For those of you who may have read my previous blog may find the title "taming the fire within" a shocking contrast to my first posting. But it's true, i'm f-ing fired up. I'm so into running again and I love it. I have been pretty smart so far. I've only been running three day per week and I'm about to add a fourth next week. But I really am struggling to find words that capture my excitement when I know those runs are coming.

But this is how it typically happens.

I go through stages; first I'm fat and lazy, then i get back into it and muscle through a couple of weeks of sheer misery, then i start to feel better and really enjoy running again, and then I start thinking that its time to hit the track. then injury.

My running is a bit like a stubborn donkey. At first its a real pain to just get them moving, even if its just a walk. Then after some forceful convincing you can't get the little shits to slow down.

So that's where I'm at right now. Feeling good, trying to be smart, running a very recreational 20 miles per week, and loving it. but every time i lace up my shoes, i can't help but day dream about the next race, or make plans for the upcoming season and wind up running "just the next two minutes" at a "higher than aerobic pace". I'm searching for a way to control myself, and its proving much more difficult than I remember.

One phrase, a single word in fact, may be the only thing that can maintain my rationale: Foresight.

I must have foresight. A focus on the whole picture, the races and goals for 2009 or 2010, not my irrational surges and threshold bouts. I need to release my right brain, and wrangle my left. Allow the right to enjoy the sport, the activity,  the surroundings and prevent the left from setting a timeframe or searching for results. If i enjoy what im doing, and keep my focus to the future, then the results will come...