Yes, I’ve been scared to run!

I love running.....so why have I been so scared to do it?

Since starting a new job in March, my tweeting, blogging, and running have been sporadic to say the least. I went from running 40 miles a week to not running for weeks at a time. I was able to squeeze in enough training to run my first marathon in May, do an open water swim in June, and then eeked through a sprint triathlon in August. But I was so slow on the bike that I was one of the last people on the course! 

I thought the sprint tri would reinvigorate my training, especially with the London Triathlon coming up, but it didn’t. Post-tri I did well for about a week, but then crazy work hours and travel got in the way once again. After struggling so much on the bike in Seaford and not being able to get any more training in....I reluctantly withdrew from the London Tri. Well....I was reluctant, but very relieved. 

Once I withdrew from the London Tri, I should have just run for fun whenever I had the time. Randomly during the week when I could and on weekends, definitely. No pressure, right? But instead I avoided it. Partly because I knew that I was out of shape. But mostly because I was scared. 

Yes, scared to run.

Scared to start clawing back some of my fitness only to have to lose it again when things got crazy at work. Scared to feel the stress of not being able to train when I had a race coming up (even though I had no races planned). Scared to feel like I was running for the first time ever.

Typical work stress and trying to fit my running around work had turned something I loved into something I dreaded. Suddenly I was scared....I just didn’t want to do it. 

Irrational and stoopid, I know. And an all-around poor excuse. I see so many of you with such an amazing commitment to getting it done. Day after day, getting up hours before sunrise, going on runs at the office, running at night after dinner! How do you guys do it?!

So the bottom line of all this fear and whinging is I haven’t been very good at fitting running around work, despite my efforts to become a dedicated member of the 6am club before I ended my career break. I don’t think it’s going to get any easier, but I finally hit the point where the stress of not running finally outweighed the stress of finding time to run. (Okay, the fact that I couldn’t get one of my skirts over my butt the other day was probably another contributing factor).

I have finally accepted that any running was good running, even if it was ‘only’ 2ish miles. No longer will I worry about fitting time in for 4 miles or 6 miles or 8 miles, and then giving up because there wasn’t enough time. I will now be happy with anything, even if I’m just running around the block. Or up and down the hall in my flat!

I ran for the first time in 5 weeks this morning. I struggled as I plodded along, nearly hyperventilating. And while I felt scared before I took the first few steps, I have to admit that it felt like being with an old friend by the time I got to the end of the road.

One day down, and my goal is to just get out there every day this week.

No more fear. I hope.....

Tackling 2012

I'm still on a bit of a runner's high after hitting my last-minute 1000 mile target for 2011. But no rest for the wicked...2012 is here so new plans are already under way!

It's so easy to get carried away but this year I'll be focusing (some might say obsessing!) on 4 main goals:

1. Run a sub-2 half marathon. A no-brainer, especially since it was my main goal last year and I just didn't get there. I WILL do it this year, no matter how many half marathons it takes. I've already signed up for the Southern California Half (7th January), Brighton Half (19th February) and Berlin Half (1 April).
2. Complete my first marathon. I've always shied away from marathons, worried about whether I really had the time to train. But after seeing so many of you challenge yourselves at this distance, I just couldn't say no any longer. I've signed up for the Edinburgh Marathon on 27th May. For now, I just want to enjoy the race and finish.
3. Compete in my first triathlon. Like the marathon, it felt like one of those things I had to try at least once in my life. I used to swim in high school so I'm not too worried about that (even though it's been decades since I've really been in the water) but the bike TERRIFIES me. I've never taken to riding a bicycle and the last time I owned one I was about 12! I've signed up for the London Triathlon on 23rd September, with a sprint in Seaford to warm up in August.
4. Run 1500 miles. I was very, VERY tempted to go for 2012 miles. But I'll probably be working again soon and will likely have crazy hours (more on this later!)...and back at my old job I never really averaged more that 20 miles a week. So for now I just want to improve on last year, and 1500 seemed like a nice, round number!

Plus there's the usual small things I need to do in order to help achieve these things--stay hydrated, eat right, sleep well. But they're a given these days, right? :)

So there you have it. These are the goals I'm going to tackle in 2012. But in line with one of my non-running resolutions--don't stress too much about the small stuff--no matter what happens I'm just going to try and enjoy the ride!

What challenges have YOU dreamed up for 2012?

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes.....

Thanks to everyone's comments about my optimal running volume hysteria. The consensus was that I probably don't need to run 50-60 miles a week just to break 2:00 in the half....but that running more should still help me to improve. So while I still have the goal of increasing how much I run every week, I'm going to do it slowly and responsibly as I move towards the Edinburgh Marathon in May.

BUT...

...the bottom line is I still haven't been able to run under 2 hours yet. So I've decided to do something different and use the Level 2 Half Marathon training plan from the book 'Run Faster' by Brad Hudson and Matt Fitzgerald. This program will peak at about 45-50 miles per week which feels achievable. It also focuses on getting used to running half marathon goal pace.

To avoid any copyright issues I'm not reproducing the plan in full here, but sharing the plan for 1 week. Essentially all the weeks are structured the same way:

Monday  - Easy + Hill sprints
Tuesday - Hard run (fartlek, intervals, hill repetitions, threshold, progression)
Wednesday - Easy
Thursday - Easy
Friday - Hard run (fartlek, intervals, hill repetitions, threshold, progression)
Saturday - Rest or Easy
Sunday - Long run (usually progression)

Here is one of the hardest weeks:

My aim is not to overdo it on the easy days even if I'm feeling good, and to really hit goal paces on the hard days. Sounds simple but I've always struggled with this. The hills scare me a bit but I hear they are really good for you!

