Where has the time gone? I meant to get this posted last week but time and circumstances have conspired to pile things up to such a degree my to-do list has it’s own to-do list! Not good!
So five weeks in and the initial euphoria was starting to wear off as I mentioned previously, and as is often the case, when you’re experiencing difficulties with one thing, then many others will very often appear to turn to crap as well… sod’s law or whatever you want to call it, this was the week that Hell decided to come calling at my door… and what a doozy it was… I don’t think one area of life was unaffected!
And then, just to add to the delights of the week, I had to slightly extend my longer run… 70 minutes along the freezing seafront… when it was attempting to rain/sleet/snow… into a nasty headwind that not only saw my baseball cap flying off (gave up on that in the end) and freeze my hands within 5 minutes but one that meant I couldn’t actually breathe when facing straight ahead. 35 minutes of that before I could turn around… there was a saving grace however… the weather was so crap and cold that it meant there was virtually no-one out… and therefore no-one to see the grimaces I pulled, the language I muttered… or the colour I turned!
It’s at times like these that finding positivity and maintaining focus is especially hard… time to be pleased with the small gains… health results that came back positive (or rather negative LOL), college work that went well, loving supportive friends and family, a fantastic personal trainer who on seeing the state of me on the Wednesday not only boosted my confidence but took the time out to give me a hug… and even of being grateful that I got to finish the cholera vaccinations (seriously… it does not taste like raspberry Andrews salts like they tell you it will!) which had been sitting in my fridge for a week. Probably a very good deterrent if anyone had wanted to raid it for chocolate…
Training for Week 6 included:
***lunchtime treadmill run of 30 minutes x 1
***PT session with Activate Plus PT x 1
***lunchtime outdoor run of 40 minutes x 1
***lunchtime treadmill run of 40 minutes x 1
***weekend run of 70 minutes x 1
***2 hour karate session
Total overall running: 19.45 miles / 180 minutes (3 hours)
Unfortunately the yoga had to get sacrificed yet again due to needing to leave the office early to get to the hospital, and much as I would have loved to do it afterwards, that was Tuesday and the worst day of Hell week and I had to go straight from hospital to college! A very long and hard day indeed. My Friday treadmill pace also was a bit slower but I put that down to the Cholera as I had the same reaction as the previous week… it’s obviously not something that agrees with me 😀
Overall, I was pleased with how the running progressed, how my hip handled the increase in exercise… and it held a valuable lesson in learning where and who I do and can learn on when I need some extra motivation to get me through the tougher times and just where my psychological challenges lie! I wonder how many other runners encounter weeks like this…
But it got done which is what matters… so to quote one of my Texan twitter friends (who happens to be in sports himself)… “I GOT THIS” 😉
A farmer had some puppies he needed to sell. He painted a sign advertising the 4 pups and set about nailing it to a post on the edge of his yard. As he was driving the last nail into the post, he felt a tug on his overalls. He looked down into the eyes of a little boy.”Mister,” he said, “I want to buy one of your puppies.””Well,” said the farmer, as he rubbed the sweat off the back of his neck, “These puppies come from fine parents and cost a good deal of money.”The boy dropped his head for a moment. Then reaching deep into his pocket, he pulled out a handful of change and held it up to the farmer.”I’ve got thirty-nine cents. Is that enough to take a look?””Sure,” said the farmer. And with that he let out a whistle. “Here, Dolly!” he called.Out from the doghouse and down the ramp ran Dolly followed by four little balls of fur.
The little boy pressed his face against the chain link fence. His eyes danced with delight. As the dogs made their way to the fence, the little boy noticed something else stirring inside the doghouse.
Slowly another little ball appeared, this one noticeably smaller. Down the ramp it slid. Then in a somewhat awkward manner, the little pup began hobbling toward the others, doing its best to catch up…
“I want that one,” the little boy said, pointing to the runt. The farmer knelt down at the boy’s side and said, “Son, you don’t want that puppy. He will never be able to run and play with you like these other dogs would.”
With that the little boy stepped back from the fence, reached down, and began rolling up one leg of his trousers.
In doing so he revealed a steel brace running down both sides of his leg attaching itself to a specially made shoe.
Looking back up at the farmer, he said, “You see sir, I don’t run too well myself, and he will need someone who understands.”
With tears in his eyes, the farmer reached down and picked up the little pup. Holding it carefully he handed it to the little boy.
“How much?” asked the little boy. “No charge,” answered the farmer, “There’s no charge for love.”
I got flowers today.
It wasn’t my birthday or any other special day.
We had our first argument last night,
And he said a lot of cruel things that really hurt me.
I know he is sorry and didn’t mean the things he said.
Because he sent me flowers today.
I got flowers today.
It wasn’t our anniversary any other special day.
Last night, he threw me into a wall and started to choke me.
It seemed like a nightmare.
I couldn’t believe it was real.
I woke up this morning sore and bruised all over.
I know he must be sorry.
Because he sent me flowers today.
I got flowers today,
and it wasn’t Mother’s Day or any other special day.
Last night, he beat me up again.
And it was much worse than all the other times.
If I leave him, what will I do?
How will I take care of my kids?
What about money?
I’m afraid of him and scared to leave.
But I know he must be sorry.
Because he sent me flowers today.
I got flowers today.
Today was a very special day.
