Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Just some Tuesday Night Tidbits!

Hi friends.

I know it's been a while since I've blogged. I have to admit that August has been pretty sluggish in terms of my running (and, to be fair, it's not just the running that's been sluggish).

Tonight I went for a short easy run even though it's like 90 degrees out. I was taking my cool shower, still feeling those workout endorphins, thinking - this is why people do it. That post-workout feeling of being so refreshed, recharged, alive. It makes me feel so far away from the same person who, on other nights, just comes home and does nothing. Who IS that girl, and why would she ever be lazy when she could go for a run and feel like this?

I know people say it's best to work out in the morning, and I'm sure I'll see why once I start making myself do just that. But, I have to say, I am on Team Evening Workout. I like it a lot. It is the perfect pick-me-up after a long day of sitting in front of a computer screen, which leaves me feeling so drained every day. I'm actually eager to work out a lot of days after leaving the office. A quick workout at the end of the day gives me a burst of energy to be productive for the rest of the evening, and helps me sleep better that night.

Also, I just purchased a little running inspiration! I found out about this Etsy shop called "Running on the Wall," and once I checked it out I fell in love with this:


....and now, a few bucks later, it's on it's way! It's a cute wall decoration AND a great way to save race bibs while keeping them organized. Plus, looking at that empty medal rack every day will just motivate me to go out there and FILL IT! Maybe money can't buy happiness, but it can buy inspiration!

You know how I found out about this shop? Kimmy Gibler from Full House is actually a big runner in real life these days. I was reading her Twitter and she had a pic of this that she has in her own room, brimming with medals and race bibs. Alright, Gibbler!

Well, that's all for now. Just wanted to shoot off an entry since I haven't posted in a while. I hope you all are doing well!

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

My Half Marathon Training Schedule!

With the help of several friends and templates I found on Pinterest, I have finally compiled a skeleton of a training schedule for myself!

The best schedules I found had a good balance of running and other exercise like cardio, strength training, and yoga. It's a lot to take on for someone who is not used to frequent, regimented exercise, but I definitely wanted to include all of these in my training to stay well rounded. But I still wanted to make sure that running was the dominant player in my training, of course.

Also, most of the training schedules I found include different types of running: long runs, slow and steady runs, "tempo" runs, etc. I tried to incorporate as many of these into the schedule as I could.

In the end, there just aren't enough days in the week to cram in everything I'd like to do. I decided that some things I would do every week, and some I would have to alternate between weeks. I also tried to keep the schedule the same for each week.

  • Monday - Yoga OR easy run
  • Tuesday - Easy run OR yoga
  • Wednesday - Hills or tempo or sprint/walk running (alternate)
  • Thursday - Cardio/strength train OR REST
  • Friday - REST OR Cardio/strength train
  • Saturday - Long Run
  • Sunday - REST

So, a sample week might look like this:

  • Monday: Easy run, 3 miles
  • Tuesday: Yoga class
  • Wednesday: Tempo run, 3 miles
  • Thursday: Swimming
  • Friday: REST
  • Saturday: 6 miles
  • Sunday: REST

I am still hashing out the week-by-week schedule; obviously, with my half marathon nine months away, I've got some time. This is actually the big challenge I'm having with compiling a training plan: it's so far away still. No training plan I've come across has catered to a half marathon that's so far in the future. That's why my friend Kelsey's training plan was such a huge help to me: it schedules about 6 months out, which is much closer to the time frame I'm looking at. Most schedules I come across are 12-week plans. So what I've had to do is find a way to "stretch" them out to accommodate my longer training time. My plan is to do this by 1) repeating some weeks verbatim in the beginning of my training - instead of going from 3 to 3.5 miles on my runs, for example, I just stay at 3; and 2) shortening some of my weeks in the beginning, for example, cutting out the yoga class and the easy run from the example above.

Another idea I have is for the earlier weeks to have a heavier focus on the variety exercise like cardio and strength training, and then have these things gradually taper off (but not disappear) so I can focus more on the running.

So, here is what I still need to do:
  1. Come up with a final schedule
  2. Figure out what to do for strength training


Thanks so much to everyone who has helped and offered to help so far. It means a lot to me that so many people are supportive of my journey and willing to run it with me, even if only figuratively :-)

If anyone has suggestions for what I should modify about or add to my training plan, PLEASE let me know. I could use all the help I can get!

Monday, August 12, 2013

Overcoming Doubt with Inspiration: Shawn Johnson, Liz Murray, and the power of little epiphanies

Lately, as I've been lacing up for my running, I've felt the excitement and confidence of my new goal being pushed aside by something else: doubt. I just can't picture myself running 13 miles when I can barely huff and puff my way through 3. Is this even physically possible? How will I stick with this? Because the idea of me running that long without stopping seems like science fiction at this point.

