I don't want to talk about training.
I don't want to talk about how far or fast I ran.
I don't want to talk about what I ate before or after or how much sleep I got or if it was good or bad.
I don't want to talk about budgets.
I don't want to talk about how much to pay this or that vendor.
I don't want to talk about a late or damaged delivery.
I don't want to talk about the kids,
or their sports,
or their grades.
I want to talk about me.
or you.
Or does this dress look good on me?
or this one?
Or what are you afraid of? What do you love?
Where Have I been? Where do I want to go?
or could I disappear for 6 months?
where would I go? What would I do?
would you go with me?
Let's be frivolous.
Let's stay up all night talking over a bottle of wine.
I want to....go.
I want to climb Macchu Picchu.
I want to stare in wonder at pyramids.
I want to wonder if I could have been Queen in ancient Egypt.
Je veux marcher le long de la seine
et de boire du café
I want to kiss the blarney stone.
Where will I be in 5 years? On top of a mountain? In the middle of the ocean? Sitting on a beach watching the sunrise?
Will I be here?
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Breakthrough Week
What a week for Tea!
Training and racing, both, have their moments. Good & bad moments.
For the most part, my season was fantastic. Of course, I was happy. Thrilled would be more appropriate.
The hardest thing to deal with is when you don't hit a goal or you feel like you're not making any progress....or progress is so slow that it almost seems like just a good day as opposed to true fitness gains.
On the bike, I made tremendous gains with not much effort.
The swim has been frustrating to me. I pretty much stayed the same all season. Poor swim coach, she's so patient with me. In racing, I wasn't too terribly concerned with my swim. Depending on the race, I'd come out of the water in the top 5, with all of us exiting within a second of each other.
My frustration with swimming came from Master's. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't hold the interval. By the time, we got to the end, I'd be off by 5 seconds or even more.
It would make me CRAZY! I was working so hard. 50-100-15-200-200-150-100-50. I wanted to give up.
Forget descending, I couldn't even MAINTAIN.
It's so draining to give and give and give and get nothing back.
Then the run. I knew a year ago that it would take me over a year to get close to my goals. At every race, I would get smarter and race better.
Still, I waited and waited and waited.
Isn't there a point when your body is supposed to catch up? These women that I race against are so fast. Why can't I be like that? When will it be my turn?
Stick to the plan. Don't go off it. As much as you want to run faster or longer, DON'T DO IT.
I kept running. Kept following the plan. There were days when I'd get up, and I think "This is not worth it." But, I'd get dressed and do what I was told.
When you know it's going to take at least a year, it's different than actually getting up day after day to a few seconds faster here or there. NOT a few seconds per mile faster, a few seconds over a DISTANCE.
It's been hard. It's made me appreciate the age groupers and pro's who go through this year after year, chasing the same thing I am.
In that way, we're really no different.
I didn't want to give up because then I'd just be back in the same place I'd always been....waaaaay in the back. Over one year, I'd managed to move from the back all the way up to 4th place.
I've been working with Coach for just over 10 months now. I admit that I sometimes look at my plan and I think the guy's just plain crazy.
Thinking it and saying it out loud are TWO completely different things.
This week was another week of Master's and pyramids and intervals and long intervals and UGH all that same stuff that MAKES ME WANT TO PULL OUT MY HAIR.
But I keep going.
We warm up, and Coach writes the workout on the board. My heart just sinks. It's the pyramid again.
I CAN'T DO IT. I CAN'T DO IT. I JUST CAN'T KEEP UP WITH THESE PEOPLE. These people swim at Nationals and all those bigswimeventsthaton'tmeananythingtomebutIknowthey'reimportant.
The craziest thing happened.
I COULD DO IT.
For no reason that I could think of, other than my body just finally caught up, I not only beat the intervals but I didn't fade and swam the last 50 faster than the first 50.
I beat my 200m time by 10 seconds. I beat my 100m time by 15 seconds.
BIG JUMPS. Not frustrating baby steps. BIG JUMPS.
When we got to our 10 x 50 kicks, coach had me make one itty bit adjustment, and I took off. Most powerful kicking I've done.
I think I was grinning from ear to ear when I got out of the pool.
