Sunday Long Run - Breaking Down Barriers

Well it came and went and thank you for last Monday's recovery day.  As mentioned, Sunday capped off a hard week of training only really to be paused for a moment before this week took over.  It was a welcomed relief that Monday brought a day of no running.  Although no matter how tired, how sore or fatigued you feel; even on a recovery day it seems as though you should be out there running. 

Dean and I ran a good 33 km on Sunday that had its' share of hills, road and trail.  I felt pretty strong as we trotted along at a decent pace.  I have been struggling this year with the Psychological aspect of running.  Trying to break down the negative thoughts that want me to stop when I feel tired or a little uncomfortable.  Even a couple weeks ago nearing the end of another long run, I stopped short of 34 km and walked a bit before picking it up again and finishing off the run 2 km later.  I let my mind get the better of me.  This week I could feel those same thoughts coming which really gave me an odd feeling.  I can vividly recall thinking to myself at around 27 km "I feel great, strong, this is easy" and no sooner had those thoughts gone through my mind, I questioned their validity!  Why did I want to defeat myself?  How could I come up with two opposing ideas on how I felt in almost the same instant?  Confidence maybe?...Maybe! 

At this moment, I decided to break down the wall that was really keeping me from succeeding this year and continued on in despite of those demons.  The power of positive thought should never be underestimated.  We are all truly capable of way more than we know and should trust ourselves to break down those barriers even if we are wondering or questioning at that same instant, our ability to do so!  The answer is yes.  Yes we can.

I finished the run strong, and was looking forward to another hard week of training.

In The Beginning

Well maybe not the beginning...I will save that recap for another day, but thought I would describe where we are right now. 

Another day of training has gone by as I, along with Dean set our sights on the Victoria Marathon in October.  We are nearing the end of the Aerobic Capacity phase of our training and though this week was supposed to be one of recovery it has been anything but.  Thanks to 4 days vacation last week at the trailer, smores, hot dogs and the ever popular buffet restaurant, Four Seasons I found myself a victim to temptation. It was well worth the distraction though, we had a great time playing in the pool, lying in the sun and visiting the scenic Fairhaven, WA!  Fairhaven Village Fish'n Chips...awesome!  And can you believe 50 flavours of soft serve ice cream!!

  Knowing that you really can never make up the lost kilometres, I decided to make this a bit more of a hard week than was scheduled after missing out on a combined 4 hours of running.  I feel so guilty, no really I do...it's a sickness I know!

Running since Tuesday, I have accumulated 53 km.  With our Sunday long run tomorrow of 34 km, it will push the total to 87 km.  This is certainly something that we are used to, so there is not much concern about fatigue or injury at this point.  We'll see what happens next week as sticking to the schedule means another very hard week leading up to more specific marathon training.  With 7 weeks to the Marathon, it's crunch time.  No more giving in to temptation!  Well maybe a little...

What do I have to say?

Well, this is my first attempt to run into the world of blogging.  What makes me think that I have anything to say or that anyone will care?  I guess that I will find out.  I have many thoughts while running, reasons why I run and feelings that overcome me.  Maybe this is not so profound and in a world of so much information I can only hope to share in my experiences, to enlighten and inspire others to get up and get out into the world.  Find your passion and live healthy!