LOST: Motivation

So running the same 2 tenth of a mile strip of trail back and forth, over and over again has now drained all my motivation to put in any serious miles. All our treadmills are again broken, and I just cant bring myself to use an eliptical.
Lets couple this with I have officially ran a hole through the sole of my NB905's ...yes, I can stick my whole finger through this hole....and legs that dont seem to want to run fast anymore...I just dont know how to get kick started.
What makes the whole thing worse is that this funk couldnt come at a worse time! My training plan for Run Rabbit Run starts this week....total of 48-52 miles... that is 250 trips back and forth on my .2 mile piece of trail. I know this type of tediousness should be building mental toughness, and maybe in part it has, as I have ran 360 miles on this trail so far this year. But I just dont know how much more of it I can take.
The good news is I only have 3 weeks left in this country and I start heading home. back to Colorado; back to Sarah, Miss K and Miss C; back to cold beer and hot tubs; back to the land of chiropractors and massage therapists.
I will dutifully continue to put in the miles and train as hard as I can...but somedays the three year old inside wants to throw an "I DONWANNA" temper tantrum, throw myself on the floor and kick, scream and cry until I fall asleep sucking my thumb.
But One does not simply show up to a 50 mile trail race un prepared...so run I will, because run I must only because soon, when I am home, I want to run amok. Thanks for listening to me rant faithful readers...other than quiet woods and silky singletrack, ya'll are the best listeners.

A Heavy Heart

  The news today about the loss of Caballo struck a weird nerve with me. Never had the loss of a celebrity of any sort affected me, or gave me pause to reflect. But Micah on the other hand, I think touched a sensitive spot in every runner that knew his name. He was the one who ispired us to not be afraid of our dreams; to get out and do what you love every day. That we can do anything we believe in, if we dont listen to those who tell us we can't. That all that matters in life are a few close friends and family, some good food, some dancing and a great run.

I had always felt in my heart that I would meet Caballo, at some race in the middle of nowhere and that running with him would make me understand myself. I know, it is laughable, and it can obviously never happen now...but thanks to BTR, I can carry some of his wisdom with me. Some people run Ultra distances to see what they are made of, some out of fear or conquering it, others for enlightenment; I think Caballo represented the best of all those traits.

So today on my run, which I had planned for 10 miles, I felt a little extra strength and decided to go until I was too tired to run anymore. As I was finishing my 10th mile another runner appeared on the trail a few hundred yards ahead of me...the racer in me knew I had to catch this other runner, pass him, and drop him. I dont know why, it was just a long run day...but for this last mile there was a fire in my belly that brought my 10:30's down to low 8 that I held over the last mile and a half. It only took me a few minutes to catch and drop this new comer, but I didnt let up...not until it felt like my lungs were going to burst on the last climb did I decide to call it a day. I am glad that I remembered how to race and to run....it didnt even feel like work until the end. Easy, Light, Smooth and Fast...just like the man said.