Of course a breakthrough in the pool meant a very difficult run the next day. The day that I had mile repeats.
By mile 3, my legs started really getting sore.
I might not be the fastest runner, but you'll be hard pressed to fine one more determined. I kept running.
I stuck to the plan. No. There were no records blown away, but I did the workout.
The next day (today), I had a one hour LT bike + 2 mile run with a special little note from Coach that says: Run HARD! Let's see how it goes.
Dear, DEAR COACH
ARE YOU &@#&*$% CRAZY?
A 9:30 PACE? OFF THE BIKE?
Sure, I've run mile repeats ON A TRACK at 9:30.
But NOT the day AFTER mile repeats and CERTAINLY NOT immediately after a bike.
Once again, I did the workout.
And I ran, hard. I didn't know how hard I was running. I just set my garmin to beep when I hit a mile, and I was going to turnaround and run hard back.
At 2miles, I stopped. I finally looked at how fast I had run. 9:34 pace and a negative split to boot. The first mile was around 9:40 and the second was around 9:20 pace.
The one thing that I've been struggling with: negative splits.
Within 72 hours, I managed to do it without even knowing I was doing it. Without even trying to do it in two sports.
The nice thing about having a Coach that you don't see every day....I can roll my eyes and curse and complain and he'll never know about it....until I post it on my blog.
By then, I've already learned that he was right.
Training and racing, both, have their moments. Good & bad moments.
For the most part, my season was fantastic. Of course, I was happy. Thrilled would be more appropriate.
The hardest thing to deal with is when you don't hit a goal or you feel like you're not making any progress....or progress is so slow that it almost seems like just a good day as opposed to true fitness gains.
On the bike, I made tremendous gains with not much effort.
The swim has been frustrating to me. I pretty much stayed the same all season. Poor swim coach, she's so patient with me. In racing, I wasn't too terribly concerned with my swim. Depending on the race, I'd come out of the water in the top 5, with all of us exiting within a second of each other.
My frustration with swimming came from Master's. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't hold the interval. By the time, we got to the end, I'd be off by 5 seconds or even more.
It would make me CRAZY! I was working so hard. 50-100-15-200-200-150-100-50. I wanted to give up.
Forget descending, I couldn't even MAINTAIN.
It's so draining to give and give and give and get nothing back.
Then the run. I knew a year ago that it would take me over a year to get close to my goals. At every race, I would get smarter and race better.
Still, I waited and waited and waited.
Isn't there a point when your body is supposed to catch up? These women that I race against are so fast. Why can't I be like that? When will it be my turn?
Stick to the plan. Don't go off it. As much as you want to run faster or longer, DON'T DO IT.
I kept running. Kept following the plan. There were days when I'd get up, and I think "This is not worth it." But, I'd get dressed and do what I was told.
When you know it's going to take at least a year, it's different than actually getting up day after day to a few seconds faster here or there. NOT a few seconds per mile faster, a few seconds over a DISTANCE.
It's been hard. It's made me appreciate the age groupers and pro's who go through this year after year, chasing the same thing I am.
In that way, we're really no different.
I didn't want to give up because then I'd just be back in the same place I'd always been....waaaaay in the back. Over one year, I'd managed to move from the back all the way up to 4th place.
I've been working with Coach for just over 10 months now. I admit that I sometimes look at my plan and I think the guy's just plain crazy.
Thinking it and saying it out loud are TWO completely different things.
This week was another week of Master's and pyramids and intervals and long intervals and UGH all that same stuff that MAKES ME WANT TO PULL OUT MY HAIR.
But I keep going.
We warm up, and Coach writes the workout on the board. My heart just sinks. It's the pyramid again.
I CAN'T DO IT. I CAN'T DO IT. I JUST CAN'T KEEP UP WITH THESE PEOPLE. These people swim at Nationals and all those bigswimeventsthaton'tmeananythingtomebutIknowthey'reimportant.
The craziest thing happened.
I COULD DO IT.
For no reason that I could think of, other than my body just finally caught up, I not only beat the intervals but I didn't fade and swam the last 50 faster than the first 50.
