I just completed the last "run" of week 10. I have now officially departed from the training schedule that I started out with and am going to blaze my own path from here. I found that after week 9, the training went crazy (as I may have mentioned in one of my last posts) and I actually found it really alienating - I hit a bit of a mental wall when I considered running 7/2 min intervals to 10/1 min intervals one day, to 20/2 the next. I really found it intimidating.
Since I am training against myself, and my own goals, I talked to a few fellow joggers and asked them what they did back in the day when they were training. It seems, I am going to go with what works for me. So I took a week off (work was really busy and I was trying to get out early on the Friday so I could join up with my boys on the Sunshine Coast) and then got back to it again this week. I was worried - I was half paranoid that after a week off, I would lose some of the momentum that I had gained. I got lucky - after a week, I could still run 7/2 mins. PHEW. Tuesday's run wasn't so fast, but Thursday and this morning have been much better. It was a hurdle to get through.
A dear friend was in town this week, and we ran/walked together for the last two runs and it was really cool. After so many times solo, it was really nice to have company on a run at 5:30 am in the morning. Crazy girl! She also goes at this time - it is the time that works when you work full-time have a family. It made me appreciate "training". She has been doing this now for a year and a half, and I can't wait to be faster, and able to go longer distances. Ultimately I would be happy to be able to do a 10km within 80 minutes or less. Currently, I am at about 7 km in 68-70 minutes.
The other thing about running with someone, that is also a mental hurdle for me. I feel self conscious about my pace. I am not speedy, but I am consistent. Slowly, I am getting there. Bit by bit, I am getting faster. She couldn't quite run circles around me (okay maybe a few loops there and back), and I am pretty damn proud of her journey and where she has gotten herself. I appreciate that she held back a bit to stick with me. It meant a lot. It was good to do my normal route, and then this morning we ran out at Pitt Lake. I am glad I have never done this one on my own, and it was great to share it with her. It was a really pretty run. We ran in to some fishermen - apparently there are bass in the slew! Our friendship has spanned many years and many different experiences and it is cool it now also includes our physical fitness journey as well. Crazy that at 40 we are running together and at 16 we did everything we could to avoid physical activity. We both shook our heads at this memory. If only.
Time. Training. Consistency.
It really does come down to that. First time being raining on this morning in all the 10 weeks I have been going out! This has been a pretty impressive summer. I have been truly spoiled and I have been thinking about what next - definitely considering a treadmill since I don't see heading to the gym in the morning, or a longer lunch hour happening anytime soon.
Hard to believe 10 weeks ago I could only run 1 minute. Now I can run 8 minutes, and walk 2, and be out there for about 60 mins. It is all about putting one foot in the front of the next, again and again. I hope to do a few 5kms this fall - I would like to do one of the colour runs, and then the night run in November. I think this has been a great way to embrace my 40th year.
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