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Confidence is king! Bring on the fall

Published by
pjrizzo   Oct 1st 2015, 8:35pm
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I'm approaching personal best marathon shape. It's been about 2 years since I've felt that way going into a marathon. I've been fit but I haven't felt THIS good for a while.

Credit has to go to the guys I've been training with. We have been putting in a lot of miles together lately. Guys like Carlos Trujillo, Tommy Neal, Dan Wallis, and Joe Gray have been keeping alive our own little facebook message chain to share what workouts we're all doing, when, and where. We have been meeting at least twice a week and getting our runs in together, even if that means just warming up together and doing our own workout.

I firmly believe that every race I've run was a reflection of the people I was training with leading into that race. When I've trained alone, my quality has suffered. When I've trained with great people, I've raced great. This last two months are definitely tipping into the great side of the spectrum.

Racing generally is a reflection of the work done and the quality of that work. Training with talented and driven guys absolutely elevates my level of competitiveness and confidence to higher levels. Competitive response is difficult to mimic when training alone against a watch. It's difficult to be confident in the work being expended when the times at 6,000+ ft. are unflattering by any standard. Being surrounded by other guys that are racing well reminds me that I AM working hard enough; I am doing well; I am getting enough recovery. We can each see that in each other.

The best thing about the group we have right now is the attitude. None of us gets mad when another guy has a great workout or feels better on a run. We are each supportive of the other guys' success. The positivity of the atmosphere is something I haven't felt since college. I know that when Carlos drops me, he is having a great day and he has earned that. I may come back and run right alongside of him in another 2 days when we do a workout more suited to MY strength. I encourage him to drop me if it looks like he's just having one of those “untouchable” days or even if I'm struggling.

I never realized in college what a special thing we had with each other's support. I had never yet experienced a LACK of that supportive atmosphere. It wasn't until we got this supergroup together that I realized the element I was sorely lacking was camaraderie. The five of us (sometimes lacking one or more individuals) get together, leaving our egos at home, bringing respect for each other's abilities and fitness, and we run. That's all. We run!

Any given Sunday run can include the five of us BSing our way down the trail, getting into some heated political discussion about the week's news or racing results. The pace will take care of itself as the conversation evolves. We share our triumphs (Joe's ridiculous new Manitou Incline record!) and we bring each other back to earth when an ego starts growing (Tommy, “are you talking micro or macro?” Neal). But we ALWAYS come with a positive attitude and share our love of running with one another. We all come with our motivation to be a better “me” than the me of yesterday. We're ready to rock the fall racing season and more importantly, we're having so much fun running together.

We are now looking for suggestions on a "team" name. Feel free to post suggestions in the comments below or on twitter: @runPRizzo. Thanks!

Watch for my results at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon this month. I'm excited and nervous. That's a good thing!

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