Yesterday was Memorial Day, which means that we got an extra long weekend. Normally, I look forward to three-day weekends for their potential. I have a list of plans and expectations set before me. The problem is that I rarely follow through on those plans. The lure of refinishing my dresser loses out to an afternoon spent in the cool breeze of my central air conditioning watching mindless tv reruns on hulu.
That being the typical case, I'm happy to be able to inform you today that this past weekend was not another wasted opportunity. Yes, there was quite a bit of down time, but it was all well-deserved!
On Saturday, I willingly set my alarm for (and actually got up!) 5 am. I fed the animals, walked the dogs, and then headed to the bike trail to get a long run in. I am very excited to let y'all know that I hit a major breakthrough Saturday - 11 miles! I was completely drenched in sweat when I was done, and my hips were a little achey, but my knee felt good and I, in general, felt amazing for having finally crossed into double-digit distances. Praise God!
After church on Sunday, I laid down and rested for about an hour or so, and then I got up to tackle a project I'd been putting off for months and months. Last fall (maybe?) my neighbor's tree fell over the fence and a portion of it landed in my yard. He chopped it up with a chain saw, but never removed the branches. As spring sprang, in addition to a huge mess of random brush, grass and weeds also started growing up in the crevices of these branches until they were two to three feet tall. It took me three hours of sawing, clipping, and dragging, but I was able to clean up that corner of my yard and deposit the brush by the road for Monday's pick up. I also took the dogs on a four-mile walk since they were such good sports about the whole thing.
On Monday, I let myself sleep in a little (until 7!) and then took the dogs hiking at a trail about 40 minutes from my house. The trail is only about a mile and a half, but the elevation is over 3,000 feet, so it's pretty steep. It took us about an hour to get to the top, and a little less to get back down. The rest of the day was so hot that me and the dogs just hung out inside. In all fairness, I tried to take them for an afternoon walk, but after two blocks, the puppy laid down in the shade, so we just went home. :)
I didn't get in a lot of running (and there was an issue with my alarm clock this morning so I didn't go this morning, either), but I definitely got in a lot of really great activity. And the best part is that I woke up this morning without any knee pain.
I'm proud to be able to look back at the weekend and not wish that there was something I had done differently. That's the way I want to live my life.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Are you tough enough?
I've been having a tough time getting back on track with my running schedule and establishing a healthy plan. Every time I think I may be having a breakthrough, I end up taking one big huge gigantic leap backwards. It sucks.
This weekend was no exception. I'm not going to get into any details, but the idea of giving up just seemed to overwhelm me. My head was full of thoughts like "it's no use," "you're not going to accomplish your goals," "you're too weak," etc. So understandably, I went into my work outs and the week believing these lies.
As a result, I've been struggling. I tried to run twice earlier this week. Both times, I've gotten a short distance away from home and gave up. It doesn't make sense that I can go from running 9 and 10 miles to struggling to run 3 or 4 less than a week later, but that's the power of the mind, for you.
To overcome the struggle, I have to understand and acknowledge these lies for what they are and who they come from. They come from Satan, and they are his attempts to prevent me from glorifying God.
One of the things I learned as I started to run, and then become serious about training for longer distances, was that if left to my own devices, I would not choose to take care of myself. I had to learn that it was not my strength, but strength from the Lord that would sustain me, in a very real, physical way. As I would run up a tough hill or be on the last leg of a long run, when I would want to give up, I would pray that the joy of the Lord would be my strength.
I think recently, in the midst of these struggles, I lost sight of that. I was drawing on my own power, instead of leaning on Lord's strength, and my power wasn't enough to sustain me.
I managed to get a shaky 4.4 mile run in this morning. Not my best run, not an easy run, but I accomplished the goal that was set before me for this morning. About a mile in, the song "Hangin' Tough" by the New Kids on the Block started playing on my iPod. The song asks, "Are you tough enough?" By myself, I'm not. But I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
This weekend was no exception. I'm not going to get into any details, but the idea of giving up just seemed to overwhelm me. My head was full of thoughts like "it's no use," "you're not going to accomplish your goals," "you're too weak," etc. So understandably, I went into my work outs and the week believing these lies.
