Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Wogger? Woggle This, Bitches!

So they used to call me a wogger ("they" = "me").  Guess that's a fancy term for someone who is a walker and jogger combo. Cute. Others have called me a slogger ("others" = "me"). Again, funny. Slow jog turns into slog. I get it. Clever wordsmiths out there. Well, hear this people...

"WOGGLE THIS, BITCHES!  I'm back!"

Yeah, that's right. I'm back to running.  Still keeping the same low heart rate training zones, but now I'm actually running at reasonable paces. Watch out...I am faster!  Is it the weather?  Maybe. Is it my tapering?  Likely. Is it my time away from work? Definitely. Sleeping more? Yep. Eating more? Yeah.  Less beer drinking?  Affirmative.

Today's 5-mile run was at 8:41 pace.  Yesterday's 5-mile run was at 9:21 pace. 9-miler before that was at 9:19 pace. 10-miler before that was at 10:00 pace. Still kept the max HR at 150 or below and average HR at 140 or below. Those restrictions used to have me plodding along at 11:00+ minute/mile pace. Nice trend here. Again, it's my taper phase and I'm about to PEAK!  Just call me the Lasse Viren of the Midwest. Not only can I taper, but I can peak.  I have 4 days left until race day and my peak is planned for noon on Saturday, August 13th. It's going to be epic.

My Howl at the Moon race predictions were made a few days ago in my August 5 blog post. I stand by them (although one person in my top 30 has notified me they are not running). If you think I'm backing down from those predictions, or afraid of some competition, you're wrong. Here's my friend Tom Petty (and the Heartbreakers) explaining how I feel...



Or maybe you prefer the live performance over the studio...



"Well I wont back down, no I wont back down
You can stand me up at the gates of hell
But I wont back down

Gonna stand my ground, wont be turned around

And I'll keep this world from draggin me down
Gonna stand my ground and I wont back down

Hey baby, there aint no easy way out

Hey I will stand my ground
And I wont back down.

Well I know whats right, I got just one life

In a world that keeps on pushin me around
But I'll stand my ground and I wont back down

Hey baby there aint no easy way out

Hey I will stand my ground
And I wont back down
No, I wont back down"


Get it? I'm not backing down.  How about you? Let's all have a great Howl at the Moon 8-Hour race!

2 comments:

Ben S said...

Now I've got that song stuck in my head. Thanks. I really don't mind it though. That was a great album. I think today makes 220 consecutive days running. I loose track sometimes. Running every day is a habit now. I hope you womp everyone you plan to this weekend!

Chris Ⓥ said...

Thanks Ben. Yeah, that song is addictive. Heard it while running and it really resonated with me. Good theme song for a tough ultra! Now that one person has dropped out (my #11 pick), I guess that means I'll finish in 29th place out of 300+ runners! We'll see.