Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Long Winded Today

Three messages - I guess I have lots to say!

I have decided to make Blue Lake a duathlon race for me, not triathlon.  I'm putting a lot of energy into getting ready for my half-marathon, and if I tried to add the swim in there, lacking as my skills are at this point (not a lie!), I'd take away from the goals I've set for this year.  I have plenty of time/years to work toward the full triathlon goal, and do it sensibly.  So, this year it's run/bike/run.
 
Every day seems easier, and I'm really loving this life choice.  And, I love that I have such a great support group - growing in size and quality.  (If you're reading this - that includes you!)
 
I've also chosen my 40th birthday marathon (2/2013).  The Birch Bay Marathon and Half (Birch Bay, WA), has no time limit - everyone gets to finish!  The date isn't set yet, but I think it's President's Day Weekend - the weekend before my birthday.  I'm looking for some folks to commit to go with me.  (There IS a half, if you're not ready to commit to the full.)  Will you join me?  (DS has said he will!)
 
And, as always, I'm LIVING MY FIT DREAMS, as I weed out the lies and plant new life.  (Shall I put an Easter plug in here?  New Life!)

New Life

The other day, DS and I were talking about his mile time (under 8 min), and I said to him, "Can you run the whole thing?"  He said, yes.  He couldn't believe that I hadn't been able to do it yet.  Though he’s young (17), he said he only works out once a week at ROTC, and whatnot. And he challenged, how can I - working out HARD five days per week - NOT be able to do it.  Whatever!

So, yesterday at lunch, I thought I'd at least try.  My training plan said 3 x 1 mile @ 5-10K pace.  So, I thought I'd at least try to run the first one.  Low and behold I was able to do it (9:50).  I walked for 7 minutes, then did my second one (12:35).  I was pooped, but after another 7 minutes, tried for my third.  I tanked about 1/2 way, and ended up walking 1/4 mile - but kicked it out for the last 1/4 - for 13:58.  Not terribly fantastic, but better than my 14:45 normal walking pace.

Got back to my desk & looked at Facebook - someone had posted a picture that says, "Whether it is a 14 minute mile or a 7 minute mile, it is still a mile."  Darned right!

I've been doing great endurance-wise.  I'm up to 9 miles this Saturday.  Even if my 1/2 marathon was this week - I know I could do the whole distance, and even in the time limit (4 hrs).  Truly, at this point, I even believe that I could do a marathon!

So, after my amazing RUN, I still had to go to my first night of "Tri with Karen."  I wasn't sure what to expect - all the sheet said was "easy group ride to Prairie Tavern."  Not having a bike rack yet, though - I knew I'd have to ride to the studio and back - not a big deal, as it's three flat miles each way.

Well, I got to the studio, and besides Karen and Elba (the owners), there were only two other gals - both my age-ish.  One gal did this program last year, and admitted that on the first ride last year she'd had to push her bike up the bike-path hill.  (I already knew I could handle the hill, albeit slowly.)  The other gal hasn't done anything like this before, either.  There will be a third gal joining us some weeks, but she isn't going to do the event - she's just using the program for her workouts.  So, all in all, a well-matched group for me, I think!

On the way out, I did well at keeping pace with the group.  The hill was a bugger, but no harder for me than anything else.  At the tavern (outside, not in – LOL!), we stopped for a breather, water, etc.  I struggled a bit more with the hill (it's shorter/steeper on the return) and fell to the back of the group - but still felt good about my pace.  I ended up riding 12.5 miles total.

Anyway - it was so great to have finished my first brick day!  (“Brick” is a fancy way of saying “I did TWO workouts today.”) My knees are talking today, but I have an easy three-mile day - which I'm going to walk - and a massage tonight.  (Another lie weeded out…I’m WORTH the time & expense for acupuncture & massage as it keeps me moving!)

Weeding out Lies

This can be cliché, but we are often our own worst enemies.  The lies that are firmly rooted in our brains tend to strangle out the roots of the new ideas we try to plant.  I’ve had a week of “weeding” out some of those problems.

It all started with a conversation with a friend – who herself has a weight struggle – and has been one of my most steadfast supporters on this journey. 

Friend: I realized – while I am ready for change and have been for quite a while my hindrance is that I don’t believe I can succeed.  So even though I have all the tools I need to be successful I don’t do those things because I don’t believe it will work for me.  Funny – we’re talking about faith in church and one of the things that the Pastor keeps saying is that you won’t get the results you want if you’re believing wrong about something.  For example – you’re not likely to receive healing if you don’t believe it’s God’s will to heal you even if you’d like to be healed.  It works the same for the weight loss I think – even though I want to lose weight I don’t believe I can and so I don’t take the steps I know I should (and can) because I don’t believe it will make any difference.  So, guess I need to work on my “believer.”
Me: I know EXACTLY what you mean there.  DH asked me not long ago, “Could you have lost the weight without the surgery?”  I said, “No, because I didn’t think I had it in me.”  The tool was my crutch – but also my rope from the bottom of the canyon.  No, I shouldn’t have NEEDED the surgery – but it was what made me finally think I could be successful.  I did still have to climb out, though.  I do understand your mindset here. 
Friend: Interesting choice of terms – Pastor just said last week – God doesn’t mind if you use a crutch while you’re getting your mindset correctly.  Sometimes crutches are what it takes to get us from unbelieving to believing, from doubt to faith.
We’ve probably talked about this before (when it was you rather than me…) but did you know that the “problem” was that you didn’t believe you could be successful and what did you do to deal with that, surgery aside.  I’m trying to stop running myself down for failed past attempts and all that and put into practice the things I know are true and will work but what I’ve found in my brain is that I’m looking for that one “thing” that will ensure my success because I’m so tired of failing.
Me: No, I didn’t know that that was the problem.  My mindset was always “If I could just get over the hump – pain wise – I could do this.”  Which, in my case, proved to be very true.  My pain isn’t all gone, but the helping hand of surgery did help me get over several humps – past weights which I previously couldn’t hurdle, past the bulk of my plantar fasciitis, etc.  But, I’m also of the mindset that “I don’t want to be another statistic.”  I see too many people have this surgery and end up gaining it back. 
I was very clear in my purpose – this was so I could LIVE MY FIT DREAMS.  (That’s not just my blog tag line – but truly my intention.)  In fact, I talked to my acupuncture gal today about that – my “new” fear – what if I can’t accomplish these dreams because of injury, etc.  She reminded me that I’m so enjoying the JOURNEY that it really shouldn’t be an issue.  I might have to change the sport of choice – but that opens new adventures, too.
Unfortunately, we all have such different head stuff – but to the same end.
After these discussions regarding belief, I had opportunity to find out if I was really ready, myself, to put some things to the test.  (See next post – this one is too long!)