I know this sounds really stupid and petty, but I had this secret hope that I could just burst onto the scene and wow everyone with how fast I was and win all these races and stuff. Then I realized how many people I know are runners, and how many of them have been running much longer than I have, and how many of them have already achieved my goals, multiple times, and with better times than I'm likely to get. It made me feel so discouraged. I'm not special, I realized, and there will always be someone I know who is faster than I am. I'm not going to be in the top finishers of the next race I run, or the one after that, or the one after that. I have to remind myself that these people, and the friends I have who are better than me, have been working hard for years, have run many races and only slowly, steadily gotten better. It takes years - lifetimes, even - for elite athletes and other successful people to get to the top. I've been at it for....a month.

I know how ridiculous it sounds that I thought I could just spring up out of nowhere and be better than people who have been doing this for years. And maybe I deserve to be judged for that. But hopefully, before judging, the people reading this will also recall a time in their own lives when they were so excited about a new goal that they momentarily forgot about reality.



As I was cruisin' along through Discouragedville, a moment of clarity suddenly and rudely forced its way to the front of my long line of doubts. I asked myself: what's the worst that could happen? Let's say I try my hardest and I'm still not as good as everyone else, I don't get a good time, I don't "beat" my peers. If those things don't happen, what, at the end of the day, will still be true? Let's see:
  1.  I will have accomplished my goal of completing a half-marathon
  2. I will be in great shape and reaping the benefits of continuous exercise
  3. I will have accomplished something that many, many people haven't
  4. I will have proven myself wrong, and will be a better person for it
So even if I'm still the slowest, least-decorated runner I know, I will have accomplished so much for myself. Kind of puts all my discouragement and misplaced competitiveness into perspective, eh?


I want to share some other examples that give me inspiration in the face of doubt. Hopefully these ladies can inspire you, too, whatever your goals may be.

1. Shawn Johnson
You've probably heard of Shawn, the now-retired American gymnast who won the silver medal in the All-Around at the 2008 Olympics. Like every gymnast, Shawn's lifelong goal was to be the Olympic All-Around champion. In one of the more candid moments of her autobiography, Winning Balance, Shawn describes the exact moment during the competition when, as she waited to begin her final routine, she saw her teammate Nastia Liukin's score flash onto the scoreboard and she realized, in front of millions of people, that the goal she'd worked her entire life for was mathematically impossible. She would not win the gold medal. Of course, it decimated her and all she could feel was frustration and hopelessness: why bother, she thought. But then, in the seconds before her routine began, she pulled herself together as she realized: I'm at the Olympics, representing my country. I can't control my scores, and I can't control the fact that I can no longer win the gold medal. But I can go out there and give the routine of my life and show everyone why I am still the best gymnast in the world. I can't win this gold medal, but I can win the hearts and minds of all the fans watching me right now. And she did. Shawn would go on to win gold in another event, but she says she wouldn't trade her All-Around silver medal for anything. "I won the All-Around in the way that meant the most to me," she said.

Now, I wouldn't even dream of comparing my goal to Shawn's accomplishments. But this moment from her life is a great reminder that I don't have to be the best to do my best. I don't have to win or beat others to show people what I'm made of. People will respect you for working hard, giving it your all, and having a good spirit throughout. There are different ways to win.

2. Liz Murray
Another place I recently found inspiration was the autobiography Breaking Night: My Journey from Homeless to Harvard. The title sums it up pretty well: Liz Murray tells us her story of going from homeless by age 13, to eventually getting a NY Times scholarship and being admitted to the most prestigious school in the world. She notes that when she was interviewing for the scholarship and applying to Harvard, she really had no idea how nervous she ought to be, how hugely significant these endeavors were, or the enormity of the odds against her. In retrospect, Liz says, one of the reasons she was successful in both of these pursuits was that she didn't know what a big deal they were. If she had known how competitive that scholarship was or how unlikely it is to get into Harvard, she would have gotten discouraged and doubtful and talked herself out of the things she was working so hard for.

I, on the other hand, can't go back an unlearn what I know about the larger context of my goals. But I can choose to block all of that out and, like Liz, focus on what actually matters: working for my goals, achieving something for myself, and making myself better.

I still get doubtful and discouraged sometimes. But with the inspiration of Shawn, Liz, my own epiphanies, and the supportive people in my life, I am getting past my insecurities so I can focus on what really matters.




If any of my runner friends are reading this, I'd love to hear from you about how you overcome doubt and where you get inspiration. Pass it on! :)