Below you can read my days thoughts on running. Some days I will write about my day on the road. Some days I will write about thoughts on training, racing, efficiency, marathons, or whatever crosses my mind while I am on the road. Perhaps you will laugh. Perhaps you will be inspired. On occasion you may even be saddened. I post these thoughts just to keep the thought of today's run fresh... If anything below inspires you, drop me a line and let me know. comments@courseperformance.com

Wednesday, July 27
It has been a while since I have written... I have been trying to get out every day, but times have been busy. There is one thing that has been on my mind. I have been running a bunch of local races as of late. There is something special about local races. The community and camaraderie at these local events adds something to the day. I have found a great source for local races in my area Greystone Racing. If you are looking for ways to improve your racing, find a local racing series, and join in. You will find many sources of inspiration, advice, and friendship.

Tuesday, July 19
Today my thoughts drifted toward heart rate. Is heart rate the true measure of intensity. As I could feel my heart rate rising, yet my pace slowing (As the 105 degree heat set in), I contemplated all of the things that can affect my heart rate, but have nothing to do with my workout intensity. Or does it? I certainly was not working my legs harder today, but was I working my body harder? Does it take a significant amount of energy to remove the heat generated by running, and by the environment. I don't think it takes aerobic energy, yet my heart rate was ever increasing. I also noticed that my breathing did not seem to be following my heart rate? Why is this? Questions to be contemplated (And eventually solved by Course Performance).

Monday, July 18
Water... Is there an ideal level of hydration? Can we balance keeping our body lubricated, and running smoothly with carrying as little weight as possible. When you line up for the start of a race, and look down, you will see many people at the line wearing racing flats. Why do they do this? Well it save a little weight, which can be helpful when you have to run for tens of miles. Just 30 minutes earlier, these same people were chugging down water like it was going out of style. Why? To stay hydrated throughout the race. I am sure that the bottle water companies, and the sports drink companies, will tell you that the more you drink, the better of you will be, but I still think there is a way to determine how much extra water weight we really need to carry...

Friday, July 15
Hello again. I didn't get the chance to stretch last night, so I am a little tight today, and it is quite warm outside. My final excuse is that I ran hard yesterday, so I will take it easy today. My contemplations this afternoon focused on my training. I have long wondered if I am doing the right things for my body when it comes to training. I am certain that training is a very personal thing. What works for me may or may not work for you or for anyone else. I try to listen to my body, and sample as many different concepts as my time permits. I struggle with the amount of time I have available for running, how much of this time I want to spend keeping in shape, and keeping my endurance high, and how much time I am willing to dedicate to strengthening days such as intervals, or hills, or even weights. I almost exclusively stick to the endurance type runs. Every once in a while, I wonder if this is the best route...

Thursday, July 14
Well, after my slice of humble pie yesterday, I decided it was time to push today. It is still quite warm and humid, and running mid-day doesn't make that any better, but I try anyway. I ran a 35:15 on my 6 mile lunch loop. I had a sub 35 min. time in my sites, but I just ran out of gas with 1/4 mile left, and jogged in. I'll make the excuse that it was the weather, and try again next week... Happy running.

Wednesday, July 13
Greetings. Today was a "slow" day; however the lesson of the days run was humility. I have a running partner who is somewhat responsible for my motivation and pride in running. About 3 years ago, I started a new job. I had been running on my own prior to this. At this new job, I met a former BU track star who convinced me to try to keep up with him on his lunchtime runs. I spent a full year running, and training trying to get to the point when I could keep up with him for 6 miles. He ended up leaving the company about 2 years ago. At that time, I got even more serious about running, and moved up a level. Well he is back. His motivation for hard running has fallen off about as much as mine has increased. At times, I am running away from him on the road, and he just waves me on, and keeps his pace... Well today, he decided he wanted to stretch it out for about a half a mile. I was put in my place. I guess losing motivation does not result in loosing speed. At the end of the half mile, he went back to his leisurely pace, and I ran on at my training pace, but I understood my lesson in humility. I guess running does mean something different to every one of us...

Tuesday, July 12
Before I continue with these postings, there is something I want to get off of my chest. I, in no way, claim to have the key to successful training. I know that everyone has their own rituals, and their own rhymes and reasons for how they train. Course Performance leaves that to the individual athlete. What Course Performance claims and offers is a method to optimize your race day performance after you have done all the training you will do. The reason that I put this out there is that I may write about my training. To some it may seem all wrong, and others may be looking for training tips. I say, "each to their own" when it comes to training. Today I put in another moderately hard six. On an average day, this loop runs me about 39 minutes. Today was 37:10. Still well of my PB of 34:45, but still a hard run. The sun was behind clouds for most of the run, but peaked out just enough to keep things warm. I had no inspiring thoughts today. Sometimes this happens, and I just have to wait until tomorrow.

Monday, July 11
Have you ever gone for a run with no goal except to work out the stress hanging over your head? Today was one of those days. I put my head down, and pushed, and pushed a little more. 95 degrees of blazing sun had no affect. By the time I made it back, my body was hurting, but my mind was walking on air. That is what endorphins are all about. Not fogetting the pain of running, but putting life back in perspective. If only every bad day could be so good. HAPPY RUNNING!

Thursday, July 7
Well today was a good day on the road. Cool, dry, and cloudy. I ran hard and came 20 seconds shy of a PB on my 6 mile training route. Today's thoughts focused on left then right, then left again. My attempt was to stay focused, and get through a consistent, hard run. I have noticed a slight decline in my performance over the last few months. I think this can be attributed to a lack of hard training. I am going to shoot for 1 race (race pace training run) and 1 1/2 marathon pace training run per week. I really need to get back into the gym, but I don't think time will permit. HAPPY RUNNING!

Wednesday, July 6
Hello again. Today was an interesting day on the road. I had a chance to loose myself in my thoughts. I contemplated several concepts for Course Performance. These will show up in the Technology page over the next few weeks. I also stumbled across a web site motionbased that I found very interesting. These guys seem to have the same thoughts as I do about creating a technology oriented running community. I think I might have something on them, but I like what they have done.

Tuesday, July 5
Greetings. As this is my first entry, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Josh. I took up running about 6 years ago as a way to get into better shape. I thought what better way to get into shape than to train for a marathon. Well it has been 5 years, and 7 marathons... Running has become a passion. Some days I find it difficult to get my 6 miles in with a family, a full time job and Course Performance, time can be short. Today was a good day. I got out at lunch time. It was a little warm and humid, but I don't know a better way to blow off some steam from work than to sneak out an sweat for 40 minutes. Today was uneventful. I just took in the scenery, pushed a little bit, and got back in tim for lunch. Tomorrow is a new day, perhaps I will have something that is more interesting.