About halfway through my morning run, the first in many weeks that have featured sunlight rather than starlight, I looked up to find myself on the verge of passing a rather perturbed skunk.  It was apparent that the skunk was not receptive about me passing on the right or left of the narrow sidewalk and it its opinion clear by running towards me a short distance, turning around and lifting it’s tail in a soon to be stinky salute.  This was motivation enough for me to complete a short sprint to the opposite side of the street, and let the skunk have it’s way.

I have been training to compete in a sprint distancel triathlon for about 2 months now, and while the progress has been slower than my ego has desired, I have seen a change in my fitness level. I am now looking forward to an activity that I have generally dreaded my entire life; running.  I would happily run every morning if my body would let me.  I did find out last week, after five consecutive day of running, the body (especially my untrained body) needs rest days or it revolts.  I set out on a glorious Saturday morning, with plans of adding a mile to my route (making it close to a 5K) and about one mile into the run,  I ran out of energy.  I had nothing more to keep me going, and I walked the rest of the route.  Sunday I turned around and completed a 6 mile casual hike up Iron Mountain, watching the incredible early sunset on the way down,  and took a complete rest day on Monday.  I returned to my usual 2 mile morning route this morning, and despite the unintended sprint from the skunk,  I felt strong.

I really do want to increase the mileage of my daily runs, but I think I have psyched myself out a bit about my capabilities, and it has hindered my progress.  I would love to hear what the more experienced have done to bring their running to the next level.  If you have advice, comment on this post and share it with us!

There are some great resources available online that have practical advice, and loads of information of running and triathlon training and competition.  Here are a few that have been useful for me:

Active.com- a great online community with a database of local athletic events.

Road Runner Sports- A running superstore located in Kearny Mesa

Runners World- The website that corresponds to the magazine.  Lots of great articles and videos related to running

Map My Run- A great site that incorporates Google maps to plan and track your runs.  I use it in conjunction with imapmyrun on my iPhone to track my run in real time and save it on my free account on the site.

Triathlon Club of San Diego- A great resource for events and information on Triathlon

Pulse Endurance Sports- A local Triathlon store