Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Sunday, November 3, 2013
Run Out Your Problems, Run Out Of Problems
So I saw some 30 day blogging challenge where you were supposed to answer some personal question every day for a month on your blog. Not usually a fan, since the internet will be just fine without all of our 2 cents about everything, but there was one question that I thought was strangely relevant to sports training, the topic of this blog.
Bear with me, you'll see what I mean. It has something to do with controlling the things you can control. Something I've long loved about running is that it gives you the feeling (however much of an illusion it may be!) of being in charge. You are the master of your fate when you set off with your Garmin (or stopwatch or no watch at all), right?
Even if you are waiting on a job application, in limbo about finding an apartment, looking for a relationship or trying to plan countless other projects that are beyond your sole control and depend on others not just you, you can decide to run 12K and go do it. Focusing on what you can do rather than what you can't is conforting and empowering.
The blog question was kind of pretentious and self-important (as things like 30-day blog challenges tend to be): if you could give a newborn baby one piece of advice, what would it be? Not that newborn babies are going to follow advice, they are going to sleep and cry, but suspend your disbelief to embrace the noble cause of sharing nuggets of wisdom on the internet for the greater good of all mankind (ha!) :)
So, what I think is important to know and will serve you well is this: you will encounter many situations in life that are beyond your control. You cannot change a system, a job, another person's mind, etc. What you can do is change your attitude towards that situation. Even if it sounds like a weak consolation prize, this is very powerful. You can change your attitude so that something terrible no longer bothers you as much and it helps you accept difficult realities and make your life better, rather than worse.
Running is like alchemy-- it is fueled by negative energy you want to release in a productive way, it's a chance to take all your frustrations, anxieties and stressors and use them to power your body and accomplish something you decided to accomplish, meet a goal you set. You run out your problems and eventually, you'll run out of problems. Everything will end up seeming cool and zen, no matter who much it upset you 8 miles ago.
Our lives are the choices we make. Some help you feel better, move on and live your life happily and gracefully, and some prevent you from doing so. Running, like alchemy, is a transformative process, taking base elements like anger and frustration and turning them into something better, like an endorphin rush beneficial to your health and well-being and the satisfaction of meeting a goal that you set. As someone once said about committing to marathon training: ask yourself honestly, who do you want to be and what are you willing to do to become that person?
Bear with me, you'll see what I mean. It has something to do with controlling the things you can control. Something I've long loved about running is that it gives you the feeling (however much of an illusion it may be!) of being in charge. You are the master of your fate when you set off with your Garmin (or stopwatch or no watch at all), right?
Even if you are waiting on a job application, in limbo about finding an apartment, looking for a relationship or trying to plan countless other projects that are beyond your sole control and depend on others not just you, you can decide to run 12K and go do it. Focusing on what you can do rather than what you can't is conforting and empowering.
The blog question was kind of pretentious and self-important (as things like 30-day blog challenges tend to be): if you could give a newborn baby one piece of advice, what would it be? Not that newborn babies are going to follow advice, they are going to sleep and cry, but suspend your disbelief to embrace the noble cause of sharing nuggets of wisdom on the internet for the greater good of all mankind (ha!) :)
So, what I think is important to know and will serve you well is this: you will encounter many situations in life that are beyond your control. You cannot change a system, a job, another person's mind, etc. What you can do is change your attitude towards that situation. Even if it sounds like a weak consolation prize, this is very powerful. You can change your attitude so that something terrible no longer bothers you as much and it helps you accept difficult realities and make your life better, rather than worse.
Running is like alchemy-- it is fueled by negative energy you want to release in a productive way, it's a chance to take all your frustrations, anxieties and stressors and use them to power your body and accomplish something you decided to accomplish, meet a goal you set. You run out your problems and eventually, you'll run out of problems. Everything will end up seeming cool and zen, no matter who much it upset you 8 miles ago.
Our lives are the choices we make. Some help you feel better, move on and live your life happily and gracefully, and some prevent you from doing so. Running, like alchemy, is a transformative process, taking base elements like anger and frustration and turning them into something better, like an endorphin rush beneficial to your health and well-being and the satisfaction of meeting a goal that you set. As someone once said about committing to marathon training: ask yourself honestly, who do you want to be and what are you willing to do to become that person?
Saturday, October 26, 2013
Balance
Balancing work, life and running has been nearly impossible.
Everything is tipping over in favor of work and I'm still trying to find a happy medium between work, sports and sitting around recovering from long tiring days...
