"Most people don't show up in their own lives. They go through life every single day without being focused and bringing their A game. Transformation is not a future event, it is a present activity. That is why you must bring everything you h ave to give in every moment."
The first time I heard these words was last Saturday, when I started doing Jillian Michael's 'Ripped in 30'....now I hear it everyday, for at least the next week since the program is 4 workouts, 1 for each week. Any who, I find it to be really empowering actually. I have reached a point now where I'm not sure what's hard enough, good enough, fast enough, etc. I just keep pushing until I feel like I could literally lay down and not get back up....tapped out! But when you put this thought into perspective you think to yourself, how many people do what you do everyday? Have I simply become desensitized to people calling me crazy that I just associate my work and workout ethic to the norm? It seems that way. I guess that's why it's important to have variety within the routine. Doing the same thing over and over again--Monday: lift chest, run 5, swim 30 minutes, Tuesday: Lift back, elliptical 60 minutes, abs...it gets boring and the challenge becomes upping the amount of weight from before or going faster than your last time. Don't get me wrong those things are enticing: waking up so sore you need that extra 5 minutes just to sit up, or pushing so hard in those last few seconds just to get a PR....those are the moments, those are the challenges I try to meet.
But get this, I met with my Iron Man coach for the first time two Thursdays ago. She was awesome about explaining everything, but one of the first things she says to me is, "I've always been a big proponent of core workouts". At that point I just knew this training program was gonna be stellar :) Then things got real, as we were discussing my current workouts Steph used the phrase, "Yea I was a little worried at first...." Worried? I work out 6-7 days a week, what did I sign myself up for if you are worried? So she draws me this triangle and explains that training is going to be focused on the three sides: Base, Intensity, and Volume. See I have a base and I can do volume but intensity, well we can just say I am more of an endurance sport person. The hard truth that I have discovered is that you can't just run for 2 hours or swim 2 miles and expect to perform well....you have to incorporate intensity within the workout. This means more sprint workouts and timed intervals in the pool....YUCK! It doesn't sound appealing to me at this point, but I think once I get going and accomplish some of the beginning workouts I'll be set.
So all of that happened within the last few weeks but more recently I just received my first months training plan this morning. I was more than excited but at the same time I realized that I need to get my butt in gear and get a bike, like this week! Since I'm on spring break from classes I opted to use my "class time" to get a new pair of shoes since it's been about 6 months since the last time I went and it's been on my ever-growing To Do list. Needless to say I walked in and said to the sales associate, "I'm looking for these shoes (points down to shoes on feet) in a size 10.5" She starred at me for a moment and was like well alright then. This will be my 3rd generation of the Nike brand I started running in almost a year ago now and I couldn't be happier with them. Not to mention when you flip them upside down you can tell that my stride is well supported and that I land centered. The highlight in all of this though had to of been the fact that the shoes had purple in them. Now this is funny because when I first started running I picked shoes by the color, well for anyone who has been running for a while you know that it doesn't work like that....AT ALL! So part of me feels mature that I know that and thankful because it probably saved me an injury or two.
Being a warm, sunny and 70 degree day outside today I decided first and foremost that I would definitely make time to go for a run on the lake path, especially since I had shoes that needed to be worn in. But the run itself was super challenging because the wind was beyond intense and was throwing off my stride. At one point I was running up a hill and the wind was hitting me so furiously that I literally lost my balance and threw my hands out because there was a possibility that, had I not caught myself, I would have rolled right back to the bottom of that hill! So I fought my 6 miles but felt extremely accomplished by the end of it and decided to celebrate with some weights ;)
I'm really looking forward to starting my training plan next week Monday, but at the same time have a bit of work to do before then to find a good, yet cheap road bike. We'll see how it goes. On top of that, and school, and internship AND applying for jobs, I'm hoping the weather stays warm so I can get a few more runs in before my first OFFICIAL race of the season: the Shamrock Shuffle!
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