Hanson's Half Marathon Kick Off

Monday officially started the beginning of training for my next goal race, the Richmond Half Marathon. Last year during my recovery from the accident, I bought "Hanson's Half Marathon Method". I started reading it as a way to keep me motivated when I couldn't be active. It had a bit of a bad side effect in making me miss it even more. So I tucked it away.

And then this winter/early spring I signed up for a training program alongside my running store family. It was a training program designed mostly for folks running the Cherry Blossom 10 miler but was conducive to people like me who wanted a slightly longer distance (the half) around the same time frame. So I trained for weeks with my buddies by my side. And then a work project "went live" and derailed my training for a few weeks. And then I ran my first post-accident half. And it was a train wreck! The training hadn't failed me, it had actually been great. The time between the end of the official training and the race and the kick off at work....okay those events didn't fail me...I failed me. I used them as an excuse and didn't run much. And so my race...was bad. So after the race, I wallowed. I stepped away for a week. And then I decided to get a base beneath my feet as I jumped head first into the biggest challenge of my running career thus far. I was going to follow Hanson's Half Marathon method and set a BIG GOAL for the Richmond Half Marathon.

That plan had always been in the back of my head, since early in the year. But now it was time to execute...to put my money where my mouth was. So I dusted off the book and read it...cover to cover...while watching my boys enjoy time at the pool. I had moments of excitement because it is based in science (queue my science teacher heart exploding) and moments of terror as I added up all the miles I would be expected to run. But the day has come. Today I took my first steps toward completing Hanson's. I woke up early and hit the pavement with a running buddy I have not seen enough of lately. We did 3 miles at a pace that was faster than I was supposed to run. But today I put a green X on the training calendar to indicate that I successfully executed the plan. I hope the weeks to come will bring many more green Xs!

Road Blocks

My last entry talked about my new journey and how I am running and back in the gym lifting weights. I went on and on about consistency and how I am ACTUALLY doing it this time. Could that post have been what jinxed me? Only five days after posting, I had a little set back. On my rest day, I was working at my PT job (as a sales associate in a local running store). We got a call from another store location looking for a missing shoe. As I was kneeling on the floor, leaned over a shoe box, with the phone perched between my shoulder and ear, I felt the muscles in my middle back cease up...intensely. It was so intense that it literally took my breath away. It was as if the back muscle was shrinking into itself and pulling back on my lungs so there was less room for air. I would be lying if I said I wasn't scared. Thankfully it was only 15 minutes until closing. I slogged through my closing tasks and ended up driving to my boyfriend's house, just a short 1.5 mile drive. I was afraid to go home, where I would be alone, in fear that I would wake up in the morning and not be able to get out of bed. It took a week to be able to move again without pain. For the first few days I couldn't even just sit in a chair without pain. Doctor visit just revealed a pulled muscle. I guess I went a little too beast mode right away and my body decided to let me know about it.

I decided to jump back in where I left off in the plan and got another 2 weeks under my belt. I continued to feel strong and consistent. And then the next road block jumped in my way. The work project that I had been involved with for months was finally going to be deployed to the real world. I skipped my first workout on "deployment day". And while I tried to use my workouts the first few days to help balance the stress of the go-live experience, I wasn't ready for that kind of schedule balancing. And off the wagon I fell....again. And in the grand tradition of me...I was hard on myself and gave up completely. I didn't even really run much, not the smartest of plans with a half marathon looming, but the stress overwhelmed and engulfed me...and I let it. It would be a full seven weeks before I attempted to take back my workouts. But on June 5th, I decided that enough is enough. The only controlling interest in my schedule and my goals was going to be me. And I took back control in a BIG time way!

The Journey Back

Its been just over 9 months since I was in a bad car accident. After that, I spent 8 weeks being unable to do any sort of physical activity. The weeks following the accident are still a blur. I shuffled through the days, the doctor's appointments, the car shopping, etc just going through the motions. Life plans I was making had to be put on hold, I put on weight, I was angry, and I ended up in bad emotional place. I put on a smile and continued with life because that is what you do...fake it. There have been times in my life when I have said "fake it til you make it" but really I was just faking it. When the doctors finally gave me the all clear to start running again, I was eager, excited, and scared. I was limited to how much, how often, and how far I could run. I started with a Couch to 5K program that would only allow me 30 sec of running at a time. And I really shouldn't have sprinted those 30 sec during those early runs...but it felt so incredible to be able to run again, I had to make the most of it.

The weeks have flown by. I decided to sign up for a training program to work on building back up my distance. And I knew that I wanted to target a late spring half marathon so I signed up for the Potomac River Running training program aimed at prepping runners for the Cherry Blossom 10 miler. It is about 6 weeks before the half I plan to run so it felt like a good way to get back my distance confidence. It has gone better than I could have ever expected or intended! Before the accident I was a faithful long interval runner (3:1, 4:1, or 5:1) with a pretty steady 10:30-11:00 pace. In the last 7 weeks I have found myself being a straight runner with a consistent 11:00 pace! Turning over the planning to someone else freed up my brain to just focus on the running. Having my PR store family by my side hasn't hurt either. Several of us are struggling with our own journeys and being able to run with our store family has helped each of us!

Feeling like a stronger runner really got my brain in a good place. So I decided to start to work on more of my fitness. I downloaded a "transformation" plan developed by personal trainers specifically for members of my running club. It is focused on weight training with cardio mixed in. Of course, one of my primary goals in doing this was to drop the weight that found me following the accident. But I also have other plans. There is a bold distance goal on the far horizon (more later when I am ready to make it public) and this is one step in that process. As I wrote down my fitness log following my workout today I realized, I wish I had a record of how I felt after my early running workouts from the fall. And I suddenly felt a STRONG desire to document where I am and the twists and turns I take on my new journey. And so, I am back to the blog :)

Its been two weeks into my new plan. And I have been consistent. I joined the gym my boyfriend is a member of and have really enjoyed the opportunity for us to go to the gym together. We may be giving up couch time and date time, but the time we are spending working on ourselves is motivating to one another and, in the long run, will improve our health so maybe we can spend LOTS of years together :) Every day now there is some muscle(s) in my body that aches. And I have not felt this strong, determined, and powerful in years. Why oh why did I not remember how much I LOVE weight training!?!?!? Though, admittedly, this is the first time I have followed a program this structured and intense. There is NO better feeling than putting on a pair of pants that I had hung back in the closet two weeks ago because there were too tight to wear out of the house and being able to wear them confidently to work. I am only 2 weeks into a 12 week program, and I hope I will not be a quitter this time (it tends to be my MO). I am loving how I feel and I can't wait to see where this journey goes!!!!