training update

marathon is 7 weeks from this weekend. or 12 weeks. or 16, depending on which one i choose. or all of the above?

three weeks with my personal trainer, marquis. crazy hard workouts. crrraaaazzzzeeee.

but they are yielding results. i got dressed for work the other day and looked in the mirror and was surprised at the difference i could see in myself in just three weeks. i didn't weigh or take measurements to be able to give tangible evidence that it's a big difference. but i can see it, and that's enough for me. because it's for me.

also, things we did the first week that killed me, ie., bear crawls for 30 yards? not anymore. this last week at the end of a particularly hard workout (and they have all been hard, this was the hardest) he said we were going to do bear crawls pushing the 16 pound medicine ball in front of us with our hands. the whole 100 yards.

(i also get to do squats holding this 16 pound beach ball, and have had to throw it and chase it pick it up and throw it again for 100 yards).

he asked who wanted to go first. steve always goes first, but i volunteered and assumed the bear position and shoved off. i thought i was going to die about 30 yard line, but i'm tired of wandering what i'm capable of, so i pushed on. at 60 yards i get the pep talk "average stops here, what are you going to do" and i pushed on. when i got to 100 yards, it wasn't a feeling of success or look what i did, it was just exhaustion and relief to be done.

marquis said he had a funny story for us when steve was done. i had shoved the ball into the grass, so steve started there and did the whole 120 yards of turf. when he pushed the ball into the grass, he got the same pep talk, and looked at marquis and said i'm gonna disagree with you. totally not average.

so funny story, he says, 'this was a joke'. we both look at him, not getting the joke.

he never intended us to bear crawl 100 yards, let alone pushing the medicine ball. but i volunteered to go first, never questioning or doubting i could do it. he was going to stop me at 20 yards, but i never quit. so of course he let me finish and then had to let steve do it.

so while this may make me crazy, the next day we did hill repeats for an hour. a full 60 minutes of sprinting uphill to walk downhill (seriously harder to walk downhill than to sprint up) and run back up. sprints. sprints with high knees. lunges. back pedaling in a squat position.

when i ran thursday, i had a three mile run and less than 30 minutes to do it. and i did it. with time to spare. for reference, this means i am much faster.

back to run bleachers again this week, but at least having run them before, i know what i'm up against.

these.

who knows? someday i may actually be average. lol

and everytime i wander why i'm putting myself through this, i come to the same conclusion i do when i question my sanity for running...because i want to.