Inspiration from a total stranger

For a long time, I was a purist. I didn't run with an iPod, even on my long trail runs. I like to stay in my mind and especially in trail running, enjoy the scenery. There were a few times, I'd plug in, but not often.

These days, I've grown to rely on it more with the longer runs. I enjoy the music and it keeps my mind from getting too bored. Today though, the damn thing was goofed up. I've noticed that it's a little buggy sometimes when I recharge it. The next time I play it, all the treble is gone so all I hear is the background. Grrr...this morning I really wanted to work with the music since the training plan called for 75 minutes, 35 of which were tempo drills. But maybe it happened for a reason that it didn't work.

I was about 15 minutes into the warmup when a guy walked up with an Austin 70.3 race shirt on. He parked it on the treadmill next to me, so I asked him how he liked the race, how long he's been racing, etc. I normally am not much of a talker running, even less so at the gym, but he responded, then kept chattering back.

Turns out he lost over 100lbs in a year and now he's at the point where it's been off for quite a while. He's stablized at his current weight, which appears to be that of a normal guy. Amazing! I just am in awe of people, like my friends Janna and Deeann, who have managed to take off incredible amounts of weight like that and keep it off. And most times, they find themselves in a new life and a whole new outlook.

Sure enough, this guy was the same way. He tried his first 5k, then got into a couple of sprints, then found himself improving so much, he did a 70.3 last year and in a decent time. Wow! That's incredible. Now he has himself a coach and is working to do two 70.3's this season and possibly a full IM next year.

The guy has guts, that's for sure. I left him after my workout and he still had about an hour to go to finish his. Can you imagine doing 14 miles on the treadmill? That was his plan and he was already nearly halfway through it. It's really inspiring.

So for once, I was happy that the iPod was down. I got in a good workout, good chat, and managed to meet a potential new training comrade.

My workout for the day? I shifted my schedule a tad this week for other conflicts.
75min run.
20 min warmup
35 mins tempo -- 3 mins fast/2 mins recover 7x
20 mins recover/cooldown
Ended up with 7.6 miles. I'm content with that considering the warmup and cooldown were done at 5.7-5.8mph.

Swim tonight. Cycle tomorrow 2 hours.

Train hard y'all!