Work is busy and demanding and will only become more so. This is actually the easy period. I'll have to become WAY more efficient and motivated...
I end up running like once a week (but usually half marathon distance, but still, this is not enough to improve or even maintain running fitness, I don't thinl) and I swim once or twice a week. As usual, cycling hasn't been happening. I've pretty much hated it since doing 2 miserable long distance bike races. It was also a source of conflict in my last relationship and my bike was stolen (also a casualty of previous relationship) so have an old heavy vintage road bike to train on and nothing more which makes cycling even more unappealing than if I had a nicer bike. The plan is to improve on the home trainer and then treat myself to a nicer bike whehn I'm better at cycling.
I just got a home trainer, but have no idea how to put my bike in it. And before even getting to the point where I have to figure out that step, first I have to change a flat tire on my bike (which I know how to do in theory but in practice by myself seems a little more intimidating) and change awful pedals with cages to more reassuring clip in pedals. Only then will bike be ready to face next puzzle of how to put it in the home trainer correctly. Not entirely confident in my ability to do any of these bike things, but will try to do it on my own first before bothering anyone about helping me.
So triathlon training across the board is not so hot right now.
I really have to work on swimming to go up to 1,500m next summer (olympic distance tri) when I already think half of that: 750m (sprint distance) is a lot... And I have a long term (6 month) marathon training plan that I want to follow for the Paris marathon in April and the pre-training phase starts next week. Pre-training actually sounds nice. Lots of slow jogging, I'm down with that.
Everything is tipping over in favor of work and I'm still trying to find a happy medium between work, sports and sitting around recovering from long tiring days...
Work is busy and demanding and will only become more so. This is actually the easy period. I'll have to become WAY more efficient and motivated...
I end up running like once a week (but usually half marathon distance, but still, this is not enough to improve or even maintain running fitness, I don't thinl) and I swim once or twice a week. As usual, cycling hasn't been happening. I've pretty much hated it since doing 2 miserable long distance bike races. It was also a source of conflict in my last relationship and my bike was stolen (also a casualty of previous relationship) so have an old heavy vintage road bike to train on and nothing more which makes cycling even more unappealing than if I had a nicer bike. The plan is to improve on the home trainer and then treat myself to a nicer bike whehn I'm better at cycling.
I just got a home trainer, but have no idea how to put my bike in it. And before even getting to the point where I have to figure out that step, first I have to change a flat tire on my bike (which I know how to do in theory but in practice by myself seems a little more intimidating) and change awful pedals with cages to more reassuring clip in pedals. Only then will bike be ready to face next puzzle of how to put it in the home trainer correctly. Not entirely confident in my ability to do any of these bike things, but will try to do it on my own first before bothering anyone about helping me.
So triathlon training across the board is not so hot right now.
I really have to work on swimming to go up to 1,500m next summer (olympic distance tri) when I already think half of that: 750m (sprint distance) is a lot... And I have a long term (6 month) marathon training plan that I want to follow for the Paris marathon in April and the pre-training phase starts next week. Pre-training actually sounds nice. Lots of slow jogging, I'm down with that.
Monday, September 30, 2013
5 Miles of Fun
And finally, first run during the week in 2 weeks!
Hello, endorphins, you're right, everything is totally cool. Everything. :) Even if it seemed stressful like 50 minutes ago (it was a slow 5-miler, but did some hill repeats).
Did you know that the term endorphins comes from 'endogenous morphine?' Besides exercise, spicy food, dark chocolate, pain, excitement and orgasms also give us endorphin highs... Most people are fans of most of those things... :)
Hello, endorphins, you're right, everything is totally cool. Everything. :) Even if it seemed stressful like 50 minutes ago (it was a slow 5-miler, but did some hill repeats).
Did you know that the term endorphins comes from 'endogenous morphine?' Besides exercise, spicy food, dark chocolate, pain, excitement and orgasms also give us endorphin highs... Most people are fans of most of those things... :)
Roller Coaster
Ever feel like your life is one of these?
Mine certainly has been lately! Marathon training has now officially been downgraded to half marathon training and despite a great month of August (I ran over 200K total for the month), everything fell apart in September. I started a new job that is intense and involves major class planning and since work pays the bills while running doesn't, it became (and still is) the priority. Since it's now week 3 of a 3-week intensive (read full time!) course that I should end up teaching every month, it's getting easier, so this week is supposed to be my triumphant return to training after a 2-week break. And Lord knows, I am feeling fat and out of shape after these 2 weeks of no real physical activity-- and poor eating habits...
