Inspired!

I'm out of the rut! Yay!

I allowed myself some time 'off', took the pressure off, came back from holiday, started looking into training plans, started ramping up on running again... and bam, I'm back in the game!

Running thoughts and other related items...

1) So what training plan should I use?

I'm reading Run Faster by Brad Hudson and playing around with what my plan should look like. I may have already mentioned before that I've adjusted my goals slightly for the year - taking into account the number of times I've been ill this year and the niggling issues (right SI joint and left hamstring/knee), I've decided to push back my virgin marathon, but still work on a HM and maybe a couple of 10km races this year (hopefully with PBs in both!). I had originally thought of doing a combo of the usual Runner's World plan and the FIRST plan (of Run Less Run Faster fame) - that would mean alternating between weeks of 3 and 4 runs, with 1-2 hard workouts (hard = tempo or speedwork), as well as long runs at quicker paces than I'm used to (the FIRST plans actually suggest paces just 20-30 seconds off race pace... which I am unsure I can do week on week, and I certainly cannot achieve on the hilly roads around home).

But the more I read, the more confusing it all gets - you have plans advocating 3 days of running, others that say 6... and then add in tempo, speedwork, progressing, hills, sprints, fartleks... heart rate, all types of suggested pacing, effort based training... oh my goodness! So now I'm thinking that I may need to review...

So this is where I am at:

• Choose the number of runs per week - I'm probably going to settle for 4 as an average, with more 3/4s at the start and then working up to 4/5s later.
• More variability - up to now, I've predominantly based my training on the Runner's World type of plan which is quite repetitive. I'm going to mix it up a lot more with my speedwork especially. Also, 2 new things that I'm going to add are - Progression runs and hill sprints/intervals.
• Paces - don't know about this one. FIRST paces are killer. I can probably do a bit better than the RW's suggestions. So right now, I'm hitting somewhere in between. Haven't quite gotten to that bit in Run Faster.

2) Cross Training and Strength Training Joys

Just ordered a bike trainer and looking forward to doing more cycling. I'm also squeezing in at least 1 full (1 hour) yoga session at home weekly and may even go for classes again.

My core/strength training has also gotten a bit stale, so I've upped the ante with this a bit and think I could still dial it up another notch. So if you're thinking of that too, then enjoy these killer training vids by Coach Jay - check out in particular the videos he did for Running Times, as well as the ones featuring the lunge matrix, Core H routine and running-specific Swissball work.

Just like running plans, there are just so many different things you can do - the trick is to balance time, simplicity, practicality with need, outcome and specificity.

3) And just to keep things complicated...

More thinking to do?!?! Isn't running touted as the simplest of exercises, just lace up and go?

Still, I thought it would be good to mention this study comparing barefoot and shod runners and their injuries over a period of time.

This study, like most others, are not without limitations but it does bring up many salient factors. In my mind, though, there is almost too much variability in the exercise of running and in the history of runners to make it possible to ever draw a final conclusion.

If anything, it just highlights the fact that it's good to have this debate and an alternative viewpoint, but that with running and shoes, as with life, it's never one-size-fits-all. Like my training plan and strength work gets pieced together from a wealth of choices, so my shoes and how I use my minimalist versus 'normal' shoes will be something I trial over time - I won't hit jackpot immediately, but will learn and adjust along the way... hoping for wisdom and patience as I find the way to self-improvement with minimal casualty.

4) and some YUMS....

Try this if you have a sweet tooth (or are in need of reward!) - I found this fantastic banana bread recipe over at Runner's Kitchen!!! Tried it and approved!

So with this, I shall leave you! Happy running and experimenting!

Losing steam...

Sorry I haven't been around much. This is one of the reasons why...

wow... no words needed.

Running has hit a slump, a major motivational hurdle, the pits.

Last week - I ran once, 5km.

I haven't run so little in years.

A plethora of excuses masquerading as reasons (or vice versa)... my holiday, a mild tummy bug, a very tight left buttock/hamstring...

But all thoughts do not cause me more anxiety than the realisation that the desire to run fades by the day. Not running means I forget the joy and instead, get caught up in the stress-y-ness of getting myself back into it... not running means falling out of a habit and having to claw my way back... not running means sliding backwards in fitness and routine, therefore losing some of the positive reinforcement that kept me running before.

