Monday, January 30, 2017

It Can Wait

Well  hello there!  Happy new year!  Did you forget this blog existed??  I didn't, though you can't tell by my actions.  In any case, its a new year, and I'm gonna take this new chance to blog more consistently (a low bar, I know, lol).

As I may have mentioned, I started a new job a year and a half ago.  I spent the first year just trying to keep my head above water.  In this second year, I've attempted to be more productive in my research program (i.e. I'm taking on more work), and that causes for some very hectic weeks.  I have managed to get and stay very consistent with Crossfit, but at the expense of my running.  Its very difficult to Crossfit, run, eat enough (of the right things, i.e. cook), sleep enough, keep a relatively clean house, raise a puppy not to be a killer (mildly succeeding at that), and do the three jobs that are my one job.  Oh, and maintain sanity.  Often, something's gotta give and last year, it was my running (among other things at times).  I didn't run a single race in 2016 for which I properly trained.  I had high hopes for Chicago, and was making my 5 am run group for a while, but when the fall semester started I made less and less of them.  I ended up getting through the marathon rather gracefully by doing 7:1's (more on run-walking later; I wish someone had told me...), and ran a 4:58.  Not my best, but also not my worst.  I have just finished the Dopey Challenge, minus a rained out half, and ran a 5:18.  This actually was my worst (but I still enjoyed the ride!).  In any case, the goal this year is to do most of my planned runs and thus properly train for my races.  Not only is running a race untrained less exhilarating, it's a recipe for injury, and I'm not about that life!  Last week I had another busy period, and skipped all but two workouts.  I went to Crossfit once, and completed one frustration-run-for-sanity treadmill slog.  This weekend I decided that i will have other weeks like that, but I will still fit in exercise when I can help it.  I understand how important it is to put yourself first.



For me this means committing to my training.  It's just running but it represents so much more for me and many others.  It means keeping a promise to myself and "seeing it through", i.e. finishing what I start.  The way I maintain control of this is by getting my workouts done first thing.  It's tempting for me to wake up and rush right to work in response to the ever growing to do list.  But what I know is that no matter how urgent, it can wait.  When I run, I am doing something for myself, and that is the best way I know to start my day.  Own oxygen mask first.  My friends scheduled a 10K for spring break, and I have decided to commit to the training.  My endurance needs to be rebuilt and what better way to begin that process than by training for a shorter race distance?  So I've committed to actually training over the next 6 weeks.  I hope this will  make training for my sub 2:00 half that much more natural :).  Today I had an event on campus at 8:00 am.  I knew if I went to Crossfit I would be cutting it close on time and also would miss my run on day 1.  So I did a bit of planning yesterday, got to bed at a decent hour, and woke up a bit before 6:00 am to do my scheduled 30 minutes of running (I did 30:15 because i was so close to 3 miles lol).  It felt so good to make time to do that one thing for myself first thing!  I'll head to Crossfit this evening and should be back on track for the week.

What does running do for you?  Cheers to proper training!

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