I beat my 200m time by 10 seconds. I beat my 100m time by 15 seconds.
BIG JUMPS. Not frustrating baby steps. BIG JUMPS.
When we got to our 10 x 50 kicks, coach had me make one itty bit adjustment, and I took off. Most powerful kicking I've done.
I think I was grinning from ear to ear when I got out of the pool.
Of course a breakthrough in the pool meant a very difficult run the next day. The day that I had mile repeats.
By mile 3, my legs started really getting sore.
I might not be the fastest runner, but you'll be hard pressed to fine one more determined. I kept running.
I stuck to the plan. No. There were no records blown away, but I did the workout.
The next day (today), I had a one hour LT bike + 2 mile run with a special little note from Coach that says: Run HARD! Let's see how it goes.
Dear, DEAR COACH
ARE YOU &@#&*$% CRAZY?
A 9:30 PACE? OFF THE BIKE?
Sure, I've run mile repeats ON A TRACK at 9:30.
But NOT the day AFTER mile repeats and CERTAINLY NOT immediately after a bike.
Once again, I did the workout.
And I ran, hard. I didn't know how hard I was running. I just set my garmin to beep when I hit a mile, and I was going to turnaround and run hard back.
At 2miles, I stopped. I finally looked at how fast I had run. 9:34 pace and a negative split to boot. The first mile was around 9:40 and the second was around 9:20 pace.
The one thing that I've been struggling with: negative splits.
Within 72 hours, I managed to do it without even knowing I was doing it. Without even trying to do it in two sports.
The nice thing about having a Coach that you don't see every day....I can roll my eyes and curse and complain and he'll never know about it....until I post it on my blog.
By then, I've already learned that he was right.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Hey Tea? Are you getting ready to go run?
Me: Uh. Yes?
Ok, great. I have a question for you to think about while you run. I need you to get creative for me.
It's saying something when people that you work with, know your training schedule. AND know that some of your best times to think things over is while running.
Lately, I have been thinking a lot about the people in my life. I believe that people come into your life for a reason. In the past 6 months or so, I have been fortunate to meet some really great people.
I think about this in terms of marriage or partnerships alot. My Mike and I have been married 19 years. Neither one of us is the same person who stepped up and said "I do." We shouldn't be. What's makes a healthy relationship is allowing the other person to become who they need to become and not suffocating them.
I think that goes beyond just personal relationships. It can be true in friendships and in business relationships. Give people the room they need to become who they need to become.
Why all of this now? Because one of the positive influences in my life and I have been talking back and forth about business ideas, but as I mentioned, it's about relationships regardless of where they start. I had just finished reading his last message when I went running. (At some point, I expect to get a bill in the mail for add-on psychotherapy fees).
It's no surprise that all of this was on my mind while I was running today.
I have my *inner circle* of people. These are people that are people that support me. Sometimes, I wished that I'd met them earlier in my life. By inner circle, I'm not talking about the gossip-girls. These are people (men and women) that I can just be myself around. If I'm having a bad day, they don't mind. They keep me laughing. They keep me thinking and pushing myself to be a better person. They raise the bar and don't mind when I fall short. They are my loudest cheerleaders when I succeed.
I had a friend who was/is an ultramarathoner. We would meet and talk and talk and talk. When you run with an ultramarathoner, you have....TIME. No matter what was going on in my life, I knew that he'd be there for me. Likewise, me for him. We ran through the start of my business. We ran through his wife's chemo.
I think this strong support network is something that endurance athletes are more open to because we show our most vulnerable side when we are tired or hurt or cramped or just think we can't go on. We know the power of a smile when we're tired. We know the value of a quiet friend when we need to talk. We know there will be someone to give us a tire tube or gel or bottle of water.
We need those types of people in our lives. I confess there are a few of those people on my support crew that I've never even met. But, their text messages and email messages always seem perfectly timed.
Sometimes, "Thank you" just doesn't even seem to cover it.
But, it is better than saying nothing at all.
Me: Uh. Yes?
Ok, great. I have a question for you to think about while you run. I need you to get creative for me.
It's saying something when people that you work with, know your training schedule. AND know that some of your best times to think things over is while running.