As a result, I've been struggling. I tried to run twice earlier this week. Both times, I've gotten a short distance away from home and gave up. It doesn't make sense that I can go from running 9 and 10 miles to struggling to run 3 or 4 less than a week later, but that's the power of the mind, for you.
To overcome the struggle, I have to understand and acknowledge these lies for what they are and who they come from. They come from Satan, and they are his attempts to prevent me from glorifying God.
One of the things I learned as I started to run, and then become serious about training for longer distances, was that if left to my own devices, I would not choose to take care of myself. I had to learn that it was not my strength, but strength from the Lord that would sustain me, in a very real, physical way. As I would run up a tough hill or be on the last leg of a long run, when I would want to give up, I would pray that the joy of the Lord would be my strength.
I think recently, in the midst of these struggles, I lost sight of that. I was drawing on my own power, instead of leaning on Lord's strength, and my power wasn't enough to sustain me.
I managed to get a shaky 4.4 mile run in this morning. Not my best run, not an easy run, but I accomplished the goal that was set before me for this morning. About a mile in, the song "Hangin' Tough" by the New Kids on the Block started playing on my iPod. The song asks, "Are you tough enough?" By myself, I'm not. But I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Monday, May 16, 2011
It's not the heat, it's the humidity
Last week was slightly better than the previous week for me. I did two mid-week runs of four miles each, and then I had a very exciting long run on Sunday, which is what the bulk of this post will be about.
I am currently four weeks away from when I will start my formal marathon training. I'm going to use the same training schedule I used last year, I just will be running different routes (with fewer hills) and walking down any major hills that I may chance to encounter. I had a lot of doubts regarding whether or not I'd be ready to start training, but I am happy to tell you that those doubts have now been assuaged.
I was a little concerned that I would not be able to get a long run in this weekend because the weather forecast kept calling for storms all day Saturday AND Sunday. But when I woke up Sunday morning, the sky was clear and the sun was peaking out, so I brought my running clothes to church and made plans to go directly afterwards.
I got to the bike trail at about 10:30 am - I was thinking I would try to get in about eight miles, so I decided on a route and set off. The route I had chosen was a little more than seven miles, so I needed to add another detour on to make up the additional mile. I picked up a side trail that was about 1.2 miles to the end. I figured I could always just stop a mile from where I parked and walk back to the car. But it turns out I didn't have to walk. I ended up running 9.6 miles!
Because we were between thunderstorms, it was incredibly humid. I was drenched in sweat within half a mile probably. I also forgot about certain things I need to think about when it comes to long runs. 1) I really need to use vaseline on certain areas of my body to prevent chafing. It's usually just a problem where clothes rub certain ways, but it'll do me good to remember that in the future. 2) I have the hardest time eating anything for several hours afterwards. Fortunately for me, I didn't have a problem eating an excess of calories the previous day, so even though my consumption was light yesterday, I had plenty of fuel for my system. :)
The best part is that although my knee was sore yesterday, I woke up this morning with NO PAIN! I'm still going to be cautious with my training, but it looks like I may be able to accomplish my marathon completion goal this year. It's nice to have hope again!
I am currently four weeks away from when I will start my formal marathon training. I'm going to use the same training schedule I used last year, I just will be running different routes (with fewer hills) and walking down any major hills that I may chance to encounter. I had a lot of doubts regarding whether or not I'd be ready to start training, but I am happy to tell you that those doubts have now been assuaged.
I was a little concerned that I would not be able to get a long run in this weekend because the weather forecast kept calling for storms all day Saturday AND Sunday. But when I woke up Sunday morning, the sky was clear and the sun was peaking out, so I brought my running clothes to church and made plans to go directly afterwards.
