Paul828

Ok, here is the Apollo entry I promised.

When on the leash at the beginning of the run when he is really excited, he will grab the leash with his mouth and jump up and down, pulling me further and faster down the road. I attributed it to the fact that he was excited about getting to get on the road.

However, recently he has been performing this at the end of the runs when I am struggling to maintain or push it in. It is his way of encouraging me to push to the funish line. At least that is the way I am inturpreting it.

Thanks Apollo. What a great training partner.

Paul828

Pushing your body to do more than it normally does can create varied feelings, both physical and mental. Over the years of triathlons, I have experienced more of these than I can share in this blog entry. However, I would like to share an emotion that is common in endurance sports. I refer to this emotion as, "Staying on Top of the Ball."

When training or racing and you can have moments when you feel strong and comfortable. You are pushing and going hard, yet you are not risking an anaerobic state. You are not pushing your body to a point where it can't effectively convert the oxygen into proper fuel. But you are going hard and controlled. Your form is still in tack, but you feel you are really putting the kilometers behind you.

I use the analogy of "staying on top of the ball" to describe this state of emotion. If you go faster or slower, you will fall of the ball. Faster will push you to that anaerobic state, and slower will bring you off that high of moving well. You are maximizing the workout by keeping the balance needed to stay up there on this rolling ball.

So, here is to all of us reaching a fitness level that we can experience Staying on TOP of the Ball, then finding ourselves up there as often as possible.

Fitness, health and strength to all.

Paul828