weekly check-in

[ilanarama]

Happy Monday! Your inspirational quote for the day comes from Paavo Nurmi, who won 9 gold and 3 silver medals for Finland in middle- and long-distance running events in the 1920, 1924, and 1928 Olympics:

"Mind is everything: muscle--pieces of rubber. All that I am, I am because of my mind."

How was your week, and what do you have planned for this week? And what kind of mental games and tricks do you use to stay on track when running is hard?

Comments

[ilanarama]

I am excited to say that I have been cleared by my PT to do a very small amount of running. She thought that my 3-miler a couple of weeks ago was just too much too soon, and that I should avoid pavement for a while, but that I am ready to run again. So last Thursday I did my 4-mile "fast hike" loop that I have been doing a couple of mornings a week in lieu of running, but added in 3 5-minute intervals of slow jogging separated by 5 minutes of running, and it seemed to go fine. This morning I did four intervals of running, and the ankle was tight but didn't hurt, so I'm feeling really encouraged. Oh, and I spooked a deer (and vice versa)!

My mental tricks:

When I am running a long run (or a marathon) I compare what's left to go to the routes I typically run in training. Eight miles sounds like a lot but when I tell myself, "it's just like running up to the Fall River stop sign and back!" it doesn't sound so far. The last 4 miles of a marathon I tell myself it's just the short loop around the river path. And so on.

I hate intervals the most, and I usually want to quit way before I'm done. So I bargain with myself: "you have to do at least two more and then you don't have to do the last two, okay?" But then after I do two I scold myself for being a quitter so I do the last two anyway.

[sophinisba]

That's great that you're getting to run again!

[temve]

My running week was extremely short - managed my usual Wednesday long run (9.8K), then dove headfirst into a choir festival that had me alternately singing, working the con space, and biking to and from the con space, so I wasn't entirely lazy seeing as it's about 10K from my house. But no further runs the rest of the week.

Will skip running today as well as the pollen count is literally off the scale (after the interminable winter and the rainiest May ever, the grasses are all going "MUST HAVE SEX NOW!!" this week) and I've already got my daily dose from biking to and from work. *sneeze*

[ilanarama]

I can't quibble with biking since that's pretty much all the exercise I've been able to do since my injury!

And I sympathize about the allergies. Mine improved greatly when I moved to the dry desert climate where I live now.

I like that quote

[maxwells]

My week ended well, with my first official 5k; and I start running again tomorrow because the 5k I want to really do well in is in September.

My mind is always playing tricks on me telling me that I am tired. Usually that's when I start exercising. When I am done, I take satisfaction that I have disciplined my mind instead of letting it trick me into stopping.

[ilanarama]

Congratulations on your first official 5K.

[maxwells]

Thank you very nuch

[cyphomandra]

I did a 10k race on Sunday - slow time, but I stuck to my target heart rate and felt fine at the end, with no hip problems! Then I did the kids' 2.5k with a friend's seven year old (friend still walking 10k), who was wildly excited for the first 500m ("I'm running! I'm running!") and then slightly less keen as we kept going... But he made it the whole way.

My biggest problem at the moment is getting out the door, as it's dark, cold and miserable, and there's been a fair bit of work stress. I'm not doing so well on the actual running (usually twice a week, plus once at the gym) but I bought the EA active program for the Wii and now even if I don't get outside I at least exercise. Plus it's very keen on making me do squats, which my physio approves of.

[ilanarama]

Yay for your 10K with no hip problems. And that's adorable that you ran with a friend's kid.

During our winter, I ran at lunchtime to maximize the warmth and light - maybe you can do that?

[gnomad]

This past week was pretty good. It was my last but training week before tapering and I managed 3 runs, one regular and two as part of bricks. My mileage is still pretty low (9 miles, thereabouts), but the past few weeks I'd only been doing two runs per week, so I'm pleased I finally got in 3.

My main mental trick with running is to zone out and think about things that are not running related. Plot fic, think about an upcoming event, etc. I'm also a big fan of having a place to go or a route to follow because then I'm not just running, I'm going on a journey. In this journey I just happen to be traveling on foot, and lo, running will get me faster than walking. This is why treadmills drive me batty.

[ilanarama]

Hee, I do a lot of zoning out, too. And I think that I have plotted some of my best stories while running.

And yay taper time!

[yvi]

I continued my program and have now managed to jog slowly without breaks for 25 minutes three times.

Right now, I am mostly managing by listening to motivational podcasts.

[ilanarama]

Congratulations!

[sophinisba]

I ran four days last week for a total of 18 miles and was sad that I didn't make my goal, which was 20 miles. But I overdid some other stuff on Friday and could only manage a short run on Saturday.

However I'm feeling much better now because I did 6.4 miles this Sunday, the longest I've ever gone without taking a break, and am feeling a lot more confident now heading toward my first 10K on Saturday.

[ilanarama]

Oh, it's awesome that you are so prepared for your 10K. And 18 is pretty close to 20! Good work. I think ~20 mpw is really the sort of minimal baseline you need to be able to improve at all.

Good luck this Saturday!