Giant Steps, There is No Such Place As Far Away

I discovered today that 500 paces is a mile for me, although I was running at various paces so the steps were not exactly symmetrical. This came as a surprise to me as I had never taken the time to actually count paces, but found it to be relaxing and it allowed me actually think while running, which is one of the things I quite detest about the treadmill running. The gym has all these bells and whistles and flashing lights in your face to distract you from what you are doing when the actual running is great therapy and a way to let your mind wander, but with all the in-your-face distractions it is difficult to get into a mindset that comes so easily when running outdoors. I found that I can pick a place on the wall near where the drywall intersects the metal beam bracket and and the glue-lam stare into it, much the same way I watch the horizon outside and event though I am not really focusing on the beam or the bracket, my mind can wander and not think about running on a treadmill or the pace I am at or the distance I have gone, but can lazily drift into thoughts of other things.

I know that when I run outdoors I like to focus on what is far away and later in a run when I start to fatigue I use far away marks as goals to get to and then once attained I find other places to set my sights on and push through. On the treadmill everything is made so that you will focus your attention directly in front of you and that causes mental fatigue if you ask me. I spend all day staring at a computer screen for work and the last thing I want to do in my off hours is stare into a 8" x 8" flashing box blasting doom and despair or some super market dirt rag gossip about people who have no significance or meaning to mine or really the lives of anyone else other than what the Hollywood media has marketed to the masses that they should care about glitz and glamour and what someone they saw in a moving picture wore once or whomever they might or might not be bedding with.

In this way I have discovered a far off distant horizon inside the confines of the small equipment filled chamber of the gym. This in itself gives me more motivation to run indoors, but I am pining for the days when the weather is not so chilled outside and once more I will be free to roam about the country.

I found a way to make far away come indoors and along with the new-found realization that 500 steps is a mile meant today was a great day to run. I even hit 10 mph as a pace for a bit under .25 miles. This is the first time I have pushed up the pace and it was not as bad as I had expected it to be. I could not currently hold that pace for very long and surely not in a long distance run. It was stimulating and refreshing to put in that pace though. I worked quite a bit on intervals with taking may pace up and down and I think it will do wonders for helping develop my lungs and my endurance. We shall see what comes with time. I did hit a pound lost on the scale as I weighed in at 287 today. I started this journey at 294 pounds, not the smallest guy in the gym by any means. Soon though that guy will be a part of history as the lighter I get the faster I can move and the farther I can go.

My total distance for today was 5.01 miles. This brings my total distance to 48.83 miles (4916.17 still in front of me). This puts me about a quarter mile past the Buffalo Mine Road a popular location for ATV recreation and hunting.