Seriously, when I'm not working, feel like one of these.
I didn't run at all the week of Sept 16th when the job started, not during the week, anyway, but did run a half marathon that weekend (nothing spectacular, a sedate 2:10, but not bad considering that I'd skipped an entire month of long runs due to being kind of bummed about life in general and the longest regular distance I'd been doing up until then was 12K). The last kms of that half were hard. Last week was the same story, no running during the week, and strep throat kept me from doing Paris-Versailles which I was a little gutted about. That's how life is, though, right?
My next race is the Amsterdam Half in 3 weeks and I'd hoped to beat my previous PB of 2 hours (on that same course) but even if I just do it in around 2, I won't mind. My big Nice-Cannes marathon is probably going to become a half marathon relay, so if Amsterdam isn't a PB (which seems a little unlikely now!), I can just go for it on the French Riviera. It should be a fun weekend away, anyway.
I started planning training sessions during the week again and plan to run and swim tomorrow, run track Wed and swim on Thurs and do a long(ish) run on Saturday and a 10K race on Sunday. The race is a fundraiser for breast cancer research, so should be a fun run for a good cause.
Anyway, finally, after quite the hiatus, off to pound the pavement, first run in 8 days (!) and think about what to do with my students the last few days of their language course...
Saturday, August 17, 2013
Weekend Workouts: Stretching and Pushing the Pace
I did yoga yesterday for the first time in about 3 months. It felt great, although it was hot (outside temperature-wise-- I don't do Bikram but Hatha) and I was sore today. Mainly my core and my legs. I do Yoga for Runners, which is excellent and focuses on areas that runners need to relax and strengthen. Lots of exercises to open the hips, loosen the infamous IT band, quads and glutes, strengthen the feet and prevent injury.
So good to be back in the land of "ooooommmm" and namaste. Especially since it's so well-adapted to what my body's doing now. I've been tracking mileage for the month of August and after my run today, I have officially run 102K so far this month. Right on track for marathon training which requires 200K a month (50K a week). Think I'll try to go up a little in Sept, maybe to 250K, if I can, and then back down in October since the big marathon is in early November and you should peak intensity maybe a month away and then reduce intensity closer to the competition...
And the seminal run that broke 100K for August 2013? I feel great about it because I pushed myself more than I usually do. It was a good feeling, it's a cliché, but you really are capable of so much more than you think you are-- although my legs were tired afterwards! We ran it in 9:15 minute miles (5:45 min km) For me, this is closer to my race pace (I run a 2-hour half marathon which is just a little over 9 min miles) than training pace, so very pleased. 15K isn't really that far, but confident that I can build up to longer distances at this pace.
I also tried to think about lifting my knees up more than I usually do (I've been told this is a problem with my form, one of many problems) and can feel that my glutes are sore now, so hopefully that means I was doing it bettter today.
Today's pace would be a great pace if I could train myself to run at entire marathon at that speed (that's the hard part!) If I could push it just a tad under 9:15 (like to 9:09 min/miles) on race day, that would be a 4 hour marathon which was what I was going for in April in my first marathon.
As you know, running the Paris marathon in 4 hours was a fail, but a learning experience because, as I discovered, marathons are tough and the mental aspect is important! I wasn't sure I'd finish until I did, so already feel way stronger training for the distance the second time around. Now I know I can run 26.2 miles. Because I have. (Even if there was a good deal of walking in the last 10K...)
The advantage of doing the weekly long run with a group is that it helps you run faster than you usually do. I run with a group called Let's Run Paris. They're a great bunch with 3 different pace groups (5 min/km, 6 min/km and 7 min/km) and we finish our long runs each week with breakfast together. Tired but energised and happy is a great way to start the weekend!
Now ready to fall into bed and have a brick tomorrow, meaning doing 2 of the 3 tri sports one right after the other-- it supposedly gets its name from the fact that after when you move on to sport number 2, your legs feel like bricks since you've just finished sport number 1! The program for tomorrow is an open water swim in the lake, followed by a run and a picnic. Not a fan of cycling, so happy to replace it with picnicking any day-- my kind of triathlon! And it really does involve a picnic basket that looks like this one.
