Days 100 & 101: Everything Hurts

Day 100:  On day 100 I really wanted to do something out of my comfort zone, so I went to Pai Yoga and tried the TRX Beginner class.  TRX is a suspension strap workout that uses  bodyweight as resistance.   One of the owners of the studio, Jason, was teaching the all woman class with lots of jokes, enthusiasm and multiple explanations.    We started out with a warm-up that left me breathless and nervous for the rest of the class.  I wish I could explain more about what we did in the next hour, but since I was a total beginner I walked out pretty confused and overly amped with adrenaline.  If you have not tried TRX, I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who is not faint of heart.

Day 101:  After yesterday’s workout my fiance and I finished packing the truck for the final time and set off for Indianapolis to see some of my college friends for the night.  We stayed up until 11:30 watching basketball and playing board games that I lost terribly at numerous times.  The only reason I am even bringing this up is because it plays into what happened this morning at yoga.  My college best friend, Sara (seen with me singing the Tina role in Rolling On The River) went to class with me at a nearby hot yoga studio at 6 a.m. That means I semi-slept for about five hours and then powered through an hour of yoga.  My body was not happy about any of those things- the waking up early, the yoga or having to move my body after TRX yesterday.   Although the class was fantastic, I couldn’t muster up the energy to get in more than one chaturanga.

I found myself skipping most of the hard poses today, which is something that I almost never do.  I love pushing myself, but in my sore groggy state that was the last thing that could happen.  Once again I found myself realizing how important it is to listen to my body and what it needs.   For example my sore body never needs 12 hours in a moving truck and then three sweet potato pancakes for dinner.  Never.  But sometimes I just have to learn those lessons the hard way.

Day 97: Pushing My Limits

On what is now setting the record for the most consecutive days that I have spent in the gym, I came to the conclusion that have been complacent with running.   Let me just rewind a bit to explain what that means to me.   In eighth grade gym class it was a requirement that everyone run a mile in under 12 minutes, I crossed the finish line some 20 seconds before the cut off.  In high school, I dabbled with shotput and discus; avoiding running entirely.  In college I ran a 5k in about 33 minutes.  After college I trained for my first duathlon and I ran my fastest 5k in 29 minutes.  Two years ago I ran my first half-marathon and averaged a 10.30 mile.  Are you seeing a pattern?  Over ten years of running and almost zero improvement in my times.

My only defense to this is that I have always told myself that I did not want to get faster.  I was ok with a 10-ish minute mile pace.  I was complacent with being a mediocre runner.  It was not until the last three days on a treadmill that I have watched my mile times tick down and down.  Today, my fastest mile at 8.15 felt stronger than my 9.30 mile.  I wanted to keep going, to continue testing myself and pushing for something that my body already knows is attainable.  I have been stuck in my head for so long and my body was ready to move on to something better.  It was ready to break through a barrier.

Today I am making a declaration that my half-marathon in May will boast less than a 9 minute mile pace.  Anything faster than that would take my breath away- literally and metaphorically.

Here are my questions to you:  What in your life have you become complacent with?  Are you being honest with yourself with what you truly want?  How are you going to set yourself in motion to make the changes that you need to move forward?   Be honest.  Make a declaration.  Watch your life change.