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......