This training cycle it's changing.
For starters I'm involved with the training group. A group that I paid money to join. Therefore I would feel like I was wasting my money if I started skipping out on runs. So I'm hoping the group gives me a bit of accountablity. Especially since I think I'm going to have to update the coach on my training progress on a weekly basis.I think this is a good thing.
While I'm looking forward to it - because I think the consistent training will help me towards that elusive 2:30 goal I've been chasing for a year - I'm also a bit scared. Because the training program we're following? It's a program calling for 5 runs per week and two rest days. Gulp. I don't think I've ever ran 5 days per week. Much less 5 runs per week over the course of 3 months!
It's scary. But I'm going to turn to a fellow Badger for some advice. Some inspiration I guess.
J.J. Watt, the former Badger who's now prepping for the NFL draft, has a motto that he uses. It's well known, not only to Badger players and fans, but also those who follow his Twitter feed. It's a saying that he's been using since high school, through his college career - first as a tight end at Central Michigan and after a stint as a pizza delivery boy as a walk-on turned All-American defensive end at Wisconsin - and now as he prepares for a possible NFL career.
Dream Big. Work Hard.
"It really exemplifies what I am as a person," Watt said in an ESPN article published days before the Rose Bowl. "I want to get the message out that if you dream big, you can do anything you want in the world. But that's only half of it. If you're not willing to work hard, put in the time and the effort that it takes, you're just going to be dreaming."
This spring I'm done just dreaming. The work will be put in. The miles will be logged. The hills will be run. And come April, when I toe the line for the Oshkosh Half Marathon, or May, when I set out for the Green Bay Half Marathon, hopefully all the hard work will have been worth it and the dream will come true and the finish line clock will read 2:29:59.
Run No. 1 on the plan is done. It called for a short 2 miles, but I was feeling good so I tacked on an extra mile. Tomorrow morning? A treadmill hill workout. A bit scared (other than a sledding hill, the city I live in is almost completely flat), but pumped to do it.
Dream Big. Work Hard.
3 comments:
You'll be able to do it Jenny! All of the training runs will help you reach your goal. :)
Very good post. I am caught up in the same problem of not being able to follow any plan I create -100%. If it is not the weather it is something else, work, coaching soccer, kids school. The main thing is "To dream big, and to work hard" on the days that are allowed. I would love to join a running group, but would have to drive 1/2 hour to a group. I already do enough commuting, so I think blogging is the closest thing I have to a group. It's making me accountable, otherwise all of you will see my shortcomings.
Way to be positive, especially in the doldrums of WI winter (in this blizzard, no less!). One day at a time is how I'm taking this season. Stay motivated for this one day, the rest will fall in place.
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