Lately, I have been thinking a lot about the people in my life. I believe that people come into your life for a reason. In the past 6 months or so, I have been fortunate to meet some really great people.
I think about this in terms of marriage or partnerships alot. My Mike and I have been married 19 years. Neither one of us is the same person who stepped up and said "I do." We shouldn't be. What's makes a healthy relationship is allowing the other person to become who they need to become and not suffocating them.
I think that goes beyond just personal relationships. It can be true in friendships and in business relationships. Give people the room they need to become who they need to become.
Why all of this now? Because one of the positive influences in my life and I have been talking back and forth about business ideas, but as I mentioned, it's about relationships regardless of where they start. I had just finished reading his last message when I went running. (At some point, I expect to get a bill in the mail for add-on psychotherapy fees).
It's no surprise that all of this was on my mind while I was running today.
I have my *inner circle* of people. These are people that are people that support me. Sometimes, I wished that I'd met them earlier in my life. By inner circle, I'm not talking about the gossip-girls. These are people (men and women) that I can just be myself around. If I'm having a bad day, they don't mind. They keep me laughing. They keep me thinking and pushing myself to be a better person. They raise the bar and don't mind when I fall short. They are my loudest cheerleaders when I succeed.
I had a friend who was/is an ultramarathoner. We would meet and talk and talk and talk. When you run with an ultramarathoner, you have....TIME. No matter what was going on in my life, I knew that he'd be there for me. Likewise, me for him. We ran through the start of my business. We ran through his wife's chemo.
I think this strong support network is something that endurance athletes are more open to because we show our most vulnerable side when we are tired or hurt or cramped or just think we can't go on. We know the power of a smile when we're tired. We know the value of a quiet friend when we need to talk. We know there will be someone to give us a tire tube or gel or bottle of water.
We need those types of people in our lives. I confess there are a few of those people on my support crew that I've never even met. But, their text messages and email messages always seem perfectly timed.
Sometimes, "Thank you" just doesn't even seem to cover it.
But, it is better than saying nothing at all.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Half Marathon Saga
Let me 'splain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up. ----Inigo Montoya
A couple of months ago, I volunteered to run a half marathon with a friend who was ditched by her friends. This was going to be her first half marathon. Her *friends* had committed to running it with her....then decided they were going to do a race on the following weekend instead.
In my book, that's pretty slimey.
I felt so bad for her that I checked my calendar, the weekend looked good. So, I decided to run it with her.
I did this because I ran my first half marathon alone. I really wished (back then) that I'd had someone to run it with. For those of us who do these types of races regularly, we can forget what it's like the first time you do a new distance. Having someone to ask questions or talk to...someone to help keep you focused or make you laugh while running....all of that....It makes a huge difference.
I signed up.
RIGHT AFTER I DID that, my friend at Master's says "We're still on for RNR Las Vegas, right?"
OH GEESH. I had forgotten that I had committed to running Vegas.
Trying to remember when Vegas was, I replied, "OH YEA! I'm in!"
I rush home to look it up online.
Vegas is 3 weeks after my other half.
Well, the positive is that they aren't the same weekend, right?
The negative is that I really hadn't wanted to run so much this winter. One half marathon is one thing, but two? That's awholenuther thing.
It's not the 13.1 miles. I've been really concerned about getting back into that plugger mentality when I've worked so hard to gain speed at shorter distances.
Of course, Coach has built-in "Anti-Tea-Plugger-Devices" to my training plan. That means, I have mile repeats for breakfast; long runs with shorter stretches of higher intensity running; hill repeats; two-a-days (and yea, I'm talking TWO RUNS in one day); y'know typical "Let's make Tea cry" type of workouts.
And the workouts are NOT easy.
I realized they will NEVER be easy. No matter how fast you get, a mile repeat is a mile repeat. The pace might change but the heart zone doesn't.
Over the past few weeks, I've really given this a lot of thought.
I came up with this:
The November half is for Her.
The December half is for Me.
Why not? The November half is about getting her to finish line. To do that with someone, it's really special. If you've never run a "first" race with someone, it's one of those bucket list items, seriously. This one will be one of my favorites because she has overcome incredible challenges this year. I'm warning you. There will be tears.
