Eating An Elephant

Getting back to training feels good. Walking steady for 45 minutes really gets me going. On Friday, I will have two weeks back at it. So while I was slowed down in the physical aspect of running my marathon last month (February), I did keep my brain on task. I love the YMCA. They offered two courses that I signed up to do. One is a running clinic, which is ongoing every other week till the Whiskey Row Marathon (here in Prescott). The second workshop was a one day event. 

For this week's blog I want to talk about the workshop. This was a beginning runners workshop taught by Pamela Neimeth, a marathon runner and a gal in her fifties, probably. Wow...she was all about the fun and joy of running and taking things slow. I really liked her philosophy of success, particularly when running a race. She suggested doing shorter races and ending with a sense that one could do more instead of just finishing. 

Key take away points I got from her hour and a half workshop:

• use a heart monitor to figure how much to push and when to back off (once I get my heart monitor I'll talk about more this);
• date the back of your shoes to track mileage (400 to 600 miles per pair of running shoes);
• really listen to your body and learn the difference between hurt/pain and soreness;
• go slower and shorter distances than you think you can do;
• pay for an event (a race), then put it on the calendar and map out the training for it;
• volunteer at the finish of a race (to see the wonderful looks of satisfaction and accomplishment—great motivation);
• consider finding a training partner;
• consider doing a charity event/race (contributing to something bigger than oneself can be very motivating);
• at a race, set goals, but not just a time goal (e.g. meet one new person, say thank you to three race volunteers, etc.).

The final thing that was so great was the formula she shared for building up one's running time. So much has changed in the running world. The formula she explained really helped me see that I could get stronger and work with my fickle back. Working in five minute increments using the formula below and I can move to the next step when the urge overtakes me.

• 1 minute running / 4 minutes walking
• 2 minutes running / 3 minutes walking
• 3 minutes running / 2 minutes walking
• 4 minutes running / 1 minute walking

These days it's not just about beating the pavement and high mileage. What a relief. My old body has a chance. I might actually be able to do this crazy thing called a marathon. As my husband likes to say: you eat an elephant one bite at a time. So here's to little bites. My goal for next week's training is to do that formula for step one: 1 minute running / 4 minutes walking during my 45 minute training time. Pam was encouraging, so that's my plan. 

Other thoughts: I am going to volunteer to do the finish line for the Whiskey Row Marathon (WRM) on Saturday, May 4th. At first I thought I would try to do the half marathon. Too much. Then I was contemplating the 10K. Still too much. The WRM is an intense course with lots of elevation changes, which I am learning about in the running clinic. Then I thought 5K, but there are a number of 5K races locally, so I think I would gain a lot by helping at the WRM finish line. 

I would really like to see what it looks like when you finish eating an elephant.