So good to be back in the land of "ooooommmm" and namaste. Especially since it's so well-adapted to what my body's doing now. I've been tracking mileage for the month of August and after my run today, I have officially run 102K so far this month. Right on track for marathon training which requires 200K a month (50K a week). Think I'll try to go up a little in Sept, maybe to 250K, if I can, and then back down in October since the big marathon is in early November and you should peak intensity maybe a month away and then reduce intensity closer to the competition...
And the seminal run that broke 100K for August 2013? I feel great about it because I pushed myself more than I usually do. It was a good feeling, it's a cliché, but you really are capable of so much more than you think you are-- although my legs were tired afterwards! We ran it in 9:15 minute miles (5:45 min km) For me, this is closer to my race pace (I run a 2-hour half marathon which is just a little over 9 min miles) than training pace, so very pleased. 15K isn't really that far, but confident that I can build up to longer distances at this pace.
I also tried to think about lifting my knees up more than I usually do (I've been told this is a problem with my form, one of many problems) and can feel that my glutes are sore now, so hopefully that means I was doing it bettter today.
Today's pace would be a great pace if I could train myself to run at entire marathon at that speed (that's the hard part!) If I could push it just a tad under 9:15 (like to 9:09 min/miles) on race day, that would be a 4 hour marathon which was what I was going for in April in my first marathon.
As you know, running the Paris marathon in 4 hours was a fail, but a learning experience because, as I discovered, marathons are tough and the mental aspect is important! I wasn't sure I'd finish until I did, so already feel way stronger training for the distance the second time around. Now I know I can run 26.2 miles. Because I have. (Even if there was a good deal of walking in the last 10K...)
The advantage of doing the weekly long run with a group is that it helps you run faster than you usually do. I run with a group called Let's Run Paris. They're a great bunch with 3 different pace groups (5 min/km, 6 min/km and 7 min/km) and we finish our long runs each week with breakfast together. Tired but energised and happy is a great way to start the weekend!
Now ready to fall into bed and have a brick tomorrow, meaning doing 2 of the 3 tri sports one right after the other-- it supposedly gets its name from the fact that after when you move on to sport number 2, your legs feel like bricks since you've just finished sport number 1! The program for tomorrow is an open water swim in the lake, followed by a run and a picnic. Not a fan of cycling, so happy to replace it with picnicking any day-- my kind of triathlon! And it really does involve a picnic basket that looks like this one.
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Marathon Training Plan
Running down a dream... Marathon number 2 is Nice-Cannes, a point to point along the French Rivera on November 10th!
If I were better at social media, I'd create some amazing training montage video or instagram clip to illustrate my training plan, but since I am fairly low-tech, here's my marathon training schedule in boring written form. I have a plan from runners.fr, but modify it a little to fit into my life. For me, the key is to make it social and I've been organising most of the running training for my triathlon team, which is great-- since I'm the host, I have to show up and do it!
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: Easy 12K (usually alone on the trail near my house)
Wednesday: Track intervals with ExpaTRIés triathlon team (5-10K, depending on session)
Thursday: Tempo run 10K with ExpaTRIés triathlon team
Friday: Easy 10k (usually alone on the trail near my house)
Saturday: Long run (this week 15K) with running group Let's Run Paris
Sunday: Brick session: open water swim and 6K run. Through the tri team, we have annual memberships to the Cergy Leisure Park (base de loisirs) where we can swim in a lake (wet suit mandatory). I really like going out there, feels like you're on vacation far far away from Paris.
While I sometimes cut short or even skip the Friday run, especially if the Saturday one will be super long (as they will be in about a month or so), this is pretty much what I do and should be about 50K a week, which I think is the minimum you should be running cumulatively while training for a marathon. My goal is to run 200K this month. So far, I'm at 77K for August and should break 100 this weekend.
As my training progresses, the main change I'll make to this program is that the easy 12K will get a little longer, and I'll increase the distance up to 16K and it will become a steady pace run. The idea is that if I train myself at a steady pace, it will in theory take care of the first part of the marathon and prevent me from starting out too quickly (which I did in my last marathon). One of the other easy runs will also have to involve hills, since the second half of the marathon is supposed to be hilly (and frankly, after 30K, even a miniscule speed bump will seem like an imposing hill!)
This keeps me pretty busy, but will have to add cross training-- a second swim session would be good and maybe one spin class/cycling once a week. I also need to add circuit training once a week with a focus on abs and core work, since weight training is important. Not only for aesthetic reasons (it'll make me look good in a bathing suit!) but it helps you as a runner. After the Paris marathon, I was surprised that my core was sore, so it clearly wasn't strong enough to hold me up for 42.2K!
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