That's my plan. I've been taking my running more seriously. I'm more focused on nutrition. I am planning on running Vegas hard. Hopefully, I'll have a decent finish time. Although I'd love a PR, I'm not quite there yet. I have a plan. I'm going to stick with it.
The finish time will be what it will be.
It feels kind of good to be running a half marathon again.
It's been a few years.
A couple of months ago, I volunteered to run a half marathon with a friend who was ditched by her friends. This was going to be her first half marathon. Her *friends* had committed to running it with her....then decided they were going to do a race on the following weekend instead.
In my book, that's pretty slimey.
I felt so bad for her that I checked my calendar, the weekend looked good. So, I decided to run it with her.
I did this because I ran my first half marathon alone. I really wished (back then) that I'd had someone to run it with. For those of us who do these types of races regularly, we can forget what it's like the first time you do a new distance. Having someone to ask questions or talk to...someone to help keep you focused or make you laugh while running....all of that....It makes a huge difference.
I signed up.
RIGHT AFTER I DID that, my friend at Master's says "We're still on for RNR Las Vegas, right?"
OH GEESH. I had forgotten that I had committed to running Vegas.
Trying to remember when Vegas was, I replied, "OH YEA! I'm in!"
I rush home to look it up online.
Vegas is 3 weeks after my other half.
Well, the positive is that they aren't the same weekend, right?
The negative is that I really hadn't wanted to run so much this winter. One half marathon is one thing, but two? That's awholenuther thing.
It's not the 13.1 miles. I've been really concerned about getting back into that plugger mentality when I've worked so hard to gain speed at shorter distances.
Of course, Coach has built-in "Anti-Tea-Plugger-Devices" to my training plan. That means, I have mile repeats for breakfast; long runs with shorter stretches of higher intensity running; hill repeats; two-a-days (and yea, I'm talking TWO RUNS in one day); y'know typical "Let's make Tea cry" type of workouts.
And the workouts are NOT easy.
I realized they will NEVER be easy. No matter how fast you get, a mile repeat is a mile repeat. The pace might change but the heart zone doesn't.
Over the past few weeks, I've really given this a lot of thought.
I came up with this:
The November half is for Her.
The December half is for Me.
Why not? The November half is about getting her to finish line. To do that with someone, it's really special. If you've never run a "first" race with someone, it's one of those bucket list items, seriously. This one will be one of my favorites because she has overcome incredible challenges this year. I'm warning you. There will be tears.
That's my plan. I've been taking my running more seriously. I'm more focused on nutrition. I am planning on running Vegas hard. Hopefully, I'll have a decent finish time. Although I'd love a PR, I'm not quite there yet. I have a plan. I'm going to stick with it.
The finish time will be what it will be.
It feels kind of good to be running a half marathon again.
It's been a few years.
Eat Papa Eat
I wrote several posts this week that I didn't publish. NOW, I have to go back and summarize.
I think we can agree that I don't "summarize" very well.
Here goes:
1.) I've had some nutrition issues. I've been unable to finish master's swim. My long runs have been really tough.
2.) My long runs have been really tough.
How's THAT for summarizing?
Dealing with my frustration is one thing. Dealing with My Mike's has been something else. "You gotta tell Ricci about this. Maybe he knows someone you can talk to."
And of course there was JMan with, "You need to eat more calorie dense food."
I know. They're right.
Before I contact anyone, and the reason I didn't post about this to begin with, I just wanted to see if I could make some adjustments on my own.
The first adjustment I made was....basically....stuffing my face. No, I haven't gone out and gotten dairy queen once a day. I've been a lot more responsible than that. One thing that I realized, and I admit, it was silly that I didn't recognize it before: My caloric input had dropped. Since the temperatures have dropped, I have not been having my Super Smoothies. In the summer, I would have them once a day, sometimes twice depending on what my plan called for.
The second adjustment was in training nutrition. The master's swims that I've been struggling with have been after another harder worker. I switched my master's drink to a higher calorie + protein drink. In between the two workouts, I also started to eat a bigger meal. Fortunately for me, I can pretty much eat anything before swimming. (I haven't been able to see how this goes yet. I only started making these changes on Thursday).
