Potential + Vitamins + Dreams

POTENTIAL

Yes, that is one word summing up today. POTENTIAL

I received... okay was copied on an email last week about a run with "The Boys" out at Labanon Hills Park in Eagan, MN. I get these cursory copies because people know I will have a boiler plate/lame excuse of "I can't because (fill in lame excuse here)"

My response to "Wilson" was, "Maybe if you gave me more than 24 hours notice, I could make it". His response, "Okay, next week, same time, same place"

Zach was even surprised to see that I agreed to be running.

So it was 20 miles today on snow packed rolling hills.

Awesome! Considering it was my longest run Since IA50 LAST MAY, I was happy to go 10. But here is the better part: I have been working on new form. I call it the "not so quite POSE Running Method". I am probably 80% there. I was worried my feet would not make it 20. I knew my quads and calves could, but the feet are completely different in this form.

They made it. I am barely even sore, and I was only crapping out at the end. Which means...... I am not as out of shape as I thought.

It is February 12th, and I feel I am well on the road to being back in shape..... I just wish I knew of any races I could do.

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VITAMINS

I have been mildly, if not downright, depressed for a few months now. Nothing major, just "This weather sucks" moods. I have had zero desire to run. I even woke up a few weeks ago and thought "I think my running days are over". I had no desire to go run. I was enjoying being a sloth. Not really.

My wife had a checkup with the doc this week and the dock said "Your vitamin D is WAY low". You need to be taking supplements. I figured I would pop a few of dem' pills.

Magic. 4 hours after taking one, I actually felt happy. I actually had desire. I took them with Fish Oil pills.

A feel like a new man.

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DREAMS

If any of you are on the MN Deadrunners email group, you already saw this, but here is the email I sent out to the group.

Since this group has been very quiet lately, I will give you something to think about and help me with.

Here is a synopsis of my dream last night.

* I signed up for Zumbro 100.
* I showed up completely unprepared. No gear, no water bottles, no headlamp, etc. (yeah, I know... that is reality)
* I had to go finish up a sales call the University where Zumbro was taking place. ????
* I looked at my watch at the end of the call, and saw I had 5 minutes to get to the start.
* I receive a text message from Larry Pederson that I have 5 minutes to get to the start or I am out of the race
* I have to run to the start on the other side of that Schools' campus, which..... coincidentally is in the middle of Civil War re-enactment... with live ammunition
* I did not make it in time.
* I woke up soon there after

The strangest thing I found from this dream was the fact that I got a text message from Larry. I would have expected morse code, or some cryptic Ham (Lake) Radio message.

I turn 40 on April 8 this year, which coincidentally is the race day for Zumbro. Does this mean I have some deep rooted issues? I thought all of my issues were pretty up front and center.

Hope everybody is doing well and surviving this crappy winter.

Matt Patten
Ham Radio Lake, MN

I will share some of the responses later, but the synopsis was "I have to run Zumbro 100"

So I decided to see where I was physically by throwing buildup miles to the wind, and bust out a 20.

No problem.

Now I just have to do another one of those, a 30, and maybe a 40. And I still probably won't be prepared.

But that is running.

Cheers