Hank loves to walk. Almost as much as he loves the thought that there MAY BE a walk in the near future. If he sees me grab my running shoes and my socks, or if he hears me ask, "Do you want to go OUTSIDE?" or "Do you want to go for a WALK?" he responds by barking and twirling in circles faster than the Tasmanian Devil. Going for a walk is the best part of Hank's day.
Many of us are guilty of focusing on the goal and not the journey - in running, and in life. Many of us are also guilty of making promises to ourselves and not following through with them. It happened when I was training for Chicago. In the spring, I had plenty of time to train. I convinced myself I could miss one workout and it wouldn't matter. If I enjoyed the process like Hank, I would've probably done a better job following through with those commitments.
My program over the past couple weeks involves a run on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday. Walks happen on Monday, Friday and Saturday. The past two Saturdays Hank and I walked the bike trail that splits downtown Winter Garden, heading 17 miles northeast and 5 miles west to the county line where it continues for several more miles. Today we covered about five miles over seventy minutes starting around 10:30am. It was a good base building day.
The beauty of the past two weeks has been re-establishing consistency. Since speaking to my coach nearly two weeks ago, I missed the first walking day but have been on the road every day since. Striva shows since June 29th I've run 8 times covering 29 miles and logging 5 hours, 35 minutes. On the 29th I ran 2.7 miles (34:28) at a 12:37/mi. pace, and Thursday I ran 3.7 miles (34:56) at a 9:34/mi. pace. Any time you can shave three minutes per mile off your pace is good.
While consistency on the road has been the theme over the past two weeks, the time of day (focus on the mornings) and adding strength and flexibility to the training have NOT been consistent. To minimize the risk that a workout doesn't happen, miles need to be logged first thing in the morning. To maximize potential, strength and flexibility need to be sprinkled during the day. Doing both will add energy and enthusiasm to everything done during the day.
The week ahead has 40 minutes of running on Tuesday, 50 minutes on Wednesday and 30 minutes on Thursday, with the exclamation point being the Celebration of Running 5K on Saturday morning. I'll throw in strength training on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, and stretching every day. Three months ago, my goal for the final 5K of the summer was to run at a 9:00 per miles pace. Adjusting for imporvement, I'd be happy with a pace of 8:30/mi. (finishing at 26:21) and thrilled with a pace of 8:00/mi. (finishing at 24:48).
Or maybe I'll just follow Hank's lead by enjoying the run and the tall glass of water at the end.
Many of us are guilty of focusing on the goal and not the journey - in running, and in life. Many of us are also guilty of making promises to ourselves and not following through with them. It happened when I was training for Chicago. In the spring, I had plenty of time to train. I convinced myself I could miss one workout and it wouldn't matter. If I enjoyed the process like Hank, I would've probably done a better job following through with those commitments.
My program over the past couple weeks involves a run on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday. Walks happen on Monday, Friday and Saturday. The past two Saturdays Hank and I walked the bike trail that splits downtown Winter Garden, heading 17 miles northeast and 5 miles west to the county line where it continues for several more miles. Today we covered about five miles over seventy minutes starting around 10:30am. It was a good base building day.
The beauty of the past two weeks has been re-establishing consistency. Since speaking to my coach nearly two weeks ago, I missed the first walking day but have been on the road every day since. Striva shows since June 29th I've run 8 times covering 29 miles and logging 5 hours, 35 minutes. On the 29th I ran 2.7 miles (34:28) at a 12:37/mi. pace, and Thursday I ran 3.7 miles (34:56) at a 9:34/mi. pace. Any time you can shave three minutes per mile off your pace is good.
While consistency on the road has been the theme over the past two weeks, the time of day (focus on the mornings) and adding strength and flexibility to the training have NOT been consistent. To minimize the risk that a workout doesn't happen, miles need to be logged first thing in the morning. To maximize potential, strength and flexibility need to be sprinkled during the day. Doing both will add energy and enthusiasm to everything done during the day.
The week ahead has 40 minutes of running on Tuesday, 50 minutes on Wednesday and 30 minutes on Thursday, with the exclamation point being the Celebration of Running 5K on Saturday morning. I'll throw in strength training on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, and stretching every day. Three months ago, my goal for the final 5K of the summer was to run at a 9:00 per miles pace. Adjusting for imporvement, I'd be happy with a pace of 8:30/mi. (finishing at 26:21) and thrilled with a pace of 8:00/mi. (finishing at 24:48).
Or maybe I'll just follow Hank's lead by enjoying the run and the tall glass of water at the end.
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