Here we go! Training and mental ramblings....

So, my BQ goal is now in motion!  Holy smokes, I think I like the years of running like I was on a stroll better!  The runs this week have been tough and are only going to get tougher.  I suppose it is good that somewhere within my fabric I am a masochist, otherwise the effort would get packed in real quick!
As I start this speed training and effort to become a 'fast' runner, I can't help but questions what the result will be?  I think about my abilities as an athlete and seem to talk myself into the fact that maybe I am a slow and steady kind of guy.  Ask myself if I have what it takes to go from 3:57 to 3:20?  The short runs that I am doing now seem to be tough and I have another 35km to go at that pace, the questions roll around my head more and more.
Well, that is enough of that crap!!!(pardon the expression)  I have spent far too much time in my life challenging societies virtual impossibilities to be defeated by this small goal!  The fact that it is tough and the little man is dancing like a teenager on prom night only ads more resolve to my desire to get this done.  It means a few months of juggling a few balls, probalbly a few weeks of living on the borderline to over training and another change in what I once accepted as 'the way it is' taking place.  I do like training that hurts, and this is the time to put my money where my mouth is.
A friend has run a 3:25 Boston and she followed a program that she swears by.  She used it to qualify for New York as well.  So, I have the first few weeks of training working on a similar methodology to get me there.   based on the results she has pulled off I believe that with the work I should be able to get there as well.
One of the great things with wanting to BQ is all the run training it will take.  It means that at the end regardless of the result I will have changed a bit as a runner.  When I put that into my overall training and apply it towards an IM it should help me get to the finish a little faster.  However, it makes training a little longer leading towards IMCA.  This year I did a 24 week program that was all IM focused, next season it will be a hybrid leading up to May 15th race and then switch to IM gear.  Not sure what it looks like today, but over the next few I will draw something that makes sense.  I will be able to spend a little less intensity over the summer with running having built a strong base so My focus can shift to a stronger swim.
Speaking of swim, I am lucky to be training an athlete who is a spectacular swimmer.  So, I am gaining a lot of new tricks and drills to get me going faster this season.  I spent this year learning how to swim and not a lot of time on swimming fast.  So now that I can swim a little, time to turn on the jets.  This week I am back in the pool after my tattoo break.  I have missed it which is entertaining seeing as a year ago I hated the pool.  I would argue with myself before every practice about why I should not go.  Not now, I want to ge in there and get it done!
So after a few short fast runs this week, today was the first from the program!  I did a 20k fun run!  The area that I was running was tons of hills! Holy crap, it was non stop hills. The circuit that I ran seemed to be non stop hills.  But overall it was a great day out.  I did the first 14k at a 5:25 pace then the last 6k I ramped it up to a 4:50-5:00 to finish.  It was tough towards the end but happy to have done it.  At this point I question if I have fully recovered from IM.  The hills today were a reason for an elevated HR, but it was higher than I normally would be.  Maybe the higher intensity is what is pushing it, hopefully not getting sick. Regardless it is in the books now and it was a blast.  Day one of the new running John!  Look out, I am on a mission!
I hope your weekend is full of fun and great times!  Cheers and Happy Thanksgiving!(in Canada)