Ready, Set, Goal

Goal 

Prepare for a 5K run using the following training schedule: http://cdn.womensrunning.competitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/First-5K-Training-Plan.pdf

The 5K race I’ve registered for is the CIBC Run for the Cure that will be held in Vancouver on October 5, 2014. Since the race is only 7 weeks away now, I will skip the first week on the training schedule. 

I am not a beginner runner but I am definitely not a good one either. I can’t yet do a full 5K without taking at least one walk break.

I am using this blog as a way to keep me committed and on track. If I convince myself that I have readers waiting for my next post I have to make sure I get my butt out the door. More importantly, I really really want running to be part of my lifestyle. I enjoy it and am perpetually wishing that I could run that race or at that pace but they’ve remained wishes. I am changing these wishes into goals. The first one on the list is to successfully finish a 5K race without walking. I don’t care about the time. I don’t care about all the other runners or where I place against them. This 5K is personal. It is the first run I will ever do with a commitment to training, 7 weeks of mental preparation, and doing it purely for self-gratification. 

Five years ago when I was first dating my husband, he ran daily. Awesome. I could follow suit and he could coach me along. Ha! I laugh at myself now at how simple I thought it would be - clearly, it being 5 years later and this is my goal, I have had my share of struggles. Below I have posted the main struggles I have dealt with in the last 5 years. Seeing a list of my past struggles will put the new accomplishments I am about to achieve into perspective and give me a reminder of what I need to watch out for during the next 7 weeks of training.

Tears

If I remember accurately, when my husband (N) and I went for our first “run” I cried within the first 10 minutes; Most certainly, somewhere within the first few blocks. It was later in the evening along the beautiful Vancouver seawall, other runners, cyclists and couples holding hands kept passing us as I struggled to find my pace. And sadly I have to admit, my tears were not just a little wet-eye whimper. It was a full on, embarrassingly obvious public display of pouting and crying “I can’t!”. N would run next to me, “Come on, you can do it…”. He would try to keep his cool until I stopped again and made another complaint or repeated that “I can’t!”, just in case, maybe he didn’t quite understand that this is fact. My body could not physically handle running, particularly my left knee. But the tears and whining continued and kept me many times from just getting out there and actually running.

Injury

My knee started hurting almost instantly when I first started running. It was a real problem the first few years until I learned that it was likely linked to a hip imbalance. Now, instead of popping Advil and icing my knee all night, I do some leg raise exercises and make sure that I am careful which shoes I wear to keep this issue from flaring up. In fact, I don’t think my knee has bothered me at all in the last year. I also invested in doing regular Yoga classes throughout the first half of the year and really noticed a difference once my hamstrings became more flexible. For these next 7 weeks I have to be mindful of pushing too hard or pushing distance. I don’t have any plans to do Yoga during this time, but I will make sure I stretch out my hamstrings and do my leg raise exercises daily. 

Mind-Body Connection

One of the biggest things I have already learned through running is the power of the mind-body connection. I was never an athletic person. I was never on a school sports team, always last to be picked during gym class, and my body had a severe case of in-flexibility. It has been a lot of work to mentally remove the negative self-talk and to learn how to work and listen to the body I’ve been given.

I have tried a few different mantras to help push me through a tough stretch. The one that has stuck and made the most impact is “I am Strong!” I like that is it short and the syllables in the phrase can match footwork or breathing. I hope to discover more about this mind-body concept in these next 7 weeks.

Time

My trouble is not finding time. It is following through on that time slots I have allotted for my running and exercise in general. My calendar is already filled in with the schedule and my intentions are in the right place, now I just need to make sure nothing else makes top priority. When the time is set there is no room for excuses or laziness. My goal will ultimately fail if I don’t.