There are 2 ways to cross a finish line. The first, which I am VERY familiar is , "in pain". The second which has taken many years to perfect (and I'm aiming for again) is , "feeling good". Don't get me wrong, after 3 days of endurance racing, I don't expect to cross the finish line and like my border collie after a long run, finish and look for another excuse to run! That's not what I mean about, "feeling good". No, not at all. My goal is to cross that line without feeling the pain from a chronic injury or shredded muscles that weren't prepared. Too many times we set out for a workout feeling injured but we ignore it because we have to get the run, swim or bike checked off the workout "list to do". We get used to feeling pain when we workout and therefore we compete, race after race, in pain and, in a sick sort of way, it becomes our normal. Whether you cross the line in pain or not, you still get a metal but this year my goal is cross all finish lines feeling good.
I have 3 months of my training complete, I ve built a solid base and learned a lot about myself:
1. I get tired after 7 straight days of training, that's new for me.
2. On the weeks of my period, I get 2 desserts instead of just one. This one is for my husbands health.
3. All the shoulder strengthening I have done has seriously helped me in the water.
4. It's harder at 42 than it was it 39, to wake up feeling refreshed when I ran 10 miles the night before.
5. Eating less meat really does work. Between less meat and Zyflamend, I have less soreness and way less inflammation. My meat intake is now down to once about every 2 1/2-3 weeks.
My running is at 30 miles a week, swimming 7,400 yards and I'm riding a lot on the cross bike which I'm convinced is the best workout you can have on a bicycle. I'm also taking part in spin classes which are good for me since I really don't like to ride fast and spin classes have a lot of, "fast".
In order to achieve my goal of "feeling good", I'm paying extra special attention to any aches and/or pains and I have become serious about my sleep. The big thing that I'm doing is ALL of the stretching and strengthening that I used to skip out on. Lets face it, we're all busy & sometimes just getting the workout in is a stretch in itself so the "extra stuff" like stretching and strengthening gets pushed aside. No more, if I can't get it in then I make myself skip the workout.
January will be fun as we have lots of snow to go play in and snowshoeing is a killer workout. We went snowshoeing last week and I spent most of the 3 hours admiring the beauty of the mountains, breathing the crisp clean air and reminding myself how, at that moment I was so thankful to be able to experience one of Mother Natures most awesome playgrounds.
Beth
