Sunday, February 8, 2009

What will it take?

What will it take for me to run a marathon and get a PR?

What will it take for me to feel like I'm prepared?

What will it take to get me working out and stretching and resting and eating the way I should?

What will it take for me to be ok with the fact that I don't have a runner's body, so I must accept what I can do?

What will it take for me to feel accomplished at this running thing?

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The only answer I have tonight is to just keep running.
But I know that's not enough.

6 comments:

KP said...

If and when you figure out an answer to the third question there will you let the rest of us know?

Maggs said...

Yeah, question #3 is the tough one. I'm 8 weeks out from my first big race this season and I'm telling myself I'm committing to being healthy and doing what I'm supposed to from here on out.

And I don't have a runners body either...my legs are HUGE. But I there's always someone at a race who's bigger than me and beating me, so I just suck it up and go.

Maria said...

Was Coach J able to give you any advice? A fresh perspective might be just what's needed.

CoachT said...

OK, here’s my attempt at an answer:

1. Thinking about your goal at the appropriate times and, at the same time, not worrying about it at the appropriate times. You’ve done the work – trust your body to do the right thing and kick it a little kick now and then during the race when it starts to complain.

2. I’d say less than 10% of all runners feel 100% prepared for any race. I’d also bet that most of them who think so are delusional.

3. This is the most difficult part of training for me too. Paying attention to all of these factors starts to feel like I’m becoming too obsessed with running. At the same time, paying attention to all of these things will really help your performance – I guess it just matters how much you want to hit your goals.

4. I only know a few runners who have a runner’s body – says the guy with the soccer/hockey players’ body. It’s ok not to have one and you can still do well at this sport without it.

5. You already are accomplished at this running thing. Give it some time and you’ll realize this too.

Charisa said...

Runner's body - what is that really? I think anyone who runs is a runner. Good luck w/ the training - have fun with it!! :)

solarpowered said...

Maggs and Charisa - you may not think you have runner's bodies either, but you have swimmer and cyclist and runner combined bods -- I'm jealous! :D

Trev, thanks for your ideas. Your last thought in #3 is something I'm really trying to figure out.