So today, I made a choice. I have a cold and an annoying itchy cough, but I got off my ass and went to the gym - did 5.5 km and some strength/core work. Can't say I feel the better for it just yet, but I remind myself - Daily Choices, my choice is today! Hopefully tomorrow too!

I guess it isn't out of the ordinary to feel this way since I've been training quite hard for over a year now - for my half marathon last year and then for the LA marathon which I ended up missing in March... so I'm allowed to kick back a little, aren't I?

*just not for too long....*

Anyone with tips or stories to share about coming back from the brink - drop me a note or a comment please!

and until then, I'll keep hoping and trying - most importantly, to rediscover the Joy.

Not quite sure what I feel...

It looks like I won't be in LA the week of the marathon itself... my plans may have to take a big shift towards the Sundown Marathon in Singapore at the end of May instead.

Good news is that I've gained another 10 weeks of training time, so I have a total of 15 weeks from now.

Not so good news is that this comes just after I had made up my mind to give it my all for LA (including psyching myself up for a 3.5-4hour long run this weekend and also making my hotel booking)... and the Sundown is an overnight marathon in hot weather...

But hey, what the heck right? If I'm going to do it, what's the big deal about a bit more sweating, a few swear words and potentially more challenges with hydration and chafing... REAL runners aren't put off by anything of these minor annoyances! Gotta remember my goals from the start of this year and that Singular Resounding Yes!

This week has looked like this -
Monday - 2 hours tennis
Tuesday - 30 minute spin interval, plus core/arms
Weds - 9.5km with 6x800m intervals
Thursday - easy 4.5km, plus core/arms
Today - rest/light yoga

Plan is for a 'quicker' long run tomorrow (will challenge myself to 20km @ 7-7.30 pace) since I don't have to do my 4 hour long run now. Weather forecast is for spitting drizzle and temps in the low teens... nothing to those in truly cold climes, but this is the real Hong Kong winter!

Back on the seat again...

It was tough going getting back to running again mid last week... easy runs were tough, and yesterday's long run was also trying. However, I'm glad to say that my legs are feeling surprisingly sprightly today, so I'm recovering well from a combined 35km over 3 consecutive days (the full week's tally was 42km). Bodes well. I need to squeeze in 2 30km runs in the next 3 weeks before taper... I say I haven't decided whether or not to run LA, but I am still maniacally working in that direction. Maybe I should just save myself the stress and just throw my heart and mind into it fully now!

A question from the #Reverb10 team:

One month into 2011, what question(s) are you living? Are you living new questions?

My questions...

- Why is it so hard to be a decent human being towards my mother? (ancient and never ending)
- Can I run my first marathon in 6 weeks when my longest run so far has only been 25km? (new and very real)
- Am I allowed so much chocolate and snacking just because I'm training for a marathon and not particularly obsessed about losing any more weight? (kind of but not entirely new ha!)
- Am I lucky or just plain lazy to be blogging while I'm at work? Do I really even care? (not new)
- How am I doing with my 2011 plans? (ongoing... for now, I'm doing ok - most of my running related ones are on track, most of the others are patchy at best so this is a great reminder!)
- Isn't it nice to have already done a PB in the 10km? (new... *smiles*)
- I hate PMS, why won't it go away forever? (another ancient and unanswerable one)
- I'm having PMS, so don't I deserve to have a chocolate bar after lunch? (monthly)
- How far will I go this year? (new)

Some thoughts as we launch into another new week! It's going to be a 45+km week... watch this space!

Sniffle sniffle cough... cough!

Yes, still sick, but not too sick that I can't run! :) I'm dying to head out there today but don't think I'll get a chance before the sun heads down (and it turns chilly...), so it may still need to wait yet one more day. Feeling more optimistic though... I just need to get back out there quickly so my confidence will return.

So here's a thought for you...

"It's not about dedicating your life to your training, but about dedicating your training to your life." - Dan Millman

Isn't that something to carry with you this week? My life isn't about the training... instead my training is about life - it is celebrating life, it is embracing life, it is thanking life, it is loving life, it is wringing all I can out of life!

Out of Commission...

