First off, I'm happy to report a solid week of training...in fact, my highest weekly mileage for the year (47 miles).  Yesterday, exactly 2 months after the day I committed to run the Santa Barbara Marathon, I did my longest run of the year - 12.5 miles in 1 1/2 hours, half on pavement and half on trails.  I still have over 5 months until the marathon, so I don't plan to increase my mileage drastically...just slowly and gradually.

On the injury front, my sore big toe joint came back after yesterday's run, so I plan to ice it repeatedly and take an Advil if it gets worse.  Ice and Advil seem to alleviate most of my minor running ailments.  I'm not exactly sure what is causing the problem, though it seems to flare up on my longer runs.  Could be from running downhills. 

The formula of the day is Persistence + Practice + Patience = Performance.

As I ran alone for an hour and a half yesterday, I was pleased with how my body made such a comeback.  I was feeling miserable with a nasty cold 2 weeks ago and finally...running started feeling enjoyable again.  This is not the first time I've felt this way nor the last time. What enabled me come back and feel good about running, time and time again?

Persistence:  The easiest thing to do is GIVE UP when you're down.  Ya just can't do that!  Once you set a goal, be it to run a marathon, start a business, learn a new language, etc., you've gotta be persistent or you won't cross the finish line.

Practice: While practice may or may not make us perfect, it certainly prepares us for our best performance.  Practice is hard work...putting in the miles, eating well, hydrating, increasing your mileage, finding the right shoes, you name it.  Without it you doom yourself for failure.

Patience: Be prepared for setbacks, learn from them, adjust your training and stick with it. I know a lot of people who say they hate running because they have "bad knees."  This may be true for some but for others what I find is that they procrastinate, then try to shortcut the training process, leading to ailments and injuries.  Training for a marathon takes patience...especially on those looonnngggg runs.

Put persistent training, regular practice and patience together and you'll find yourself running a marathon!