Sunday, January 23, 2011

On Training Eve

So here I sit, on the eve of my spring training cycle, with some concerns and some things to admit. 

Concerns--that I don't have the time necessary to train for a full marathon. That the pain where my left hammy attaches to my butt bone will get worse (the doctor wrote "buttock pain" on the MRI order. I can't make this stuff up. And I'm skipping the MRI). That other injuries will surface--which every, every runner worries about. 

Things to admit--I love my job. LOVE it. But I'm also pretty overwhelmed with my current workload. I am more than a little bit stressed out. And I hate to even blog this because I hate not to be upbeat. Negative Nancy I am not. But it's what has kept me from blogging here recently. I definitely need you guys--to tell me that no one hits their training plan perfectly, that I *can* get through this. Even, and this is my real hope, that all the running will help me deal with the stress. 

On a lighter note, my brother had a job interview here last week. He flew in a day early so we could hang out and I could show him the city. We had lunch at a fantastic place in my neighborhood. He liked his sandwich so much that he wrote down its description from the menu to read to his wife. While on the phone with her he says, "If we move here, it's pretty much going to be for this sandwich." 


And to answer a question from The Black Knight, no, I am still on the dreadmill! I am super impressed by all you Michiganders and Canadians (wait, what's the difference??) who are running outdoors still. Y'all are crazy. This was my street this afternoon. Completely gorgeous, but since the park rangers don't shovel or salt the paths through the park, I'm inside for a while. 


Two last things to leave you with before training starts tomorrow. First, I joined sparkpeople about a month ago and am quite proud to announce that I've lost 4 pounds! Six more to go to reach my goal. I am *so* excited to get back to a race weight I'm happy with. It makes me feel better, look better, and will help me lower my race times. Updates to follow.

Second, a while back I said that a goal of this training cycle is to re-incorporate XT into the week. Well, I signed up for an hour long PowerFlow Yoga class on Tuesday mornings. I am pretty excited about it. Can't wait to get some flexibility back and work on core a little bit.

I am so much better positioned to beat the hell out of my training cycle than I ever have been before. I'm more experienced, I'm not pregnant, postpartum, or breastfeeding, I'm not defending a dissertation, moving, or starting a new job. And for the first time, I have a training schedule that I put together with help from RunningFirst that's personalized for little old me. Are you ready? I'm as ready as I'm going to be. Let's do this thing.

4 comments:

Stephanie said...

No one's training goes as planned. As long as you don't give up and are ready to jump back in after a slump, you should do fine. Races are so much mental, so keep your head positive and you'll do great. Just do your best and you'll cross the finish line.

Congrats on the weight loss! Being able to fit into your training clothes is a great motivator to get out and log miles. Running is addictive, as soon as you start training you are going to want to train even more!

TNTcoach Ken said...

'no one hits their training plan perfectly, that you *can* get through this.' LOL, I wish all I could do was train and then I would be able to hit all of my training goals. 'It happens'............

Run Jess Run said...

Happy training eve!

I don't think you should feel bad about missing runs on your training cycle...I only ran 6 miles last week and I was supposed to run 10. Life got in the way and it happens. I think training is all about how you bounce back from that and tackle everything else.

Unknown said...

As everyone else said Doc, no one hits their training plan. But you will be great - like always. L&C wasn't perfect and yet.... What was that amazing time?

I have complete faith in you southerners.

Keep running.