Friday, April 25, 2014

Pushing Yourself

Welcome! I see you've found my blog- my first official one that is. You see, I'm a new runner, I've only been at it for about a month and a half in terms of dedication. I mean, yes, before that, I would run here or there (usually on a treadmill), but nothing consistent. So far since March I've been running at least 3 times a week and averaging about 12 miles per week. It's something I never thought I would enjoy and somehow, in this short time, I've become so passionate about it, I can't imagine not running. I can only imagine where that will put me a couple years down the line. Addicted is not a strong enough word.

Most of you that know me, know that I'm an avid reader, I like to exercise, but mostly I find anyway I can to keep my nose in a book and knock out 3-4 books a week. Since I started running, I haven't given up reading- not at all- I have however toned it down a bit, I may only read 1-3 books every two weeks depending on length, pace etc. I find that I've found a healthy balance between reading a running for myself without suffering withdrawal from one or the other.

Running for me has become a challenge that I cannot ignore. I find myself continually trying to improve which is, at times, extremely frustrating. Especially when I'm surrounded by people who are so much faster. I do my best not to compare myself, particularly because they have been at it so much longer than I have, but it's difficult.

During yesterday's training, my running coach told me to learn how to push. Now let me tell you, I didn't let it discourage me, but it did frustrate the heck out of me. Why? Because I felt like I was pushing myself hard as hell. I couldn't speak, my legs felt like jello and I wanted to puke and my whole run I averaged 11:49/mile pace- F-R-U-S-T-R-A-T-E-D. I'm going slow as hell and I feel like I'm going to die and I'm supposed to somehow learn how to tap into myself to push myself past a jog and into a run. At least, that's what my coach wants, and she's right of course. The question is how? And that's why I'm so frustrated.


I just so badly want to go fast and I'm not there yet. I want to be able to keep an 8min/mile pace and not feel like I'm going to die. I know I'll get there, but still... I have a long run scheduled for tomorrow morning in the canyons and I'm going to start trying to work in some cross training each week hopefully the small things will go a long way to helping me gain my speed. Right now I'm focusing on increasing my weekly mileage by 1-2 miles/week. I have my first 5k scheduled for next Saturday. My husband thinks that signing up for races will spark what I need mentally to start increasing my speed. You see, I've never been a competitive person. Not even a little bit. I always stayed as far away from it as possible and kept my nose in a book, except that now that I'm around this sport I feel myself becoming competitive which is GOOD. I need the competitive streak to help push me I think. I don't know- we shall see.

What tips or tricks do you all have when it comes to try to push yourself to that next step up in running?

1 comment:

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