So sometimes life throws you a curveball and there isn't a thing that you can do about it. And along with only the mildest annoyance, I can only shrug my shoulders and go "Ah well...."

At what is probably the most critical stage of training for a first marathon (and tell me if i'm wrong, but I was just heading into the 2-3 weeks of highest mileage and longest Long Runs prior to taper), I've fallen sick. And not just blow your nose, feel sorry for yourself sick. It's the worst flu of my adult life, 3 days of unrelenting fever and continuing phlegmy cough sick. And while I think i'm on the mend, I have a feeling it's one of those that I want to send off with caution and respect - I don't think I'm going to running for a couple of days yet, at least.

7 days off running in the middle of an already short marathon training plan (I decided about LA on a whim, so only had about 12-13 weeks)... my longest Long Run so far was about 24-25km. I'm ambivalent - I know I could still go out there and finish it, but I don't know that I will be in form to do my best at my first marathon. I'd like to go out there and do a good solid run... yes, it is about fun but I also want it to be a fight and a victory.

And so, I calm myself down... one step at a time, one day at a time... I just need to focus on getting better... then I start running again... and then I can reassess whether I run LA.

I think I could still do it... what do you think? Any advice?

How? Or more importantly, Why?

Ran for a shade over 3 hours and 9 minutes yesterday *BIG smiles*
about 24km, so just under a 8 min per km pace - slower than I would like, but it's hilly where I run so I should be too hard on myself.

Quads aren't entirely happy today, but all in all, I'm feelin' good!

So I had a bit of time to think while on the road...

I was out at dinner on Saturday night when a friend asked repeatedly, "How do you do it? Where do you find the discipline, the motivation??". And then, "Why would you do it? I just don't understand..."
I'd like to think that the Why is easier to understand than the How, but on occasion, I realise that not everyone feels that pull.

I have always been someone who sets goals, who needs to feel that I have grown or improved with each passing year. I have the intrinsic yearning for the sort of capability, dedication, focus, physical mastery that you see in professional sports people, challenged athletes, marathoners... anyone who is pushing the envelope on what they should 'normally' be able to do.

My assumption is that the desire for self-improvement, the continuous extension of limits, the challenge, that yearning is common to us all... and that is the simple answer to the "Why?".
When every week, I am able to run further than I've ever done before (granted... one day, I will hit a wall with this one, won't I?)... when after every really hard session, I know I have gained strength mentally and emotionally... that is more than enough to keep me going.

Running and training is like Life, condensed. It asks of me as much as it can get, but it also gives bountifully in return. The gap to be bridged between my physical capabilities and Roger Federer's or Paula Radcliffe's is a forever chasm, but that does not mean that I cannot explore the limits of my talent and celebrate the power of my being. The discovery of how far I've come and the possibility of how much further I can go... that is one of the most amazing life lessons I've had in years.

And like Life, running teaches me to be at peace while striving - my body is what I have, is what I have been given even if it may not be what I want. Every time I push it to be 'more', I also ask myself to accept what it is in that moment.

Running is about heart... so it's more about Why than How. If I started by asking how, then I would have been swallowed up in doubt, overcome by a tide of "Cannot... no way... how could I?". Why, instead, reminds me daily that I want to be better, stronger, faster, more patient and wise... why, reminds me of the who I might one day become...

A Quickie...

Just to lighten up that gloomy cloud that I cast with my last post... lucky for me, it was all just PMS (should've known!), but boy, was it tough going physically for a good few days! Yesterday, I cut my 6km tempo run into two 3km tempo intervals, just so I could make it through.

I'm close to the end of my first 'chunk' of Marathon training - by the week's finish, I would have done 3 weeks of incremental work that will see me finishing my longest run yet at around 25km. I'm looking forward to the coming week - I sense that my body and mind have strengthened and grown through this phase, so next week will be an opportunity to feel 'my new being'.

PMS or not, I am treading respectfully on virgin ground as I move further along this training program. I am glad and thankful that I am in marathon training... in awe, almost, of the fact - who would have ever known??
And I am mindful too, that there will only ever be 1 first marathon for me. This journey is nothing short of a gift.

A really hard day...

Today, 42.2km is like a Himalayan summit entirely shrouded in cloud. I simply can not see it, nor do I imagine that I have it in me to get up there.