I got to the bike trail at about 10:30 am - I was thinking I would try to get in about eight miles, so I decided on a route and set off. The route I had chosen was a little more than seven miles, so I needed to add another detour on to make up the additional mile. I picked up a side trail that was about 1.2 miles to the end. I figured I could always just stop a mile from where I parked and walk back to the car. But it turns out I didn't have to walk. I ended up running 9.6 miles!
Because we were between thunderstorms, it was incredibly humid. I was drenched in sweat within half a mile probably. I also forgot about certain things I need to think about when it comes to long runs. 1) I really need to use vaseline on certain areas of my body to prevent chafing. It's usually just a problem where clothes rub certain ways, but it'll do me good to remember that in the future. 2) I have the hardest time eating anything for several hours afterwards. Fortunately for me, I didn't have a problem eating an excess of calories the previous day, so even though my consumption was light yesterday, I had plenty of fuel for my system. :)
The best part is that although my knee was sore yesterday, I woke up this morning with NO PAIN! I'm still going to be cautious with my training, but it looks like I may be able to accomplish my marathon completion goal this year. It's nice to have hope again!
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Mind over matter... but what's over mind?
I'm still struggling a lot with irregularity. Not the kind that could be resolved with proper fiber intake, but the kind that gets in my way of making and sticking to a running schedule.
So far my knee is holding up pretty well - a little achey, but 10 minutes of ice usually does the trick. I have successfully completed a few 7-mile runs at a time that I'm only slightly embarrassed to share with others. :) My hurdles at this point aren't physical, but mental.
Sunday was a fairly cool day, although a little humid. I went to the bike trail for my long run around noon. It had been two weeks since my last long run and I think I only went running one other time last week. Needless to say, the seven miles was painful. And I struggled through them in a way I hadn't in a while. I even had to stop and walk for a few seconds on two occasions.
I took a day off and set out this morning for a neighborhood run - about 4.5 miles. Honestly, it was brutal. My legs were still sore, and mentally, I did not want to go. Once I reached the turnaround point, I was feeling better, but the first 2 miles were torture. It got me thinking, though...
There's the common saying "Mind over matter" which basically means that no matter what obstacles you are facing, if you focus hard enough you can achieve your goals. Well, what happens when your mind is what's setting you up for failure? What do you do when you don't have the mental capacity to push yourself?
Typically when this happens to me, I'll end up praying to the Lord asking for His joy to be my strength. But I didn't do that today for whatever reason. Something kept pushing me that didn't come from MY mind or MY body. I can't explain what it was that was pushing me to continue to place one foot in front of the other. But I'm grateful for it.
So far my knee is holding up pretty well - a little achey, but 10 minutes of ice usually does the trick. I have successfully completed a few 7-mile runs at a time that I'm only slightly embarrassed to share with others. :) My hurdles at this point aren't physical, but mental.
Sunday was a fairly cool day, although a little humid. I went to the bike trail for my long run around noon. It had been two weeks since my last long run and I think I only went running one other time last week. Needless to say, the seven miles was painful. And I struggled through them in a way I hadn't in a while. I even had to stop and walk for a few seconds on two occasions.
I took a day off and set out this morning for a neighborhood run - about 4.5 miles. Honestly, it was brutal. My legs were still sore, and mentally, I did not want to go. Once I reached the turnaround point, I was feeling better, but the first 2 miles were torture. It got me thinking, though...
There's the common saying "Mind over matter" which basically means that no matter what obstacles you are facing, if you focus hard enough you can achieve your goals. Well, what happens when your mind is what's setting you up for failure? What do you do when you don't have the mental capacity to push yourself?
Typically when this happens to me, I'll end up praying to the Lord asking for His joy to be my strength. But I didn't do that today for whatever reason. Something kept pushing me that didn't come from MY mind or MY body. I can't explain what it was that was pushing me to continue to place one foot in front of the other. But I'm grateful for it.
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