01.28.08
Posted in Andy's living testimonial at 2:14 pm by Andy
I have a theory that if it were customary to make “New Year’s” type resolutions in April or May, they’d be easier to stick to. Trying to maintain or restart an exercise regimen seems devilishly difficult in these short, cold, dark days.
After I completed my half marathon last October, I had some pains in my legs and feet. I decided that after my Thanksgiving Day race, I’d take some time off to heal. The month I refrained from running did wonders for my recovery, I felt great. But my fitness, which I had worked hard to build and improve in 2007, was hit hard. I still had my weekly outings to Equivita, but did not have the additional three to five days per week of extensive cardio work.
I completed 2007 with a few short runs of two to three miles each, and decided I would try to be smart with my restart and not go too fast or long too soon. I knew that with the cold weather this would be an easy goal to overachieve! Of course the danger was that sub-freezing temps combined with the winter-blahs would take an already bare-bones approach to couch potato status. But slowly, one short run per week turned into two, and finally a week of three short runs this past week.
My run last Friday was one of those perfect runs that I dream about. The pace was easy, and I felt like I could go forever. 4.2 miles isn’t forever, but it is my longest run since October 21st, so it’s something. At only 20 degrees, I was bundled up good, but I felt like I had physically and mentally battled the elements and won.
The physical “win” was nice, but the mental “win” was key for me. For me, physical training means very little without the mental strength to apply what my muscles have learned. And lately, that’s been a struggle for me. Physically, I’m able; mentally, unwilling.
I’m wondering if this has been a hidden key in my last two workouts at Equivita: pushing my body beyond what is comfortable, and beyond what I think I can do. Maybe the same principle applies to mental strength as I imagine it does for physical strength: to get stronger you have to stretch your limits.
Mental toughness is key for a distance runner, and being the stubborn person I am, I imagine I can use all the supplementary education available to me. When I consider the fact that I haven’t exactly chosen the easiest goal race, I appreciate the opportunity to prepare on many fronts simultaneously.
This isn’t to say that any of this has been or will be easy. Thoughts of self-doubt, anger, and fear are ever-present while being pushed by the staff at Equivita. But when the workout is done and I perform the body status check to find I’m still pumping blood and have a functioning brain, I’m amazed at what I’ve accomplished.
My plan for the upcoming week is to get in three runs of 2.5 to 3 miles each, plus another “stubbornness education seminar” at Equivita. Small growth each week will ensure steady progress and will make my November goal attainable.
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01.16.08
Posted in Andy's living testimonial at 8:13 pm by Andy
In so many of life’s pursuits, it could be said that the toughest part of the entire process is getting started. Sure, there may be trials and tribulations along the road once you’ve chosen a path, but it’s very difficult to be a beginner. This is true in the fitness realm, and it’s also true of the writing I’m going to be doing for this recurring column. Adam approached me about doing this about a month ago, and I’m just now getting around to hammering out the first paragraph.
But first, what is “this”? Well, in its physical form it might be considered an online journal, or a blog if you like that word. In my mind, I think “this” will be best described as a Living Testimonial. It will be a testimonial in that I will talk from time to time about my experiences at Equivita and how they have helped to shape the path I take to reach my goals. Many testimonials I’ve read are static, solicited after a positive experience has occurred, and they don’t change (once they’re up, there they are). There’s nothing wrong with this method, but we wanted to try something different. For this “Living Testimonial”, I’m going to begin writing before I know what happens, and take you (the reader) along with me for the journey.
“So what’s the goal,” you ask? I’ll tell you a little story that will explain how I got to where I am today, call it the Testimonial Prologue if you like, and that will conclude this first segment.
Those of you who know me personally know that I’ve taken up running in the last two years, to varying degrees of success and failure. Growing up, I did not run very much at all. I did the required mile run in my Physical Education classes, but nothing longer. I remember once in my junior year of high school I decided I wanted to start running for fun, but I had the impression that it had to be done in the morning before school (not true) and that I had to run the whole run as fast as I could (also not true). It should go without saying that I lasted all of one day.
Fast forward ten years, when shortly before my 28th birthday I was asked if I wanted to run in the Komen 5-K race held every May in downtown Columbus. I thought it sounded fun, so I agreed and started training. In three months, I progressed from barely being able to run half a mile without losing my breath to finishing my first-ever race, and while I wouldn’t say I was hooked at that time, I realized that running could be fun.
Last year I trained for my first half marathon, and finished the Columbus Half Marathon under my goal time, with a lot of advice and encouragement from the staff at Equivita. Another part of my personal “training team” is a group of folks that use the same online running log that I use. Some of these people are very experienced, and some are no faster or slower than I am. One thing they have in common with me is that they love running (and these people run a lot!).
I knew when I completed my half marathon that I wanted to do a full, and that 2008 would probably be the time for my first. The big question was: which race to run? The obvious choice would be the Columbus Marathon in October. It’s very well organized and respected, close to home, and seems well-suited to be the course for a first-time effort at 26.2 miles. But I didn’t want to settle for the first thing that fell into my lap. You only get one shot at a first marathon, and I wanted to make sure I was choosing the right race for me. I would have to at least consider other options.
Columbus was a default top-five choice. What about other big races? Chicago is in the fall, and I could try and win the lottery for New York. There are other races closer to home throughout the year of varying sizes: the Flying Pig in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Akron, and the United States Air Force Marathon in Dayton to name a few. But with all due respect to these fine races (which I very well may run someday), none of them spoke to me personally.
One of the gentlemen I know through the online “training” group is the race director for a small marathon (200 runners) in Nashville, the Harpeth Hills Flying Monkey Marathon. When we took our annual vacation to northern Tennessee, my friend and I made the two-hour trip to Nashville to run part of the course with the race director. If you’ve never been to middle Tennessee, I can sum up the differences between there and central Ohio with this statement: it has hills. I’d never been so exhausted after a run as I was that day, and I loved it. The Flying Monkey was in November, so I would have plenty of time to train. And the course is devilishly hard, which appeals to my nature of overdoing things. I could take the slightly easier path and run a flat course for my first time, but adding in the technical challenges of the hills and the scenery of the course seemed like a natural thing to do.
So now you know the goal, and I’m really hoping you’ll follow along in my journey. One of the things that I’m hoping I’ll be able to illustrate with this living testimonial is that the good and bad happen to everyone regardless of one’s experience or goals and that you can respond effectively to any situation.
November 23, 2008, here we come.
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