This morning I competed in the Susan G Komen Race for the Cure 5k run. I have been looking forward to this race for a while because it is a wonderful cause and my good friend lost her mother to breast cancer and was running with me. I haven't been able to train as much as I had hoped but I was feeling good about where I was and had set a goal of finishing in under 26 minutes. I felt this was an easy goal since I finished my last 5k in 26:18.
The start of the race went well and I headed off at a slightly fast pace to get a little separation from the big group of people and then settled into a more sustainable pace. I use Map my Fitness to help me stay aware of where I was on the course and just how much I'm pushing myself and every time it updated me, it was telling me I was on track to finish in the time I wanted and that I was looking to set my fastest average per mile pace! This continued all the way to the 2.75 mile mark where I stepped it up a bit so ensure a good finish. My app counted me down......3 miles in 24ish minutes.......3.25 miles in 26 ish minutes.....3.4 miles in .....wait what?!?! Since when does a 5k have 3.4 miles??
So, long story short, I finished the race in 27:10. Nowhere near what I had hoped for and I could be upset at myself for this and frustrated that the race seemed longer than it should or I could try to find some good in it. I cant change the course length. I cant change the time I finished in but I can be proud that I set my fastest per mile time and that I pushed myself the entire race to go faster and harder even when I didnt think I could.
As everyday people who are running, cycling or really doing any activity, we need to focus on why we are doing it and who we are doing it for. I am doing it for me and only for me. Every time I head out, whether its a training session or a race, I am only competing against myself and as long as I do my best I should feel proud.
We should all strive to do this. Don't worry about what place you are in the race or what your friends are doing. Just focus on you and try to find something good about what you are doing. This will help keep it fun and keep you doing it for a long time to come.
So get out there and do something good for yourself! Set some goals you never thought you could reach or simply take a stroll around the block but GET OUT THERE and find the good in what you are doing. No matter how good or bad you do, you are always doing better than those who are sitting on the couch!!!
Saturday, September 27, 2014
How it all began!
Its March, 2014 and me and a few coworkers are getting ready to compete in a local charity mud run. I wasn't in the best shape of my life but I felt confident that I would survive this. We really didn't do any sort of training before the big day so this was a really good measure of where I was starting from fitness wise.
The day came and we were filled with excitement and nerves as we waited at the start line. The official started the countdown....5......4.....3......2.....1....Go! We were off and now the nerves were replaced with adrenaline.
Long story short, it wasn't that bad. I was definitely wiped out but not as badly as I was expecting and that got me thinking about my health and where I wanted to be. I thought if I live a healthy active lifestyle, then my wife and daughter will also be more inclined to do the same. So the very next day, while all my coworkers were complaining about how sore they were, I went to the gym and ran on the treadmill.
Day 1: Ran about 1/4 mile on the treadmill and thought I was going to die! Now I remember why I have always said I am not a runner. This sucked but still I went back on day 2.
Day 2: Much to my surprise I ran a little over a mile before I died and I actually enjoyed it a little more! I had such a great sense of accomplishment everytime I pushed a little further.
Day 3: Ran 3.4 miles! That the first 5k distance that I had run in over 3 years and I really really enjoyed this run. I think I am hooked.
So that's how it got started and how I've progressed from there. Every day I push a little harder or go a little further. Every day I set new goals and come up with a plan to help me achieve them which leads to my newest goal......Completing a long distance triathlon in 1 years time. Follow along with me and see how I am going to go from running roughly 10 miles a week on average to competing in a multisport race that will cover 70.3 miles in 8 hours. Its going to be a hard journey but should prove to be an interesting one!
The day came and we were filled with excitement and nerves as we waited at the start line. The official started the countdown....5......4.....3......2.....1....Go! We were off and now the nerves were replaced with adrenaline.
Long story short, it wasn't that bad. I was definitely wiped out but not as badly as I was expecting and that got me thinking about my health and where I wanted to be. I thought if I live a healthy active lifestyle, then my wife and daughter will also be more inclined to do the same. So the very next day, while all my coworkers were complaining about how sore they were, I went to the gym and ran on the treadmill.
Day 1: Ran about 1/4 mile on the treadmill and thought I was going to die! Now I remember why I have always said I am not a runner. This sucked but still I went back on day 2.
Day 2: Much to my surprise I ran a little over a mile before I died and I actually enjoyed it a little more! I had such a great sense of accomplishment everytime I pushed a little further.
Day 3: Ran 3.4 miles! That the first 5k distance that I had run in over 3 years and I really really enjoyed this run. I think I am hooked.
So that's how it got started and how I've progressed from there. Every day I push a little harder or go a little further. Every day I set new goals and come up with a plan to help me achieve them which leads to my newest goal......Completing a long distance triathlon in 1 years time. Follow along with me and see how I am going to go from running roughly 10 miles a week on average to competing in a multisport race that will cover 70.3 miles in 8 hours. Its going to be a hard journey but should prove to be an interesting one!
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