My trainer recently competed in a fitness competition and came in second place - as a treat she took the afternoon off, and had ice cream for dessert - returning to the gym the next morning
It has literally been one month since I attempted my first marathon and I am yet to have the motivation to do more than 5k. I suppose that is why she is the trainer; and I am on day 30 of watching Homeland and eating icing from a jar.
But alas; all good things must come to an end - and after today I will get back on the horse (aka treadmill, road) and get over my month long pity party :)
I feel no guilt - I deserved my month off (my trainer may feel differently) because I worked hard. I trained for 8 months for my first marathon - and kept it a secret! I spent 3 days a week at the gym and 1 or 2 days a week on the road, I did very, very, very early morning long runs alone, I stopped eating sweets, I lost toenails and my pride on occasion and survived it all so I will bask in the glory of butter cream icing for one more evening.
I decided last September that running a full Marathon would be on my 32 Things To Do While I am 32 list and started training shortly after. I also decided pretty promptly that I wanted this kept a secret, because I knew what a large goal I was embarking on. I am not new to running, having completed 5 half-marathons and many smaller distances in between; but I knew that the Marathon was a whole different type of challenge that would be very difficult to do and so I didn't want the added pressure of people asking me how training was going.
Because training for a marathon is all consuming -what you eat, how you train, when you sleep, how you sleep, what you ate for lunch 36hrs ago - it was very consuming and getting in the necessary distances on the road was very challenging with a toddler, a husband and a job. Let me tell you, no one is joking when they say Marathon running is 80% mental! That was definitely one of the hardest parts of training and I was blessed to have a coach that kept me in check when I so often was about to go off the deep end.
My longest run was 32km and I completed it just a couple weeks before the Marathon - it went very well and was a huge encouragement that I might actually be able to do this. The long runs felt very bizarre as I would be passing the Half Marathon mark and knowing I still had so far to go. The fact that I actually ran 4 Half Marathon distances (and more!) during training makes me want to go get my icing jar back out of the fridge.
Life doesn't take a backseat to training and I quickly learned that I needed to stay focused mentally in order to not get too discouraged in myself (have I mentioned I am a melancholic) when I missed workouts and long runs for various reasons.
But the bottom line is I showed up, I crossed the start line and I eventually crossed a finish line - the story of what happened in between is enough for a separate post so you can read all about it HERE.
Thanks to all those who knew my secret plan and didn't blink an eye when I drank multiple litres of water at work or stretched my calves during church. I appreciate your support more than you could ever imagine.
Now I am off to enjoy my last night as a non-runner - it will consist of taking a toddler around a yard full of fireflies, a long bath and a spoonful (or two) of icing before bed.
-B
Oh, I booked my hotel rooms this morning for the Cincinnati Marathon......just in case ;)
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