This is what I don't understand. I'm not a very big person. How can it be possible that I need THIS MUCH FOOD?
The other issue that I had was the simple fact that my long runs have not gone well.
I looked back over the past month of training. I realized that my running volume has jumped up quite a bit. The Fri-Sat-Sun trifecta of running has been kicking my butt by the time Sunday rolls around.
(This plays into the nutrition piece too.)
This week, I got a break on Sat. (No running just riding).
AND I ate like a crazy person on Sat.
AND this resulted in a really good run today. 10 miles. I didn't care how long it took me (1:52). I just needed to finish my run without calling for a rescue and without have to walk because my legs were dead.
Sometimes I feel like a little kid. I have My mike & jman telling me what to do. I have Coach telling me what to do. I have Swim coach telling me what to do.
With all this expertise around me, you'd think I'd learn.
I think we can agree that I don't "summarize" very well.
Here goes:
1.) I've had some nutrition issues. I've been unable to finish master's swim. My long runs have been really tough.
2.) My long runs have been really tough.
How's THAT for summarizing?
Dealing with my frustration is one thing. Dealing with My Mike's has been something else. "You gotta tell Ricci about this. Maybe he knows someone you can talk to."
And of course there was JMan with, "You need to eat more calorie dense food."
I know. They're right.
Before I contact anyone, and the reason I didn't post about this to begin with, I just wanted to see if I could make some adjustments on my own.
The first adjustment I made was....basically....stuffing my face. No, I haven't gone out and gotten dairy queen once a day. I've been a lot more responsible than that. One thing that I realized, and I admit, it was silly that I didn't recognize it before: My caloric input had dropped. Since the temperatures have dropped, I have not been having my Super Smoothies. In the summer, I would have them once a day, sometimes twice depending on what my plan called for.
The second adjustment was in training nutrition. The master's swims that I've been struggling with have been after another harder worker. I switched my master's drink to a higher calorie + protein drink. In between the two workouts, I also started to eat a bigger meal. Fortunately for me, I can pretty much eat anything before swimming. (I haven't been able to see how this goes yet. I only started making these changes on Thursday).
This is what I don't understand. I'm not a very big person. How can it be possible that I need THIS MUCH FOOD?
The other issue that I had was the simple fact that my long runs have not gone well.
I looked back over the past month of training. I realized that my running volume has jumped up quite a bit. The Fri-Sat-Sun trifecta of running has been kicking my butt by the time Sunday rolls around.
(This plays into the nutrition piece too.)
This week, I got a break on Sat. (No running just riding).
AND I ate like a crazy person on Sat.
AND this resulted in a really good run today. 10 miles. I didn't care how long it took me (1:52). I just needed to finish my run without calling for a rescue and without have to walk because my legs were dead.
Sometimes I feel like a little kid. I have My mike & jman telling me what to do. I have Coach telling me what to do. I have Swim coach telling me what to do.
With all this expertise around me, you'd think I'd learn.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Another New Normal
I need to deal with an issue.
I've not hidden the fact that I'm beyond busy. (Have I? Have you felt that I've been pretty honest with how things are going? Somewhat?)
The business has exploded in the last month because we launched our new site. Expecting this, we'd hired people to handle the volume. We also had a staff on board all summer helping us get everything ready.
Of course, now that we are live, there are little things that need adjusting. Those things fall onto my plate. Perfectly fine.
What I did not account for was how hard it would be to do my regular job along with all the fix it jobs.
Perfectly ok.
The whole thing has been great. We become more efficient in *this* way which gives us more time *over here*.
Some of those things take time to set up and test. They just do.
Perfectly ok.
I am running out of hours in the day. I know that I have to dedicate the time NOW to save time down the road.
I have to admit that it is making me a little bit crazy.
Even that is perfectly ok.
It's crunch time, so to speak. There is a lot of work to do. The holiday season is approaching fast. We have new fall inventory. New processes.
Fortunately, we hired someone several weeks ago who is looking like she might actually be my helper. YES. Someone who I could hand off my stuff to and go on vacation without having to bring a laptop.
