Day one. The alarm sounded at 0500. It was the hardest thing to wake up this morning. I laid in bed for nearly 20 minutes trying to come up with some excuse to stay in bed. The excuse never came so I finally got up at 0520. After getting everything together and putting it in my backpack I rode four mile to the gym. The ride turned out to be just the thing I needed to get motivated. I wore my new sunglasses, a pair of yellow "roadsters" from Red Star World Wear, they have orange lenses so they're appropriate to wear in low light.
I got to the gym about 15 minutes later than I wanted to, so I didn't have time to do the weight portion of the workout. The schedule called for a 45 minute run at an easy/steady pace and before I started I kept asking myself if I should do the sub-elite training plan, because I am not that accomplished of a runner yet, but I decided I would rather start sooner than later. I started at a pace of 8:00 but as I ran that dropped closer to a 7:45 pace. I felt really good this morning. The mild ache in the arch of my right foot I have felt for about a month has gone away, but now I have a dull ache in my left knee. It is to be expected I guess. There are few days a 30 year old soon to be father of three and a US sailor can feel 100% but my body is still able to pretty much everything I ask of it, so I can't complain too much about. The 45 minute run resulted in almost a 10k, I ended up running a distance of 5.77 miles, and felt great afterwards. I'm really curious to see how I feel this week, especially since I had to change the rest day from Friday to Sunday. Six straight days of training are going to take a while to get used to.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Sunday, July 17, 2011
A long delayed update
So a lot of things have happened since the last time I posted on this blog. No surprise really, after all it has been nearly a year and a half. Emily, Eibhlin, Aislin and I are now in San Antonio. I must admit I greatly underestimated the heat (more the humidity and the overall heat index). It can be pretty brutal. There have been a few days that I have thought to myself, what made me decide to take orders to San Antonio? Georgia wasn't that bad. But then I remember why and I just smile, put on my sunglasses and go.
There are some more bonuses to being stationed here. I have made more friends in the eleven months we've been here than I did the five years in Georgia. I've lost 10 pounds and cut almost 2:30 off my 1.5 mile run time for the Navy PRT. I've registered for and completed my first ultra marathon, the Prickly Pear 50k. Granted it was probably the easiest ultra to do for my first, but 31 miles is 31 miles no matter how you look at it. And best of all I didn't finish last. Just like my one and only marathon to date, right in the middle of the pack.. It makes me wonder what I would be capable of if I actually trained for these events.
Training...that's something I need to really get batter at. Not just with my running, but with my Navy career and my education as well. Speaking of training for running, my new training schedule starts tomorrow. For those who don't know yet, I have been selected by the international charity Peace and Sportto be one of 20 amateur marathoners to represent them in the ING NYC Marathon this November. It will be an amazing time in the Big Apple with the other 19 runners being able to meet the three world champions, Paula Radcliffe, Wilson Kipketer and Tegla Laroupe. I am very much looking forward to the opportunity to pick their brains, especially Wilson's and Paula's. I mean Paula is an amazing runner, a beast on the road course, her book is going to be a great read. Wilson is the one I'm most looking forward to meeting. He held the world record in the 800m until last year when Rudisha broke it. This will be his first marathon and I am so curious to see how he had mentally prepared to run so much farther than he ever ran before.
The main challenge in this adventure is going to be raising the money the charity requires to fulfill their projects. These projects are designed to give kids in developing countries an outlet other than joining gangs or turning to crime. The project I have chosen the assist is the one in Colombia. If you would like to help me in this great cause please visit my fundraising page on the Peace and Sport website: http://peace-sport.org/ING-NYC-Marathon-2011/joshua-voyles.html
There are some more bonuses to being stationed here. I have made more friends in the eleven months we've been here than I did the five years in Georgia. I've lost 10 pounds and cut almost 2:30 off my 1.5 mile run time for the Navy PRT. I've registered for and completed my first ultra marathon, the Prickly Pear 50k. Granted it was probably the easiest ultra to do for my first, but 31 miles is 31 miles no matter how you look at it. And best of all I didn't finish last. Just like my one and only marathon to date, right in the middle of the pack.. It makes me wonder what I would be capable of if I actually trained for these events.
Training...that's something I need to really get batter at. Not just with my running, but with my Navy career and my education as well. Speaking of training for running, my new training schedule starts tomorrow. For those who don't know yet, I have been selected by the international charity Peace and Sportto be one of 20 amateur marathoners to represent them in the ING NYC Marathon this November. It will be an amazing time in the Big Apple with the other 19 runners being able to meet the three world champions, Paula Radcliffe, Wilson Kipketer and Tegla Laroupe. I am very much looking forward to the opportunity to pick their brains, especially Wilson's and Paula's. I mean Paula is an amazing runner, a beast on the road course, her book is going to be a great read. Wilson is the one I'm most looking forward to meeting. He held the world record in the 800m until last year when Rudisha broke it. This will be his first marathon and I am so curious to see how he had mentally prepared to run so much farther than he ever ran before.
The main challenge in this adventure is going to be raising the money the charity requires to fulfill their projects. These projects are designed to give kids in developing countries an outlet other than joining gangs or turning to crime. The project I have chosen the assist is the one in Colombia. If you would like to help me in this great cause please visit my fundraising page on the Peace and Sport website: http://peace-sport.org/ING-NYC-Marathon-2011/joshua-voyles.html
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