I'm still alive

Just judging by the lack of posts, you can probably assess what kind of run I've been on lately -- pun intended. Since I last blogged on here on March 22, I took an intended period of time off, fought a nasty bout with the flu and tackled a handful of minor hip/back ailments, all while adjusting to the rigors of another baseball season

Leave it to Boston to get my butt back in gear.

During a recent road trip to Boston, there were posters all over the city for the city's famous marathon. It reminded me of what's at stake here and convinced me to start picking things back up -- no excuses. While in Beantown, I enjoyed a nice jaunt along the Charles River and I've been off and running -- pun intended again -- ever since.

This might sound funny, but I even added a motivational wallpaper to my work computer screen -- http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-243---12572-0,00.html -- to help keep myself focussed. If you visit that link, I picked the desert one, partly cuz the little guy running sort of looks like me. At least I thought so anyway.

Things have been going good of late, though. I've steered away from clocking my times and just have been dedicating myself to finishing runs. That's the important part. I think if I get too caught up in my splits, I'm missing the point, which is going the distance without killing myself. I'll keep an eye on my pace, but finishing times aren't my focus right now. Maybe when I get closer to race day.

It's helped that the weather has been getting nicer. Running on a treadmill or on an indoor track is not cutting it right now. I'm loving running outdoors and really getting used to that. Just this morning, one of my fellow Toronto reporters met up with me at my condo and we enjoyed a nice 6-mile run along the lakefront. It felt good to leave the ipod at home for once.

Through two runs this week, I'm up to 11 miles. I'll probably run 3-4 tomorrow and another 10 or so on Saturday in Cleveland. That'll make around 24-25 miles for the week. I ran 20 last week -- some of the miles logged in Boston. I'm having to get used to sticking to my program without fail, even though I'm hopping between cities. It's been tough, I'll be honest.

Prior to the 20-mile week last week, I had only run 33 miles in a five-week span -- partly because of the various injury and illness issues. I've come close to that in one week before. It was probably good to take some time off, but I can't get used to that type of schedule. It's time to step it up again, and that includes keeping myself accountable on here more often.