New name for the blog

Well, I figured that since I barely even posted anything about No Shave November during November, that this blog really has nothing to do with that divine, manly activity.  I've been thinking about changing the name for a while now, but I never really had any good ideas for new blog names.  Well, I was recently inspired by a new book that I am listening to during training.  This inspiring book is called Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage, it details the story of Ernest Shackleton and crew throughout their amazing story of survival on Antarctica in the early 20th Century.  They were attempting the first trans-antarctic trek on foot and horrible events ensued, obviously, or there wouldn't be an incredible story about it.

Shackleton's ship, Endurance, stuck in ice, listing 30 degrees port and sinking

Anyway, Shackleton's named this ship Endurance because of his family motto fortitudine vincimus meaning "by endurance we conquer".  I got to this explanation in the audiobook as I was struggling through a rough spot in my run.  The run wasn't particularly hard or fast, but I started feeling pretty terrible and then this part of the story came through the headphones.  It was a strange feeling, but all of the sudden, I had a more positive outlook on my run.  I knew it was tough and I wasn't feeling well, but I was convinced by this motto that by pushing through the rest of the run was going to be more of a mental benefit than a physical one.

This was very relevant in my current training as I have been doing most of it alone, when it is very easy to slow down and walk if I feel any twinge of discomfort.  Obviously, if I want to do well in race, I'll need to push through some rough spots.  Mental toughness is typically overlooked in our sport since there is such focus on going faster and with better form.  Go watch lots of running videos and you will see some very fast runners with what most would not consider "good form" in the conventional sense of the word (meaning midfoot strike, high cadence, feet landing under the hips, etc.).  However, they certainly are fast and can push through rough spots in their training and racing.  This mental toughness is what I desire to achieve.  Hence, the new name to the blog "By Endurance We Conquer" so as to remind me every time I post that I need to keep on keepin' on in my training so that I can stay tough and mentally focused during races.

Also, I added a new feature to the right side of the blog that lists my previous 10 workouts.  I'll try to keep it simple so as not to bore you with specifics and what not.  The paces that I put on there are averages and I will try to list the general classification of the workout (interval, long, easy, tempo, speed, strength, etc.)

Also, I graduated!  Go me!