It was the day of my funeral.
Last night, he finally killed me.
He beat me to death.
If only I had gathered enough courage and strength to leave him,
I would not have gotten flowers…today.
And so the initial euphoria has started to wear off, aches and pains getting ramped up a bit… people actually enjoy this?
Just joking… well not the first two bits, they’re definitely true… but I am strangely getting a bit hooked. Before, I would have begged to stay on the treadmill, in the nice warm gym, with all the equipment and most especially the foam rollers that I have to use on my legs afterwards due to past issues. But now… now I’d really rather be outside… even if it’s raining a bit… not if the heavens have opened obviously… or if it’s icy, I have no wish to stack it and end up on crutches… been down that road already and it was not pleasant.
So this week’s training had to be adjusted slightly! Vaccination time! Which meant leaving the office early therefore working through a lunch break instead of running. Doesn’t this look like fun!
Training has included:
***lunchtime treadmill run of 30 minutes x 1
***PT session with Activate Plus PT x 1
***lunchtime outdoor run of 40 minutes x 1
***lunchtime treadmill run of 40 minutes x 1
***weekend run of 60 minutes x 1
Total overall running: 18.43 miles / 170 minutes (2 hour 50 minutes)
To ensure I got my 4 runs in this week, that meant I had to sacrifice something else… so the yoga got kicked to the kerb. Not ideal given I love it and it’s vital for me to keep in so as to stay running healthy (according to my Coach who knows more than a bit about this kind of stuff!). And I had a wee bit of a reaction to some of the vaccinations: the usual very sore arms, a bit of a flu-like reaction and also some lovely nausea thanks to a wonderful one you had to drink, although that didn’t compare to the feeling of almost meeting the floor… I believe the term is Orthostatic Hypotension… sounds kinda cool, but doesn’t feel it. It’s basically that dizziness, where you stand up too quickly and can be attributable to many things such as low blood sugar or over-exertion like running too far too fast (I blame the vaccinations personally rather than running too fast although I did manage to get my first 2 miles that day done in just under a 9 minute mile average *happy days*). And since I was due to go do some karate training, I figured it wise to kick that to the kerb as well. There’s pushing through with a train hard attitude and then there’s pushing through with a stupidity attitude. Having done both in the past, I know which one I choose these days. Saturday thankfully was a full rest day from exercise with the longer run being done on Sunday.
Overall, I’m pleased with how I’ve managed to bring my average pace down especially since I’m new to training in running, and was a bit disappointed that I didn’t improve my pace on today’s run. Still, dropping the pace a bit to work on breathing was probably a very good lesson for me to learn. Looking forward to next week where I get to increase my longer run again.
Wow… Week 4 has now finished. It doesn’t actually seem as if almost a whole month has passed…
So this week has been a little different in that aches and pains have started to kick in and I was rather worried at one point when I thought my ankle was going to give me real problems. Aches and pains are one thing, but when it’s joint problems, that’s something to really be careful with! Thankfully it’s eased off a fair bit but it did mean I took it easier and left the karate session after an hour of kihon, although sitting and moving in neko ashi dachi (cat stance) probably didn’t do me many favours either! Anyway, another busy week including going along to meet some other folks who will be participating in Sierra Leone and extra time spent at work, never a dull moment 🙂
Training has included:
***lunchtime yoga session x 1
***lunchtime treadmill run of 40 minutes x 1
***PT session with Activate Plus PT x 1
***lunchtime outdoor run of 30 minutes x 1
***lunchtime treadmill run of 30 minutes x 1
***1 hour karate session x 1
***weekend run of 60 minutes x 1
Total overall running: 17 miles / 160 minutes (2 hour 40 minutes)
And how did it feel?
As mentioned, I’ve had some aches and pains, a dodgy ankle and the weather hasn’t helped. It’s been absolutely chucking it down in London which wouldn’t normally have stopped me but the route I take wouldn’t be safe as I run part of the way near water: not so much worried about falling in, but I use an app on my phone to track the distance and I definitely don’t want to damage that! Priorities of course 😉 and then there was today’s weather. Windy, cold and attempted snow/rain. Just the weather you want to run in on along a seafront! Still, needs must so it got done and I was happily surprised to not only not end up in a total heap at the end, but also managed to slightly increase my average pace. And add to that my first 6 miler, which I didn’t realise until adding up the distances, I actually hit just over my first ever 10K run! Happy days! Let’s see what Week 5 brings!
You can’t be all things to all people.
You can’t do all things at once.
You can’t do all things equally well.
You can’t do all things better than everyone else.
You are human like everyone else.
So. . . .
Find out who you are, and be that.
Decide what comes first, and do that.
Discover your strengths, and use them.
Learn not to compete with others,
because no one else is in the contest of being you.
Then you’ll have. . . .
Learned to accept your uniqueness.
Learned to set priorities and make decisions.
Learned to live with your limitations.
Learned to give yourself the respect that is due.
And you’ll be a most vital mortal.
Dare To Believe. . . .
You’re are a wonderful, unique person.
You’re a once-in-all-history event.
That it’s more than a right to be who you are.
That life is not a problem to solve,
but a gift to cherish.
And you’ll be able to stay one up
on anything that tries to get you down.
Posted by Dreamweaver Consulting 
Dreamweaver Consulting 