This plan is meant to be adaptive (ie you make adjustments as you need to along the way--more on this when I review the book) so hopefully it will evolve into a training plan that works really well for me. I can't wait to see how it goes the next few weeks!

Are you trying out a new training plan for your next race?

My grand plans for the Poppy Half (and beyond!)

I've had a week to reflect and recover, but now I'm ready to RUMBLE!

My GRAND PLAN is a long term blueprint that carries me through until my first marathon in May 2012. Phase I starts NOW.

Phase I
I have 7 weeks until the Poppy Half and I want to continue building a strong running base. So my running volume is staying largely the same but I'm adding strength training and dynamic warm ups. I've decided to try reformer pilates (pilates with weight resistance) and then a day of traditional weight training.

My inspiration for this plan came from Runner's World ultimate training plans, and one of my favorite running websites, Strength Running (http://strengthrunning.com/). I'm going to use this as a high level guide, but will make adjustments based on how I feel....and how my body adjusts to the new changes.

Phase II will be training for the Brighton Half in February. I'll add swimming on my easy days in anticipation of doing a triathlon one day. (Although for me, cycling will be the real challenge!)

Phase III will be training for the Edinburgh Marathon in May. Hopefully I will have a good solid running base by then, and be ready for those truly long runs!

And then who knows what's next?

So it all kicks off tomorrow, and of course I'm still trying to follow my 'Get in the best shape of my life' commandments. I'm excited and scared, but now that I have the time to do it, I'M GOING TO DO IT!

My Three "Get in the Best Shape of My Life" Commandments

Been away from the blogging world for a bit but happy to be back! Had a great week in California with my family (my 1 year old niece and 3 year old nephew were exhausting--don't know how you parents do it!) and it took a while to settle back into things once I got home. Plus one big change...I resigned from my job and my last day was on Friday! After being there for 6 years it was strange to go through all my junk and pack things up, but the timing was right and it feels almost like a fresh start. I'm lucky to be able to take a short career break but it still feels strange right now. What will I do without a Blackberry?!

I'm going to spend a little time coming up with a list of all the things I want to accomplish over the next few months but there is one thing I'm already sure about: I'm going to take this opportunity to try and get in the best shape of my life!!

Now, this is no easy feat for lots of reasons. One being that once upon a (long) time I was in really great shape as a member of my high school swimming team! My friends have pointed out that trying to be 18 years old again is impossible (don't ask me how long ago that was, because I won't tell!), but I'm going to do my best now that I have the time to put into it. I have no excuse not to try!

So I've come up with Three Commandments for me to start following NOW. Why three and not ten, you ask? I want to start with small, simple changes that I can continue with once I do re-enter the working world. All of these might be no-brainers, but the fact is that I haven't been doing any of these things. And I hope actually doing them will make a difference to my running and general fitness. So here goes:

1. Get 8 hours of sleep every night. I'm a night owl (and a procrastinator) so it's always easy for me to lose track of time, especially when I'm caught up in nothing. Will make sure I get to bed on time so I can wake up early enough to have breakfast before I run.

2. Drink 1 liter of water everyday. I always struggle with this one! I don't drink too much other than a few cups of tea or coffee, and whatever I have when I run or exercise. One liter doesn't sound like a lot, but according to this formula from Runner's World it's more than enough for me. This is on top of what I drink when I run.

3. Eat as healthily as I can. Another tough one. Eating is big thing for my family--it's usually the main theme when we all get together. And although I'm a foodie I don't like to cook, so with long hours at work we usually go for convenience over quality. I've enjoyed reading about the perfect runner's diet on Jason Fitzgerald's great website, Strength Running, but all that feels a little too complicated for me right now. So while I'm going to start heading in that direction, I'm going to just start with a few sub-commandments:

• Watch my portions. Believe it or not it's hard to remember not to eat the same amount as my 5'11" husband. This is the biggest thing for me, making sure I eat enough to properly fuel my training but not enough for someone twice my size.
• Don't eat too many sweets. I can easily eat a bag of sour gummy candies in one sitting. And on Friday I *did* go to the amazing Hummingbird Bakery to get some celebratory cupcakes (red velvet and black bottom, my favorites). I won't cut these things out completely but will save them for special treats only.
• Make fruit and veg the largest part of my diet. I'm not a vegetarian but I'm generally pretty good about eating vegetables. Will just try not to eat too much meat. I don't think that I could ever cut out dairy but will try not to eat too much cheese!

So there they are, small changes I hope will start to make a real difference. These are outside of my fitness goals! Still working on them but here's what I'm thinking at the moment:

1. Continue to build my running base, eventually getting to about 50 miles a week.
2. Start strength training again. Gave this up after injury but I know it's important to do this if I want to stay injury-free.
3. Integrate yoga back into my training plan. The stretching used to make a big difference and was great on my rest days.

Of course, my most immediate goal is to run a sub-2:00 half in Dublin.....just 3 weeks left!

So whaddya think? I know all of this isn't going to be easy but I'll be excited to share my progress. Would also love to hear about any small changes you've made that have made a real difference to your health or training!