Why am I going on about all of this?
Because I couldn't be happier that it is my off-season.
I am struggling to get my workouts in. As of this writing, I still haven't gotten my run done. Now, it's looking like it might be late or not at all (given the workouts that I have tomorrow).
I know that I have full responsibility to myself to get my workouts in. I know this. I haven't really missed any (today's yet to be decided).
I have to figure out how to deal with this. It's kind of funny because I get to master's swim every tues and thursday with no hesitation.
It's the OTHER workouts that I do alone. It's not as simple as putting it on my schedule. Trust me. I've done that.
I get up early to do it but some fire comes up and it needs my attention immediately I end up missing my *appointment* with myself then I get hungry, and I can't workout because I have to eat in order to work out but then it gets later and I've never really liked working out in the evenings so I don't know how to plan for it then it's time for dinner and it's some spicy Indian dish and I can't workout after doing that so it gets late then I can't workout because if I do it too late then I can't sleep.
DEEP BREATH
Sometimes I just think, maybe I should just aim for 1 workout a day (on the insane days). I can easily prioritize by the simple fact that I have a half marathon coming up.
Running would be the priority.
There's something bigger here though.
I have friends and family that assume it is easy for me to set the alarm at 4am every day and get my workouts in.
What they don't realize is that I'm no super-scheduling-super-mom-super-business-owner-type. No one can live up to that standard. The Super-woman of the 80's was bullsh!t.
It takes work. It takes consistency. It takes knowing when you are at a breaking point.
Only YOU know when you can push on and when you are simply looking for excuses to skip a workout.
I'm not at my breaking point. I just need to figure out how to get the priorities done each day.
I'm a list person. Each day, I am going to write my list of the the things that MUST get done. For the fires that pop up during the day? I have to be honest about what is TRULY an emergency and what is something that is merely *important*.
Here's my commitment to myself:
1.) I will get at LEAST one workout in per day.
2.) It will be the first thing I do every day after breakfast.
3.) I will not allow myself to be pulled into anyone else's stress. In fact, my stress level seems to determine everyone else's stress level. I will remain calm and accept that there will be days where not everything gets done.
4.) I will not be baited into missing a workout for issues disguised as emergencies.
5.) I will set my alarm to ring at me to remind me to go do my workout.
I will accept my new normal.
I've not hidden the fact that I'm beyond busy. (Have I? Have you felt that I've been pretty honest with how things are going? Somewhat?)
The business has exploded in the last month because we launched our new site. Expecting this, we'd hired people to handle the volume. We also had a staff on board all summer helping us get everything ready.
Of course, now that we are live, there are little things that need adjusting. Those things fall onto my plate. Perfectly fine.
What I did not account for was how hard it would be to do my regular job along with all the fix it jobs.
Perfectly ok.
The whole thing has been great. We become more efficient in *this* way which gives us more time *over here*.
Some of those things take time to set up and test. They just do.
Perfectly ok.
I am running out of hours in the day. I know that I have to dedicate the time NOW to save time down the road.
I have to admit that it is making me a little bit crazy.
Even that is perfectly ok.
It's crunch time, so to speak. There is a lot of work to do. The holiday season is approaching fast. We have new fall inventory. New processes.
Fortunately, we hired someone several weeks ago who is looking like she might actually be my helper. YES. Someone who I could hand off my stuff to and go on vacation without having to bring a laptop.
Why am I going on about all of this?
Because I couldn't be happier that it is my off-season.
I am struggling to get my workouts in. As of this writing, I still haven't gotten my run done. Now, it's looking like it might be late or not at all (given the workouts that I have tomorrow).
I know that I have full responsibility to myself to get my workouts in. I know this. I haven't really missed any (today's yet to be decided).
I have to figure out how to deal with this. It's kind of funny because I get to master's swim every tues and thursday with no hesitation.
It's the OTHER workouts that I do alone. It's not as simple as putting it on my schedule. Trust me. I've done that.
I get up early to do it but some fire comes up and it needs my attention immediately I end up missing my *appointment* with myself then I get hungry, and I can't workout because I have to eat in order to work out but then it gets later and I've never really liked working out in the evenings so I don't know how to plan for it then it's time for dinner and it's some spicy Indian dish and I can't workout after doing that so it gets late then I can't workout because if I do it too late then I can't sleep.
