I started this last week of training inspired by the performance of my friends from Sun City Tri who competed in Ironman UK, Bolton. For those of you who aren’t of the multi-sport persuasion that is a 2.4m swim followed by a 112m bike ride and then a full 26.2m marathon to finish, all within 17 hours.
There is something very special about seeing ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
There is something very special about seeing ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
Buoyed by this I felt positive about tackling the GNR plan and got stuck in on Monday with a 45 min run which was 15min easy, 15min steady then 15min at tempo/threshold.
I crashed and burned. Struggled through the first 30 mins but couldn’t maintain the last 15mins where I needed/wanted to be.
Cue bad run mood. We’ve all had these right? I blamed the heat, the dog (as she runs with me sometimes and was just too waggy), the heat again and then the kids. Realising that I was acting like a big running baby I took a step back to think about why I run.
It’s supposed to be fun and I sometimes forget that. It shouldn’t always be about the beeping and booping of the bloody Garmin or threshold this and tempo that. Running in particular is my time.
It’s the time when I can switch off from everything else and just run for the sheer love of it. Empty head and full legs carrying me up and down the coast near where we live. It’s a perfect stress buster. Except because I’m obsessive about details by nature and trade (I’m a freelance Project Manager) then I get a little too caught up now and again and for the rest of last week I plugged away at the training plan but my heart wasn’t in it.
Looking back at last week, the things I did, that I enjoyed the most had nothing to do with achieving the time that I’ve self-imposed on myself for the GNR.
The positive things were having a first go at scuba diving with eldest daughter, running with the boy when he completed his first 2.5m run without stopping and a longish run with my mate which doubled as a nice catch up session.
So for at least this week I’m off plan. I’ve also ditched the target time as well. I’m going to run the best race I can on the day and see how that goes without driving myself up the wall between now and then.
It all feels strangely liberating. I can go in the fridge without the training plan glaring at me and accusing me of slacking. I’m going to cycle, swim, maybe run a little, walk the dog and pretty much anything else that doesn’t involve the dread beeps of doom which is the Garmins way of saying “Speed Up!”
I crashed and burned. Struggled through the first 30 mins but couldn’t maintain the last 15mins where I needed/wanted to be.
Cue bad run mood. We’ve all had these right? I blamed the heat, the dog (as she runs with me sometimes and was just too waggy), the heat again and then the kids. Realising that I was acting like a big running baby I took a step back to think about why I run.
It’s supposed to be fun and I sometimes forget that. It shouldn’t always be about the beeping and booping of the bloody Garmin or threshold this and tempo that. Running in particular is my time.
It’s the time when I can switch off from everything else and just run for the sheer love of it. Empty head and full legs carrying me up and down the coast near where we live. It’s a perfect stress buster. Except because I’m obsessive about details by nature and trade (I’m a freelance Project Manager) then I get a little too caught up now and again and for the rest of last week I plugged away at the training plan but my heart wasn’t in it.
Looking back at last week, the things I did, that I enjoyed the most had nothing to do with achieving the time that I’ve self-imposed on myself for the GNR.
The positive things were having a first go at scuba diving with eldest daughter, running with the boy when he completed his first 2.5m run without stopping and a longish run with my mate which doubled as a nice catch up session.
So for at least this week I’m off plan. I’ve also ditched the target time as well. I’m going to run the best race I can on the day and see how that goes without driving myself up the wall between now and then.
It all feels strangely liberating. I can go in the fridge without the training plan glaring at me and accusing me of slacking. I’m going to cycle, swim, maybe run a little, walk the dog and pretty much anything else that doesn’t involve the dread beeps of doom which is the Garmins way of saying “Speed Up!”