"The Plan"

I have a bit of advise for anyone who has a hard time motivating themselves to do a particular workout!  Maybe this only works for people with CrAzY brains like mine but I find that if I am following some sort of training program I HAVE to stick to it!  If it is written down then it has to be done.  Right now I am training for a marathon and I am following a training program that I put together, I pretty much combined 2 different schedules and put my own twist on some of the miles :)  Anyways, this morning I was supposed to do 6 X Hill repeats and I was DREADING it!!  But guess what?  It was on the schedule so I made myself do it.

I should, however, pay closer attention to the little things, like am I supposed to do .25 mile repeats or .50 mile repeats?  It may not seem like a big difference but I am here to tell you that it is!!!  I guess in my little pea-sized brain I got Yazzo 800's mixed up with hill repeats.  I started my warm-up and the whole time I was dreading what was coming.  Pretty soon that first mile was finished and it was time to bump up the incline.  I decided to start "easy" and put it at 5.5% while running at 7.5 mph (obviously done on a treadmill)!  I couldn't believe how hard it was, after all, last time I was at the same speed but my incline was at 7%!!!  It took A LOT of self talk to get me through the next 2, I wanted so badly to give up but it was on the schedule so I HAD to do it!  By the third repeat I decided that I was either going to stay at 5.5% and quite possibly DIE or lower the incline a titch.  I did the last 3 repeats at a 5% and it was tough.

Here is what I have wanted to do all day...did I get to? NO!

At about the halfway point of this workout I thought to myself "was I supposed to be doing .25 or .50 mile repeats?"  When I got home I checked and I must admit that I felt pretty hardcore when I saw that I was only supposed to do .25 milers but I did .50 milers!  I guess that explains why I felt like death at such a lower % incline.

I know that had this workout not been part of "the plan" I would have given up.  I had to keep telling myself that it was my mind that was done, not my body.  That was easy for me to say, my poor toe was throbbing.  Yesterday I had to pull my toenail out because had I left it hanging it would have been ripped off and no good could come of that!  I had to complete the workout and I am so glad that I did.  Sure I was a sweaty, disgusting mess but I did it! 

This was not taken today but McKenna wondered why on earth I would wear

my hoodie to workout in...I didn't I was just such a sweaty mess that it went through

onto my hoodie!

No matter what I need to accomplish in my life, I find that if it is written down it gets done and if it isn't written down it most likely won't get done.  Following a plan, especially in running/working out, makes a big difference.  I can pull up my training schedule the night before a run and know exactly what I am suppose to do the next day.  I can mentally prepare, or at least try, some workouts are pretty hard to get geared up for no matter what :)  Take for instance my long run on Saturday.  I am supposed to do 19 miles, that just seems a little too far ;)  The week of my 17 mile run I was in a rush and only did 14 (I don't know what got into me that week, I didn't stick to the plan), so the furthest I have run in a loooong time is 16 miles.  Lesson learned, stick to the plan!  Had I done 17 that week I don't think I would be so blasted scared of 19!

I guess to fuel my long run I am forced to go get my secret to a good long run :) YUM!!

The week that I didn't stick to the plan is also the week that I over-trained myself!! 

No matter what distance you are training for if you follow a training schedule and do the work you will know without a doubt that you are ready on race day!!