Florida, Here I Come!

I just registered for the Sarasota half-marathon. sarasotamarathon.com. Its Sunday, March 5. I'm flying into Tampa Bay on Saturday and driving down for the expo. I don't like the fact that it's at 6am (that would be 5am our time) but, I'll try to wake up earler each day the week before I go.

After I signed up Thursday, I did a brisk 5-miles on the treadmill. Just thinking about running in the warm sunshine really lifted my spirits and put a little bounce in my stride. I talked before about visualization. This technique is really effective when you are limited to running on a treadmill. So much of running is mental. First, just getting to the gym, or outside for a workout can be a chore for some people. You have to turn it into a positve experience, using whatever is necessary to do so. You have to get to the point where you want to go workout. Visualization is a key tool. That day, I was running along the ocean, I could hear the sea birds and even smell the salty water.

Yesterday, I hit the pool for a 30-minute swim and then lifted weights concentrating on my abs. I feel much better than I did a couple of weeks ago. I talked before about doing hard-easy days, and then I took it even further, saying that you should also take an easy week. These rest times are where your body really absorbs the hard workouts.

I've also introduced a new element to my workouts, the jump rope. I've always been a pretty good rope jumper, so, now I keep one in my back and do a couple of minutes before each workout to warm up. Yesterday a did on-legged jumps, 20 on each leg before switching and I would keep that up for about 3-minutes. It's a great little workout!

After the race, I plan to camp out at some of the cool state parks along the gulf. I'm heading out to buy a backpack tent right now.