Today, I barely made it to base camp... and it was a battle.

At points, I wanted to stop and hit my legs in frustration. I was tired, sore, fed up of the damn hills that make up a good part of my long run. My legs were cursing at me, I was mentally throwing a few uncensored swear words back.

In moments of lucidity, I still had it in me to chant, "Go away, go away, my limiting thoughts... I love you still, I do, my poor body-in-training". Pitying my body helped with the blame/anger game going on.

I cannot say that I feel "better" for having completed my planned Long Run today. Oddly and disappointingly, I feel neither proud nor relieved nor satisfied. I edged ahead with the longest run I have ever done - somewhere between 21-23km (Garmin-Running Ahead), completed in 2:42+ (I don't know exactly how long I ran because I stopped my watch a few times to walk and forgot to restart it 2 times, so I 'lost' some time and mileage there).

Perhaps tomorrow, I shall be glad.... for now, I'm just looking forward to a good night's sleep. Who'd have know it could be so hard?

Needing a bit of help?

Anyone looking for that extra bit of motivation as the New year really kicks in and the passion behind those resolutions start to die down ever so little... this is a fantastic piece

on how to ensure that a plan is put in place to support the achievement of those goals! It's about running, but the tips are easily modified to apply to almost any type of aim.

It's oh-so-simple and yet Ohhhh-so-hard!!!!!!!!!

A Singular Resounding YES!

This line came to me as I was running yesterday... and I have been using it endlessly, shamelessly. This is what I will wave madly in welcome of 2011 - a singular resounding YES!

YES to Running challenges aplenty... scary commitments made, I'm all signed up, so I just need to make it happen!
- I signed up for the LA Marathon in March, hoping to tag on my first full marathon and international running event onto the end of a business trip! I also have a backup/potential additional plan in the Sundown Marathon in Singapore in May. I want to ensure that I will manage at least one Full Marathon before mid year!
- I aim to also improve on my Half Marathon and 10km race times over the course of the year.

YES to staying healthy all round...
- With a short training cycle running up to LA, I need to balance up my focus on the finish with the need to make sure I stay well and injury-free... to keep my head about me as I push myself to train hard, but make the tough calls if and when I need to hold back. This is a wise lesson - I envy those who can keep going and never seem to hit their limits... I am still unfolding the layers of yoga wisdom - ambition with acceptance, effort with surrender...
- I will keep up with cross training at least 1-2 times per week, as well as stay diligent with stretching and foam rolling... I'll get my core/strength sessions in 2-3 times per week as well.
- Healthy eating and enough sleep is also priority. Luckily, the diet piece is usually manageable for me, although my sleep quality leaves some to be desired.

YES to keeping things simple... I have numerous other things floating about as I think about 2011... but then I realise that I can only do a few things to do them well. So this year, mindfulness and simplicity will be my only other (non-running) key theme...
- 10 minutes quiet time daily
- TV time will be kept to 5 hours or less per week
- 'Consume less'... simplicity in life for me means 'needing/wanting' less because I already have plenty. This means shopping less, wasting less, using less, but with mindfulness of abundance.

In some ways, I have become someone I never specifically aspired to be but I am glad I am slowly becoming - I stop myself in surprise every so often with the feelings of gratefulness and content and optimism that fill me. I honestly couldn't and wouldn't ask for a single little bit more... a truly blessed and happy space to be in. At this end of 2010, I give thanks.

No better reason...

Coming off my record long run on Sunday, this week has looked like this so far:

Monday - 2 hours tennis
Tuesday - 6km easy run and light core work
Wednesday - 20 min cycle and core/strength work

i can't quite decide what this week is supposed to be. I haven't followed the 3 weeks hard, 1 week easy rule as closely as I had originally intended (it's been more like alternating weeks - Will that affect my HM performance?!?!!), so I can do pretty much anything I like. Having said that, this will likely be an 'easy' given the Super Typhoon (yes, officially, Super) coming our way this weekend which does not bode well for outdoor activities of any kind.

I'll keep this short. I mainly wanted to share a fantastic article that Kristen Armstrong has written. If you ever wonder what it's all about, why you bother, what joyfulness truly is - you'll find some answers here.