Cutting Myself Some Slack (Army Ten Miler Training)

Posted on October 19, 2012 by Coco

Well, it’s finally race weekend!

I feel like I slacked off on my training this week, but looking back I think I did pretty well considering all the other things I had to do.

Monday
AM dog walk: 1 mile
Neighborhood run: 5 miles (avg page 9:40)

Tuesday
AM dog walk: 1 mile
30 min physical therapy exercises
I had my two month post-discharge check-up and everything is looking good!
More motivation to keep doing those damn planks!

Wednesday
AM dog walk: 1 mile
30 min elliptical
60 min yoga

https://twitter.com/UsuallyStephani/status/258161298695675904

When I saw that Stephanie was teaching a morning yoga class near my office, I decided to rearrange my schedule so I could go. Between the 5 hours I spent taking my son to doctors’ appointments on Monday, the 5 hours I spent driving him back to college on Tuesday, and the 5-hour round-trip drive I was making to Charlottesville on Thursday and Friday, I figured my body really would appreciate a good yoga session. It was a great class and so much fun to meet Stephanie in person!

Thursday
AM dog walk: 1 mile
Treadmill tempo run: 5 min w/u, 30 min @ 6.3 mph, 5 min c/d
I planned to run 3 miles as my last run before the ATM, but it still felt like I was slacking since I usually spend 45-50 min on the treadmill.

Friday (Courtyard Marriott, Charlottesville)
It wouldn’t be October without another business trip! This hotel gym was very small, but the equipment it had was top-notch.

I warmed up on the elliptical for 10 minutes.

Then I did my planks and upper body strength routine.

Tomorrow I plan to do one of the programs on my Rodney Yee A.M. Yoga For Your Week DVD–and walk my dog of course!

I started making my race-day list:

Is there anything I’m forgetting?

I plan to wear my new Mizunos, which are exactly the same as my old Mizunos, right down to the color. They felt 100% comfortable during my two runs this week.

Do you think that’s risky?

 

Posted in Fitness, Training Log | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

The Dog Who Ate The Pie

Posted on October 17, 2012 by Coco

This is the dog

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who ate the pie

while I was buying new Mizunos

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for the Army Ten Miler.

At least she can’t get to my apple pie cinnamon Chobani!

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Has your dog ever gotten into the food you made for a special occasion?

Posted in Food, Life | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

Preparing To Race The Army Ten Miler

Posted on October 16, 2012 by Coco

Last week Mary (Food & Fun On The Run) wrote a great post about why she PR’d at the Chicago Marathon. I also enjoyed Carrie’s post (on Family Fitness Food) about her Half Marathon preparations. These inspiring women got me thinking about what I can do this week to prepare for the Army Ten Miler.

My training is just about wrapped up, but my racing preparations need to start now.

1.  First and foremost, I need to get more sleep this week.

That will be easier after I take my son back to college at the end of his Fall Break!

2. I also need to focus on my diet, and eat well. Both Mary and Carrie mentioned cutting back on fiber, which I’ve never thought of, even after sufferring horrible postrace GI issues. I usually eat a pretty high fiber diet, so this week I will try to cut back–but not too much!

3. I usually try to drink plenty of water the day before a race, but I have slacked off on my water consumption lately, and probably should spend the whole week trying to drink more water.

I will try to remember to use my Waterlogged app to keep track!

My three biggest challenges this week:

  1. Managing work stress, so I can get enough sleep!
  2. Driving my son back to college–5+ hours in the car. 🙁
  3. A late-week, out-of-town business trip.

How do you prepare for a race?

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Why I Race

Posted on October 15, 2012 by Coco

Last week Carla wrote on MizFitOnline about why she doesn’t compete in athletic events, and Roni wrote on Just Roni about why she does. I’ve been mulling the same question for a while.

It’s not about the t-shirts.

Or the finisher’s medals.

It’s not about the post-race food.

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Except when it is.

It’s not about winning–that only happened once!

It’s a little bit of this–training and racing with friends.

But mostly–for me–it’s this.

Having a race on the calendar makes me more disciplined about my workouts.
I make more of an effort to fit in my workouts even when my schedule gets crazy.
I am less susceptible to the snooze button (except when I’m not!).
I do more challenging workouts–speed intervals, hill repeats.
I make more of an effort to stretch and use my foam roller.
Having a race on the calendar gives me a tangible reason to make myself a priority
when I am faced with competing demands on my time.
Having a race on the calendar forces me to set goals and follow a plan to reach them.


So I can cross the finish line smiling.

Why do you race?

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The Both/And Of Jesus

Posted on October 14, 2012 by Coco

I first read about “both/and” thinking in O[prah] magazine a few years ago. Instead of approaching a situation/person/problem/issue from an “either-or” perspective, “both/and” thinking asks us to consider whether the possibilities that we are weighing as alternatives might both be true. As Martha Beck wrote in the O article:

What makes a both-and mind-set so powerful is that it takes you beyond the two choices you thought you had. It opens up new, previously unseen possibilities and opportunities.

(Karen C. L. Anderson has written several blog posts on this perspective, including one that touches on the same Martha Beck article.)

Last week, the priest at the church I was visiting brought this way of thinking to the Gospel, and explained the both/and of Jesus.

Jesus calls us to live a much better life than we live. Jesus tells us to love not just our families and friends, but our neighbors and even our enemies. Jesus says we should give not only what we can afford, but the food from our tables and the shirt off our backs. Jesus warns that we are not only not to commit adultery, we shouldn’t even think about it–and I imagine the same goes for the other “shall nots” of the Ten Commandments!

The both/and of Jesus is that He loves us truly, deeply and unconditionally no matter how much we fall short of these ideals. He befriended and blessed tax-collectors, prostitutes, lepers, Samaritans, and other “untouchables” of his day. He greeted them not with shame or disappointment, but with love and acceptance.  He loved them–and He loves us–with full knowledge that they–and we–fall short of the ideals He calls us to. His love and our shortcomings are not either-or, they are both/and.

One of the topics at Fitbloggin’ was self-acceptance, and the difficulty of reconciling self-acceptance with self-improvement. Perhaps Jesus gives us an example of the both/and of self-acceptance and self-improvement. Just as Jesus loves us despite our faults while at the same time calling us to live better lives, we can love–or at least accept–ourselves, while still striving towards self-improvement. Jesus both loves us as we are and invites us to take up our crosses and follow Him.

Posted in My Faith | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments