Recap of Week 3, Now Week 1, of Half Marathon Training
- Image by ScrappinMichele via Flickr
It still hasn’t really hit me that I’m training to run 13.1 miles. Every time I say it people look at me like, you? run 13.1 miles? Yeah, Good Luck with that! I’m still struggling with it. For me, visualization is HUGE. I need to see something to understand it. I can’t think in my head about running or think about how that room will look in red. I need to see it! That is my focus this week. To do what I can to get my mind on track.
I ran twice this last week and worked out once on my EA SPORTS Active. Next week I plan to add Yoga to my routine at night. Yoga always gets my mind and body in sync.
My body really wants to do this, but my mind keeps saying, “uh, can you really do it?” I haven’t convinced myself yet that I can and I know that until I believe it, it won’t be possible. Now, having said that, I really need to stop focusing on the 13.1 mile run. After 1 mile, I think “that would be 12.1 more miles to go.” After 2 miles “that would be 11.1 more miles to go.” I need to set smaller goals and forget about the 13.1 miles. It is 18 weeks from this Saturday. I have time to work towards that. AND, as I was talking to Fiona today I realized, I can walk 13.1 miles today. I know that I can do. It’s the running part that is tripping me up. So, why am I freaking out?
These are the steps I’m going to take this week.
1. Put my training schedule on my calendar. Seeing it each day will make it real. It’ll be my appointment and I’ll work everything else around it!
2. Run 2 – 20 minute runs during the week and 1 30 minute run on Sunday. My goal is to do a 60 min long run in 3 weeks.
3. Put up some pictures of me running. This will help me visualize myself as a runner and remember who I’m active for….ME!
4. Start using running podcasts during my runs to take my mind off the run. (Fiona suggested the JogTunes Indie Podcast)
You will also no longer see the words, “training for half marathon” on my weekly recaps. I’m going to rename my training, ScrappinMichele’s Active Training. I’m training for life, not a half marathon.
I have decided to use my daughter’s dance time to run. I usually sit in the waiting area and chat, but today, I will run at least 20 minutes. I’m going to go put my running clothes on right now (at 1:45 pm) because that way I’ll have no excuses… I’ll be ready!
Let’s Talk!
What mental hurdles do you have when tackling a new fitness goal?
Awesome! One of the things we’ll talk about on MomTV tomorrow night is “reframing” – when I spoke to you today and we talked about taking the distance and speed anxiety out of the game everything changed for you. You already had proof that could run for 40ish minutes and not die… and that was with fairly good exertion! If you can get yourself to think more in terms of time and not your pace it definitely makes things less scary, doesn’t it?
One of the things to remember is that this is about more than a 13.1 mile run! I love that you said training for life!
Me too! My hurdle last week was my health – allergies killed me and insomnia struck … I had about 3 days with no activity and that drives me stir crazy but at the same time makes it hard to push myself out the door to resume routine … but I knew if I started out walking i’d likely end up running …. again, it was about more than the run!
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