Easy like Sunday morning

At least the first 75 minutes were. The last 20 were fine, too - just cruising in on a beautiful, if not cooler, Victoria morning. I had just run the back half of the Victoria marathon, a nod to the course, knowing that that I will be back in October, running the same route at a faster clip. But today felt good, one week removed from Around the Bay. The glow is starting to dim as I begin to focus on the next task - the Times Colonist 10k on April 29.

While I am not a supporter of listening to music while running in races, they have a place in some training. During my base runs I listen to podcasts about sport or politics. I try to keep up with what is happening in the world and relieve some of the monotony of the miles of road running. (Note: I NEVER listen to music when running in trails. Just the road.)

It was this morning I listened to a podcast from Enduranceplanet.com about Haile Gebrselassie entitled "The Greatest". The excerpt read from his biography covered the days leading into the 1996 Olympic 10k final. Cresting the hill cutting through the Victoria Golf Course I was running a little too fast, a little too close to tears. Please, if you do nothing else, listen to this. And if you don't know Gebrselassie, check him out. And while this video is not working for me from the Olympic website, you can try it out for yourself. But listen to the podcast first. Even if you know the result, the revelations made in the podcast are incredible and add to the mystique.

Duration - 1:35
AHR - 145