I love my nephew, he is the most amazing person I've ever known. But he is an outbreak monkey and always manages to get me sick. Before my weight loss/work out journey it was never an issue, but now that I run so often, getting sick is a BIG DEAL! So it was especially tough when the third running day into my new marathon training, I come down with some awful virus. As if my throat needed more help to be sore, the breathing while running made it so dry I couldn't swallow. After a week of not only not getting better but feeling worse, I had to do something I haven't done since I started running in February: miss a run.
I'm happy to say I'm back on track, but for someone who previously made excuses and never had work out routines, missing a run is the scariest thing in the world! My first day back running was my first day of a "Fartlek" (hehe...Fartlek....) Run, which basically pushes higher intensity intervals into your jog. With a sore throat and the 90 degree heat, this was more than challenging...it seemed impossible. I was afraid that I lost the months of building up my run all because of an upper respiratory infection. I came home and cried because the months and tireless hours of training I put in was out the window and I'd have to start from scratch. I know, it's dramatic...but for anyone who runs, you understand how hard it is to start!
The Friday after the bad run mentioned above, I got back out there at a normal pace and quickly realized all my fear was in vain. I still loved running as much as ever and as soon as it got hard, I would look up at the sunrise, or get a feel for a sudden cool breeze, or catch the fish jumping out of the water in the bayou, and just know that I am exactly where I'm supposed to be and doing what I'm supposed to be doing.
This week I increase my mileage to 4 miles and added cross training, which doesn't seem like much, but I look ahead on my training and see 16 and 18 mile long runs and I have to say that I psych myself out. 90% (probably more for me) of this whole experience is psychological and while I've come a long way, I still have these moments of complete and utter doubt and fear that there is no way I can do more than what I am now.
But then again, 3 months ago I couldn't run for a mile without having to stop. It's definitely possible!
My BIG goals to achieve by Labor Day (September 3, 2012):
Weight Goal: 189
Distance running Goal: 12 miles
That's three months, folks! Wish me luck!
To view the runs I take, I log them all here:
http://runkeeper.com/user/llguidrysfa/profile
