Training This Week

Last Sunday's run did not go as planned. I was really excited for the end of Daylight Savings because it meant my 4am wakeup for my 20-miler would feel like 5am. Ironically, I overslept.

I tried to get my run in that evening, but a late lunch of Mexican food gave my stomach different ideas. In a way, I figured that was okay. After the craziness of Chattanooga, some extra rest and a shorter run wasn't a big deal.

I have a half this coming Sunday (and I'm hoping to run 5 pre-race, time permitting), so I decided to call this week a mini-taper before I increase my long run back to 20.

Tuesday's run was hard. Not as bad as Sunday's, but still not great. I chalked this up to volleyball starting! This week I had three days of tryouts...45 girls tried out each day!

A little pigeon pose in the park after my run. I got some strange looks. Also, sweat was coming off me in sheets. Stupid Florida.

I mean, seriously guys. I'm so excited that all these girls are interested in the sport and want to play, and they're actually really well-behaved, but it's exhausting.

Anyway, I'm on my feet an additional 90 minutes on volleyball days, and I'm feeling it.

Thursday morning I asked Elizabeth, kind of joking, if she wanted to go for a run that evening after volleyball. I was surprised by how excited she was! For someone who claims to hate running, she's certainly taken to it quickly!

OMG SO SWEATY. 

We did 6, which is the farthest she's ever gone, and despite some minor aches, I felt really good. I'm hoping to do 5 on Friday, but if I'm still achey, I'll cut it short. The half/long run is my priority this week.

(Side-note: This half is going to be insane; the race organizer is notorious for cutting corners, so I may need to carry my own water since it'll be hot. Also, there are two huge bridges at miles 10 and 12. Plus, it will be 13 miles of an 18-miler. I hope I survive.)

My half on Sunday is going to be intense. Luckily I'm not racing it; it's just training.

I celebrated Thursday's good run with chicken nachos. Baked chicken is protein, chunky all-natural salsa counts as veggies...I'd say this is almost a healthy meal, really.

Oh, and can we take a minute to look at this?

I'm sure the rest of you are truly enjoying your fall.

I seriously wish Florida were a person so I could slap some sense into it. IT'S NOVEMBER, FLORIDA. GET IT TOGETHER!

How has your week been so far?
How's your November weather?

ABK

Paradigm Shift

I've talked a little bit before about The Leader In Me and the Seven Habits at my school. This past Tuesday, we had a teacher workshop that revisited the first three habits and paradigms.

Paradigms are how we see and interpret the world. What we see affects our actions. What we do directly influences what we get.

In life, we should work toward having paradigm shifts, where our point of view is altered and thus, so is our reality. We see the world as it really is; our blinders, preconceived notions, and assumptions fall away.

This classic optical illusion is a good example of a paradigm shift. Whether you see the old woman or young woman first, once you see the other, you can't possibly look at the image the same way again. Your view has been altered.

As we were doing some personal reflection Tuesday, I had a paradigm shift.

I was ruminating on my post about Matt's race, and the insight I had about Matt's reaction to finishing 32 miles compared to my reaction to finishing 26.2.

Matt's look of determination and grit...

...my look of pure disbelief and joy.

I wrote that maybe Matt's apparent lack of awe at his accomplishment was due to his total confidence in himself as an athlete, whereas my total amazement with myself was a result of my constant doubt.

Despite all I've accomplished, I still see myself as a weak runner. This is my paradigm, even though I hadn't really realized I believed it until Tuesday.

I didn't always feel this way. In 2012-2013, I was PR'ing like crazy and I knew I was awesome. When and how did this negative paradigm take over? Why did I let it?

The paradigm shift I experienced Tuesday seems so obvious, and it's probably something I've thought of before but never with such clarity: I can be a great athlete if I really put the effort into it, because despite all I say and do, I haven't actually put my full effort into training in over two years. 

Here's the other part of the paradigm shift: I began allowing myself to slack off and make excuses for the sake of enjoying running again after too much overtraining, but now I'm tired of the lack of drive. My "take it easy" mentality has turned into self-doubt, because I haven't been pushing myself enough. So this paradigm is a cage of my own making.

Anyway, turning these thoughts over in my head has helped me come to a decision about next year. I won't be running a marathon in 2016. I'm going to go back to 5k and 10k races, with the occasional half thrown in. And I'm tired of letting myself coast. I want to focus on making improvements where they really count for the long haul.

Rather than running long, I want to refocus on running fast.

(I'm still really excited about my marathon this year! Don't get me wrong. But I'm definitely ready to step back into shorter distances and focus on fundamentals once BDR is in the bag.)

If I fail, I fail. But I think it will feel good to challenge myself in a new way and to truly work toward creating a new paradigm.

Have you ever experienced a paradigm shift?

ABK

100 Mile Month

A couple weeks ago, my friend Sean was texting about training this month, and he helpfully pointed out that I was way closer to 100 miles than I had realized.

I've literally never run 100 miles in a month! Even last year during marathon training, my highest mileage was in the 70s. At the end of September, I realized I was pretty behind in my training, and my motivation just came back full force. I was ready to suck it up and put full effort into the last few weeks before BDR.

I hit 100 on Thursday. My last run of October on Friday brought me to 106.

Hitting 100 miles has given me a lot of confidence for BDR. My paces are slower than last year, but my mileage is higher. My legs feel good...in fact, I feel the best I have in a long time.

It felt awesome to see this new trophy on Nike+, and to go back and look at my progress over the last couple months.

From DailyMile. Last November was my highest mileage to date; 79 miles including the marathon!

So, how did I celebrate this milestone? With pizza! It was all I could talk about on Thursday's run with Elizabeth; pizza may be a staple for some runners, but it's kind of a hassle to get gluten free pizza, so we don't have it often. I was definitely craving it, and it was the first thing I texted Matt post-run.

After listening to me daydream of pizza for five miles, Elizabeth checked in to make sure I'd had my reward.

Artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, and bacon!

I have to say, I'm feeling pretty good about October, and I'm looking forward to another strong month in November! There are 42 days until marathon-day, and that means a few more weeks of strong runs and then...TAPER!

The night I hit 100! Woohoo!

Now that I've done it once, I know I can do it again. It's a really empowering feeling!

What was your highest mileage month?
How do you celebrate big achievements?

ABK