First 10ks and Weird Mental Things

Let's talk about the weird mental things first. 

The reality of my situation is that I don't run that often.  My goal was three times a week, and that rarely happens.  I am faithful about doing speed sessions on Mondays when my husband isn't out of town and I try to sneak in one other day throughout the week.  And that's it.  That's all she wrote. But here's the kicker: every week I continue to feel faster.  And the speed session workouts are telling me that I am faster.  I feel in shape (ok, not like Boston-qualifying-in-shape, but I feel good). I can, and have, run 6+ miles without feeling like I was going to die in the middle of it.  Or feel like I needed a month to recover afterwards. I find this amazing because, like I said, I'm only out there 2 days a week. 

I guess here is my point: 

You don't have to workout everyday in order to feel good about your training, or working out, or weight loss, or getting in shape, or yourself in general, or whatever your personal motivation is.  Being told that you have to workout everyday for 30 minutes and it has to be cardio and your heart rate has to be above 180 for that entire 30 minutes blah blah blah blah blah is really unmotivating. You end up beating yourself up when you miss a day or have a bad workout and, honestly, it can be really hard to pick yourself back up after that. You will make progress at 2 days a week. 

Soooo.....

Maybe this is the wrong way to looks at things; but set the bar low. Maybe your low bar is really higher than you thought. But also, and super importantly, don't be afraid to move that bit** up when it's time :)

Speaking of which:

10ks. Always wanted to run one, but I've totally been chicken about the whole idea.... up until now.  Not only did I sign up for one, but TWO within three weeks.  And they're not even "easy" road races.  The first is a trail race this Saturday and the second is a cross country race on October 13th. Holy cow. I'm excited! And nervous. I feel like I'm going on a first date. With a 10k. What if the 10k takes a fake phone call in the middle of dinner and never returns? Am I suppose to still go on the second date with the 10k?? Or do I say "screw you, 10k. You suck.  I'm going to sleep with your cousin- the 5k"? But then what if the 10k is glorious and I fall in love?? And then I say, "Ugh. 5k's. Gross.  Who would ever stoop so low?I mean, please, have some self respect." And then I'll turn into a running snob and a 10k slut.  Agh! 

 

I'll keep you posted......



Rockin' It Out

Here's what I've been up to in the recent past:

I did a speed session the last Monday in August.  It wasn't a particularly difficult session, my running buddy wasn't there, but I did manage to do my lunges super duper slow which led me to win one of those things you wear on your hand that holds a water bottle.  I have no idea what those are called.  But I won one.  I love surprise surprises!
They don't do speed sessions on Labor Day because there is always a race going on somewhere around town.  I had all intentions of running it.  And then I got sick which resulted in me not running for 11 days.  (Honesty time. Only 4.5 of those days can really be blamed on the sickness.  Whew, that felt good to admit)

So that Thursday morning 11 days after said speed session was my first run in, like, forever.  And I only did it because I had a running buddy (the power of a running partner should never be underestimated).  I have a strong aversion to running in the dark, especially by myself.  And it's dark at 5am.  And let's face it, running on a treadmill for 4 miles at 5am doesn't exactly scream of excitement.  I made sure my running buddy was aware that she needed to show up with lowered expectations since I'd been sick and not running and was sure this was going to be a terrible run for me.  Can't you just feel my positive attitude emanating through the blog? Don't you feel all warm and sunshinny inside now? Anyway, I arrived early to our meeting place.  And by early, I mean on time.  My running buddy also arrived on time.  And by on time, I mean 10 minutes late. I greeted her in my usual friendly manner, "Wow. You look really tired." She laughed. Then we ran 4 miles.  And it was awesome! I totally felt great the entire time.  You always hear of people who do the whole 'mind over matter' thing; which was obviously not my approach to this run.  This run ended up being 'matter over mind'.  I thought the run was going to be awful, but it was actually super awesome! (Honestly time again. Pre-run, my running buddy said that typically she has really great runs after she's taken a break.  Even if the break was due to a sickness.  She was right.)