Training

The other day I was looking back through old posts.  As I read through some of them, I realized that many of them were about my goals.  I had so many posts about wanting to run.  I had posts that stated goals, and posts that listed plans.  There were posts with helpful links, and there were posts that just had me rambling.  Y'all must have really gotten sick of all those posts.  I got sick of them, and they were MY posts! 

Still, though, for those of you who have kept reading, and for those of you who have continued to cheer me on, thank you.  Having your support means a lot.  And it is because of that support, that I am only three weeks away from my first official 10k!

As you know, I am trying to shave some time off my pace...about 30-40 sec per kilometer, and things are going very well.  I'm focusing on speed twice a week and distance once a week.  On the days in between, I'm swimming and mixing in some strength training.  On top of that, I'm really watching my diet.  Losing a few pounds will definitely help me run a little faster.

So, far things are paying off.  My two speed sessions this week were...well, not so great.  The first wasn't too bad, but the second was terrible.  I felt weak and out of sync.  I had to stop early because I just didn't feel that I had the strength to continue moving.  Of course, since that was my last run before my long run this morning, I was kind of dreading this run.  I kept thinking, "What if I feel like I did the other day?  What if I just can't hack it?"  Still, though, I went on out with Cody, and I just kept repeating, "Nice and slow, nice and slow, nice and slow." 

By the end of my run, I'd gone 8.29 km (5.15 mi)!!  On top of that, I shaved about 20 seconds off of last week's pace.  PLUS, I felt better after this run did I did after last week's.  HURRAY!!!!

I feel so happy I could fly!  I still have to shave at least another 15 seconds off my pace, but with three weeks left to go, I think that is totally doable.

Now, I'm just looking into the future.  I'm looking at triathlons, half marathons, and marathons.  I even discovered that I would qualify for the marathon training team for this year.  That's a little daunting, so I'll probably stick with the half marathon this year, but it's exciting to think of anything with "marathon" in the title is a possibility for me.

You may ask, "Why is this so important?"  Actually, my SIL, Liz, wrote a lovely blog post the other day.  You should go read it.  I'll wait.

The thing is, that post really describes my experiences.  In elementary school, I swam a lot, so weight wasn't quite an issue, but I hated those Presidential Fitness Tests.  I couldn't touch my toes (still have problems with that), was never able to do a pull up (it's still on my list of goals), and I NEVER ran the mile.  I was always one of the last ones to finish, and I always hated it.

Now, though, it's different.  I'm accomplishing one of my three goals from my childhood.  Not only am I accomplishing it, I'm blowing it out of the water.  This makes me happy.