Back on My Feet

Last week, I replaced a 3+1 (Wed/Thu) with a single 4 miler on Wed. It was not my intention, but at 5:30am Wednesday morning, circling up with Back on My Feet, I encountered the same two choices I usually do during my BOMF outings: run 4 miles with one of our more veteran members, or walk two miles with some of the newer guys. Up until last week, that choice was easy: I was never prepared to run 4 and almost always took to walking 2, sometimes trying to encourage whoever I was walking with to intersperse the walks with half-block jogs. Now that I'm training, I needed to run three that day, leading the way to the choice less chosen.

Most of our resident members don't have a particular running plan unless they're training for a race, but two of our guys are of the model sort and will run the longest distance we give them each day. So although the thought of 4 miles wasn't appealing, I had the confidence of knowing I had completed a 5-miler the weekend before so what the hell, right?

Well it wasn't so easy: his pace was a touch faster than mine, close enough to my pace to keep me prodding along but fast enough to make me want to cut the run short at each passing block. Not to mention the constant nagging in my stomach from the two slices of pizza I had devoured for dinner the night before. But during those four miles, I also reunited with the beauty of a good run -- if you push yourself past your comfort zone, you learn and discover that you're stronger than you think you are, and all those thoughts of "can't do it's," "don't want to's," etc... eventually fall by the wayside. I can't express how proud I am of these few members who are blazing this path and winning the match against self-doubt & lethargy every time they hit the pavement. Much better than I'm often able to do.

Here, blurry picture of our team:

Two missed runs, recovered

Last week, my training plan almost unraveled at its seams.

The week started out fine - Tuesday, 1 mile, check. Wednesday, I needed to wake up extra early to fit my run in before a 7am train to Harrisburg. Set the alarm clock, check. Of course, 5:30am produced its own story. Evidently, I didn't go to bed early enough and felt more like throwing up than running. So I threw in the towel that day, rolled over in bed but already plan B's and plan C's going through my mind of how I'd make up this 2 mile run - thankfully it was only 2 miles.

Wednesday evening, it just so happened it was dark out - surprise, surprise, it's winter - but feeling the compounded tiredness of a day's work, I figured, okay, I'll just tack on 2 miles to my run Thursday morning.

Thursday morning, of course, I woke up to the thought of how much it sucked that instead of only having to do a quick one-miler, I now needed to do three. Tragically, I was also awake enough to ponder the why's and what's the point's of this whole training plan/running/marathons altogether. Oh boy! In commitments, your mind can provide so much ammunition, but can also be your ultimate undoing.

As it happened, I didn't run Thursday either - 3 mile deficit at this point. So Friday morning, I set out with the intention to run 3 miles with Back on My Feet instead of walking 2 miles like I normally do. But oh no, I needed to learn the team dance for the holiday party later that evening! I somehow managed to fit in a quick one-mile between learning the dance and the team circling up at the end - whew! only 2 mile deficit now.

Saturday, I was SOOO thankful for John getting geared up to run with me, otherwise, that 3 miles may never have happened. And with 5 miles left to go for the week, I went out on Sunday, banged it out, and surprisingly felt not bad doing so. There it was, 10 miles for the week, and 8 was completed in the last two days, 9 in the last three days. But I'm so glad I got it done. I can't say that I'm not nervous about this upcoming week...

19 Miles down, and countless more to go...

They say it takes 3 weeks to form a habit - boy do I hope they're right!
Week 2 already brought on a confrontation with the "this really sucks!" part of training. With sleep deprivation chasing me down, I woke up Thursday morning with my head completely out of the game. A nippy 32 degrees outside, couldn't find my ear warmers, all I wanted to do was go back to bed and start the day over. But of course, a commitment is a commitment, and though every step sucked more than the one before, all I had to do was bang out one mile. So I did, and I wasn't happy about it at the time, but going into week 3 knowing I haven't [yet] strayed from the plan - I guess that feels pretty good.

So week 3 - I'm vowing to schedule my sleeps so I don't wake up on the wrong foot and we'll see how this goes. Schedule is: 1, 2, 1, 3, 3 (Tue, Wed, Thu, Sat, Sun). 10 more miles, here I come.

Cross-Training

Cross Training (runner's definition): v. to participate in a non-running form of exercise to build cardiovascular strength & flexibility without further wearing down your run muscles/joints.

My cross training for the week: yoga - on Sunday, immediately after my 3-mile "long" run.
Couldn't think of a better way to end a run if I tried. Keep the muscles warm, loose, and get a nice, deep stretch in a relaxing, be-good-to-your-wonderful-body sort of way. I was so zen by the time I got out and couldn't help thinking about what an accomplished first week of training I had - and about how awesome you all are for supporting me!

But holy-moly was I sore this morning!! In a good way - save for the 5min upon waking up this morning when I thought my run career was done for. That fear subsided when I realized that my arms were equally as sore as my legs - all those chatarangas will do it! - and also that the parts of my legs that I was feeling it in were bits of muscle that I didn't even know I had! Since when did stretching become an activity that'll cause your body to ache??

I do love the feeling though, of building strength where little existed before. So yes, I'll keep throwing yoga into the mix from time to time to keep my body from becoming a robot that only moves in one direction. Wish me luck as I embark on week 2: 10 miles total, starting with a 1 miler bright and early tomorrow! The good news is that temperatures will be in the mid 50's instead of 30's. :)