just make a few more friends out there in the running community. It's a place I love to be...there is little more fun to me than being at a race...both before and after. It's just a good energy and group to be around. Yeah, there are people I don't get along with, that don't like me, and that I don't particularly like, and that may not change. It doesn't have to. I can respect that they run and they work to improve or to maintain. They complete the races and it's all part of it.

All in all, I don't think I do the "lone wolf" thing by design, rather by default. It seems to be a product of my habits when it comes to running. Perhaps as I begin to take a different outlook on running and the running community around me, all of that will change. Until then, I'll remain the guy who seems to be getting faster and placing better in races, yet few people really know who I am. Sometimes I think I like it that way. :-)