Physical:
Training for the marathon is A LOT of running. I am not even 1/3 of the way through my training and I'm feeling the miles. (not to mention sleeping and eating more) I'm also realizing training is a learning process. Take my hamstrings for example..I haven't been able to touch my toes the past few days because my hamstrings are so tight. I've learned (or more like remembered) I need to stretch more and continue/up my hamstring strengthening.
I'm really working on pushing through, but realizing my limitations and paying attention to my body. I've mentioned running on the treadmill and hating it....sometimes the treadmill can be a savior. The other morning something in my body (or maybe the humidity) told me running outside was a bad idea-not my ideal to hit the treadmill, but it was safer and I had to run. "Listen to your body. Do not be a blind and deaf tenant." -Dr. George Sheehan
To date, I've run 76 miles of the 461.2 get ready for plenty of posts about walls I hit, running frustrations, and injuries. As of now I don't have too much to say about the physical because the truth is, if I had to runt he marathon tomorrow I could. It would be insanely hard, but I'm physically fit and with each run I learn more and more about my endurance and my ability to pace myself.
Mental:
There are a million stories out there about the power of positive thinking. You've probably read stories about people overcoming something nearly impossible by changing their outlook on things. I really think this is true. I didn't overcome some great adversity, but I am realizing the more positive my thoughts the better I feel when it comes to my runs. Take this morning for example, I woke up kind of achy but I had time in my schedule so I didn't have to rush off and run. I started writing this post and wanted to get some quotes about positive thinking for runs. The quote page opened with this, "The following is a compilation of my favorite motivational running quotes. Keep these handy. Running can test your mental strength as much as your physical strength, and these quotes are a good source of motivation…" as I read through them I did in fact feel empowered and stronger. I went out to run and I really did feel great-I even did some speed work. On the flip side to today's run are the days when getting up to run is the LAST thing I want to do, but I grudgingly get up and go...my runs on those days are terrible. I've seen/experienced both so I'm really trying to approach each run as a way to make myself better. As I run, I'll visualize something I REALLY want when I'm done (sadly it's usually a cold shower and tons of water to drink)...Sometimes it's a type of food/drink treat I want and a lot of times by the time I'm done with my run the craving is gone so it's a super win win...I win because I'm working out and I win because I beat the craving! I often visualize myself and different mile markers..it helps get me through. As I run I often think things like, "think about all the people who aren't doing this" or "people in way less shape than you have done this-get moving" or I can think about stories like this --> Team Hoyt. Anyone can run a marathon after reading that story! :) We aren't all Team Hoyt material and we all run or do what we do for different reasons. Celebrate your reason for what you do and go with it!
After reading that story about Team Hoyt I look ridiculous for even writing this, but this is my blog about my journey so it is what it is. :) My long run last week was 9 miles and it's been pretty hot and humid so I was a little nervous. I had my route all planned, I had water with me and I had my mom put some water in her mailbox so when I ran passed my parents' house I could hydrate, I was running early in the day so the heat wasn't too bad....I was ready. As I started my run I reminded myself this is an hour and a half (tops) of my life and I shouldn't perseverate and let negative thinking hold me back. I was feeling great...I was 3 miles into a 9 mile run. I wasn't pushing myself too much (they say on your long runs you should be able to sing or hold a convo and since I was running alone I was trying to sing along to my ipod). I'm not gonna lie, I was listening to "Party In The USA" by Miley Cyrus (back off ha ha) all of a sudden the music stopped. I thought maybe I had sweat too much and temporally killed my earbuds-I've done it before. I took them off and tried to shake out sweat, blow into them...anything to make them work again. I kept them out for about a mile to dry out and tried them again-no luck. I was now 4 miles in and annoyed but realizing I had 5 miles left and no choice. I depend on my music to keep pace up I started thinking that hour and a half idea was out the window, but I kept on running. I really couldn't judge if I was going to hard or not hard enough. My splits seemed too good to be true. As I mentioned before, I visualize different mile markers to keep me going but without music the visualizations turned into me visualizing the different mile markers and the hills they had. I started thinking "hmm should I run with a backup ipod/earbuds for the marathon?" That got me into thinking about different things I absolutely want/need to have with me on race day. That got me thinking I should write a post about what I have with me on training runs. Before I knew it, I was on my last mile. I looked down at my watch and realized I had been running consistent 9 minute miles...I was pleased. As I ran that last mile I realized that if this happens race day I know I can run without my music and perhaps this mishap gave me one less thing to fear on race day. ha ha Everyone deals with/overcomes his/her own "stuff" so for now, this was the adversity I overcame. ha ha
Epilogue: I went to Apple that day and sadly the people at the genius bar did all they could but their efforts wore unsuccessful. My relatively new ipod was gone...Thankfully the 3-5 business days Apple told me I'd have to wait for the replacement turned out to only 2 days....phewww let's see how long until I kill this ipod ha ha
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