DEEP BREATH
Sometimes I just think, maybe I should just aim for 1 workout a day (on the insane days). I can easily prioritize by the simple fact that I have a half marathon coming up.
Running would be the priority.
There's something bigger here though.
I have friends and family that assume it is easy for me to set the alarm at 4am every day and get my workouts in.
What they don't realize is that I'm no super-scheduling-super-mom-super-business-owner-type. No one can live up to that standard. The Super-woman of the 80's was bullsh!t.
It takes work. It takes consistency. It takes knowing when you are at a breaking point.
Only YOU know when you can push on and when you are simply looking for excuses to skip a workout.
I'm not at my breaking point. I just need to figure out how to get the priorities done each day.
I'm a list person. Each day, I am going to write my list of the the things that MUST get done. For the fires that pop up during the day? I have to be honest about what is TRULY an emergency and what is something that is merely *important*.
Here's my commitment to myself:
1.) I will get at LEAST one workout in per day.
2.) It will be the first thing I do every day after breakfast.
3.) I will not allow myself to be pulled into anyone else's stress. In fact, my stress level seems to determine everyone else's stress level. I will remain calm and accept that there will be days where not everything gets done.
4.) I will not be baited into missing a workout for issues disguised as emergencies.
5.) I will set my alarm to ring at me to remind me to go do my workout.
I will accept my new normal.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
The Beast
Tabatas.
Have you done them?
If not, you're in for a TREAT.
A TREAT, I tell you.
They are ugly, hard. And, they make me make weird noises that sound something like a cross between growl and a, I dunno.....an attacking gorilla?
go ahead, experiment.
No, you will NEVER understand until you do them.
The tabata workout is about 30-35 minutes long.
Last night, Beast starts in on me, "We're going to get up early, right? We're gonna KNOCK OUT those tabata's right? Give us plenty of time to recover before Master's. Let's do this. 5:30am! SET THE ALARM"
You know Beast.
Beast is that little voice inside you that says you can accomplish INCREDIBLE things. YOU ARE AMAZING AND CANNOT BE BEAT.
Of course, Beast is a GREAT motivator, but sometimes she's not the brightest bulb in the box.
For example, she doesn't know how I think. I'm thinking, "tabata's are big and scary. They make me grunt like an attacking gorilla. Let's have coffee first."
5:30 rolls by
and 6:30
and 7:30
and finally 8:30 rolls around.
I HAVE to get on the bike now or I won't be done in time for Master's.
My INGENIUS plan of pushing tabatas later and later didn't make them easier.
It just meant more people were around.
So when I left the room, I saw the sign someone had posted outside the room:
You will hear noises.
Do not be alarmed.
Smile and Move along.
Have you done them?
If not, you're in for a TREAT.
A TREAT, I tell you.
They are ugly, hard. And, they make me make weird noises that sound something like a cross between growl and a, I dunno.....an attacking gorilla?
go ahead, experiment.
No, you will NEVER understand until you do them.
The tabata workout is about 30-35 minutes long.
Last night, Beast starts in on me, "We're going to get up early, right? We're gonna KNOCK OUT those tabata's right? Give us plenty of time to recover before Master's. Let's do this. 5:30am! SET THE ALARM"
You know Beast.
Beast is that little voice inside you that says you can accomplish INCREDIBLE things. YOU ARE AMAZING AND CANNOT BE BEAT.
Of course, Beast is a GREAT motivator, but sometimes she's not the brightest bulb in the box.
For example, she doesn't know how I think. I'm thinking, "tabata's are big and scary. They make me grunt like an attacking gorilla. Let's have coffee first."
5:30 rolls by
and 6:30
and 7:30
and finally 8:30 rolls around.
I HAVE to get on the bike now or I won't be done in time for Master's.
My INGENIUS plan of pushing tabatas later and later didn't make them easier.
It just meant more people were around.
So when I left the room, I saw the sign someone had posted outside the room:
You will hear noises.
Do not be alarmed.
Smile and Move along.
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