Today is Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. I am not Jewish, but living in new York always makes one contemplate Jewish holidays and today was no exception.
It was an unusual weekend. Another crushing week of work, family and client obligations all conspired to limit me to only one run, on Monday. I had decided to run long on Saturday, but Friday rolled around and at the end of the week, ended up having drinks with friends. Running Saturday was out. And Saturday was the homecoming football game, a tailgate and friends. Running Sunday was out. And Saturday I think I consumed more calories than any day in 2009. Pizza, fried chicken, cocktails, chips and beer. Mmmm. When you let go, you let go. When I was on my diet, I was so fastidious that I ate nothing bad for me. Nothing. It was like being an alcoholic and staying sober by refusing to drink. But now that I am training, and not trying to lose weight, little holes in the dyke of resolve have appeared.
And another thing: committing to training and really pushing hard require a great deal of mental focus and commitment. When I am working hard, it is very, very difficult to maintain that focus in running. It is very hard to maintain that intensity in the gym or running when I leave the office. Eh, so this week was hard.
Anyways. It is basically a three day weekend around here because of Yom Kippur. School is closed. Work is about half full. And so I decided to come in late this morning. I got up this morning and ran 15 miles to atone for lazy weekend. All in all a pretty decent workout. First half was difficult -- just didn't feel perfect. And then had some Gatorade and a gel at the 8 mile mark, hit the bathroom, and second half was much, much smoother. Ended up doing 15.25 miles in 2:03, for average pace of 8:07.
But I am getting worried. I need to run more than twice a week. Hopefully, work will allow me to at least get out and exercise so I can maintain my cardio, even if I can;t do all the FIRST workouts. On one level I am stoic: My marathon time is what it will be. But I want to finish training on a strong note so that I feel confident come November 1.
Atonement is what I am doing tonight as well. Although I did ride 18 miles on Saturday. (Stopping every quarter mile to re-paint the mile markers doesn't really count though!)
ReplyDeleteAs long as you get back on that proverbial horse it's all good!
Focus and committing to training is one of the most challenging parts of running since we work and have families, etc. Keep doing you best...it's the best you have to give!
ReplyDeleteYou got this B, as you said to me... Stay focused and the finish line is yours.
ReplyDeleteit is a huge challenge to balance family, work and training. in an ideal world we would never have to miss any runs, but since no one's paying us to run our races (dang!), that's just part of life. don't beat yourself up, just do what you can!
ReplyDeleteYour only human like the rest of us. Don't sweat the small stuff. That is truly impressive that you were able to go for 15.25 before work.
ReplyDeleteI did get a pair of the Sennheiser headphones you recommended & I love them. Thanks for the review.