Sunday, November 2, 2008

Extra Credit for Life

I had a math professor at Colorado Mountain College that would always drop the line, "well, that is extra credit for life" whenever a student would do more work or different work than was actually assigned. He was serious, and with good reason. Doing something that is not required is certainly extra credit for life - character building perhaps? Admittedly, the students who completed the wrong assignments, or did more problems than were prescribed, did so out of ignorance rather than for character enrichment. Regardless, the line "extra credit for life" has stuck with me and has made itself manifest in the last few weeks of running. My maintenance plan through the winter was 60-80 miles a week, but the last few weeks have come to about 100 even (if averaged). The truth is, all of the miles were enjoyable, not forced or obligatory. After maintaining 140 miles or better for a month or better, 100 is a very reasonable workload. I have really been enjoying my shape. To bring this full circle... My maintenance plan hasn't changed, I just consider these last few weeks "extra credit for life" weeks that will likely pay dividends in next Spring's build-up. If it feels good and I am enjoying it, why fight it? Peace.

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