Sunday, February 24, 2013

Light Bulb

John Stanton from the Running Room always has such great insight. This was his quote on Facebook a couple of days ago:

One of the best ways to stay injury free … keep your training consistent and don’t let yourself get out of shape. 

Oops. 

Saturday, February 16, 2013

A Reminder for the Newbies

If you're new to running, I want you to know this: it sucks in the beginning.

As you know, it's been awhile since I've done any running at all. But having trained for three marathons in the past four years, I'm very familiar with my own fitness peaks and troughs.


Me = in a trough.
Ladies and gentlemen: we are in a trough.

I was out on a 6 km run yesterday and - let me tell you - it's like starting all over again. My muscles were creaky, my heart rate was high, my pace was all over the place ... but I'm certainly not surprised! I wasn't expecting to have the greatest run of my life after being dormant for five months. 

But it's a good lesson, and a good reminder, for new runners and old (or recently inactive) runners alike: we all have to start somewhere.

Sure, I felt better for having gone out there. And certainly, any activity is better than no activity at all. But I wouldn't describe yesterday's run as fun, by any stretch. And in some ways, it's a little torturous because I know what I'm capable of and, after yesterday's run, I am fully aware of how much work I need to do to get there.

The challenge for newbies is different, albeit similar. Anyone new to running may not be sure of how much work they need to be doing, but they know how hard it is in the beginning - and how easy it can be to let those goals go. 

I say, keep going! The only way to get better at running is to run more. So go for another run! Even if today's sucked and even if it doesn't feel so good right now. It will, soon. I promise.

And that's a promise I make to both you, new runner, and me.

Friday, February 1, 2013

It's Days Like This That I Really Miss Crossfit

I spent nearly five hours reviewing macroeconomics problems in preparation for an online assignment which is quickly coming due. When I finally attempted the assignment, I still ended up with a less than stellar test score. All I wanted to do was throw my laptop off the balcony. So frustrating!


It's days like this where I really wish I could just lift something insanely heavy, over and over again, and have a trainer to run my ass into the ground until I can no longer breathe. Seriously. 

Ahh, those were the days.

Sadly, Crossfit is not a budget-conscious endeavour and is certainly not something to undertake when earnings are nil. But I do miss it from time to time ... which may be a bit surprising if you've met me because I'm pretty little and probably not the first person that might come to mind when it comes to weightlifting.

I really was frustrated today though and, in the absence of such an intense workout, I had to do something but had only a limited amount of time. What to do?

Solution: run super fast on the treadmill for five to 10 minutes. And then do, like, a million squats.

Might not be much, but I certainly felt better afterwards. And no laptops were harmed in the process.