Posts Tagged "week 1 training"

SeaWheeze Half-Marathon: Training Diary Week 1

Posted by Elle on May 21, 2012 | 2 comments

The Schedule: May 14-20: Monday: Hot Yoga Tuesday: Pick Ups 5km/ 3Miles (4 x 20s) RINY 1 Wednesday: Rest Thursday: Easy Run 5km/ 3 miles RINY2 Friday: Rest Saturday: Long Run 8km/ 5miles RINY 3 Sunday: Yin Yoga or Optional Run (30 minutes)

The Actual: Yoga? Yep, twice. Rock Climbing? Check. Swimming? If you include lounging by the pool reading The Discovery of Witches all glorious weekend then yes, I swam. Running? NADA.

I’m not sure how much of this is due to lack of time or lack of effort. Or maybe it is just simply that I didn’t feel like up to running this week due to my millions of other interests! Always the conundrum…. I mean, let’s face it, when the training schedule showed up in my inbox I already knew that I would be following it loosely since my time schedule won’t allow me to be exact. The yoga is easy- I get two to three classes in every week already. Its going to be adding the running in that will be hard. Actually, I love running, so I can’t really say that. It’s more that the pushing myself part will be hard. It’s the stop-looking-at-the-flowers-and-actually-try-running-so-hard-that-you-feel-like-you-might-have-to-vomit that get’s me. Garret feels like that every time he runs and I’m sure that’s part of why he seems to be some kind of Greek god of fitness even when he doesn’t train super hard (not fair!). But I totally lack that competitive spirit.

What’s the end-goal?

It’s just that there is this little voice in my head asking “what’s the end-goal?” Never once have I answered that with:
To run a 7 minute mile.

Here’s the thing- every elderly person I have ever met that USED to be a marathoner, triathlete, or sponsored athlete, seems to not be doing to great anymore! (extreme example, but case in point). There seems to be some kind of burnout period where 10 years of pushing themself to peak physical fitness equals 50 years of doing nothing more than walking to the mailbox. Not always, but at least in my experience. After they’ve passed their prime for their given sport they wind up bouncing to the opposite extreme.

In my mind the end goal is to wind up like this awesome lady. She is 93, looks waaaay younger, acts as if time hasn’t touched her, and is in amazing shape! She had a really fun life but she lives for passion – not to beat her last 10k time.

And then of course there is Mireille Guiliano. I know I talk about her a lot, but lets face it, she’s doing something right. There seems to be something more sustainable than constant physical exertion just to achieve some kind of chocolate medal for being in “peak physical fitness.” Mireille has never even played a sport or gone to a gym and yet she maintains a sustainable practice of regular movement in her everyday life soley driven by passion. Ultimately she is full of vitality both physical and mental. And that is my end-goal.

What kills you makes you stronger

That being said- would it kill me just this once to try to run this half-marathon and feel like I succeeded at it? No, probably not. Do I see myself spending my next ten years solely dedicated to running half marathons and achieving burnout at 35? Unlikely. In The end- I have the right end-goal in mind but it’s ok to have a short term goal too. I want to feel like I kicked some SeaWheeze a** and show myself that I can actually be good at this. Not for my whole life, not because I aspire to be a professional runner, but because I believe in my own perseverance. A VERY translatable skill don’t ya think? It’s time to prove to myself that I can push myself whenever I want to!

I may switch to being a can-can dancer this time next year, and that’s fine. I’ll add it to my list of crazy fun, totally varied, and interesting things that I have accomplished in life. But for this year it’s running this half-marathon. Wish me luck!

I’m loving reading all your diaries as well! Good luck and see you all soon!

While I’m at it, does anyone have any recommendations for how to push myself to the “I ran so hard I might need to question my sanity” part? And actually, does anyone hve any recommendations for things to do in Vancouver and lovely British Columbia while we are there? Husband and I are vacationing it after the race! Hope you had a good weekend!