The Comparison Challenge

“The most challenging aspect of running right now is__________________.” – this is the prompt posed for this week’s Tuesday on the Run. My most challenging aspect? Not comparing my old runner self to the current one.

After a particularly tough workout recently, I was bemoaning to the RunnersConnect team how paces that “use to be” easy, now are so hard to hit. Everyone was so supportive, but I especially appreciated a note I got from one of the coaches who reminded me to not let comparison – the shoulda’s – take away from the joy of the current journey.

comparison

Past times and past achievements can be a great motivator – it’s why we shoot for PRs. However, if you focus only on comparing the current to the past, you can miss the progress being made.

What is your most challenging about aspect of running? Join in with Erika, Marcia and Patty and share.

 

signature

Monday Motivation – Desire

gibsons-daily-running-quotes

So true! Happy Running!

signature

Still striving

dream

“As we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back.”
— Dr. Martin Luther King

 

signature

Monday Motivation

I don’t believe you have to be better than
everybody else. I believe you have 
to be better than you ever
thought you could be.
                                           – Ken Venturi
Start this week, this day, this moment with the simple but powerful goal to be the best version of yourself … and be amazed by where that can take you!
Have a great week!
signature

Midweek Motivation

What limits will you push today? Get after it!

signature

Monday Motivation – Week 5

In some ways it’s hard to believe I’m already on week 5 of my training plan. I started over-thinking (read criticizing) my runs last week, but after a good conversation with my coach on Friday, I politely told that negative voice to stuff it and went out and had a great long run Saturday 🙂

Source

My goal for this week is to remind myself to focus on the now — this is the moment I can control and it is success in this moment that will lead to success in the future.

On deck for this week:

Monday — Steady state run with hills (6) — Done!!
Tuesday — Cross-training
Wednesday — Fartlek run (3)
Thursday — Tempo (7) plus yoga for runners class
Friday —  Cross-training
Saturday — LSD (11)
Sunday — rest

Felt great on this morning’s run and I’m looking forward to a great week!

Happy Monday!

signature

Monday Motivation – Let Training Begin!

Training for my two fall half marathons kicks off this week! Yeah I’m just a little excited!

I’m running the Harvard Pilgrim Finish at the 50 10k tomorrow evening – should be a ton of fun! I’m not going into this race with any big goals. Given the heat ( mid to upper 80s projected), the start time (I am exclusively a morning runner) and the fact that I haven’t run a 10k race since last October, my main goals are to put in a solid run and have fun. In June, my speedwork went well, but overall I didn’t get in as many miles as I’d hoped (recovering from my May malaise lasted a bit longer than I wanted). So the bottom line, as I told Coach Bennett the other day is that I just have no idea what to expect for this race. I’m going to run by feel and see what happens.

So Week 1 training looks like this:

Monday — Yoga, rest and hydrate!
Tuesday — Race
Wednesday — Rest
Thursday — Tempo run (5)
Friday — Yoga
Saturday — LSD (7)
Sunday — Rest**

** I may through a light shake out run of just a couple of miles cause I’m dying to try out my new Merrell Dash Gloves!

What have you got planned for the week? Any 4th of July racing?
signature

Monday Motivation

Despite the madness of my schedule last week, I’m happy to say I got all of my workouts in! Running was very much my therapy last week…my escape. I finished the week with an 11 mile run early Saturday morning so I could make it to my youngest son’s T-Ball game. It was the best double-digit run I’ve had in a while – mind-clearing and calming; my fueling worked and when I finished I still felt like I could have gone further.

So on the decks for this week:

Monday —  Strength & Core
Tuesday —  Tempo run (7)
Wednesday —  TRX Rip Trainer class
Thursday —  Intervals (6) plus Yoga for Runners class
Friday  —  Easy run (3)
Saturday — Long run (10) with middle 4 at race pace
Sunday — Rest

Have a Great Week!

signature

Monday Motivation & Compression Sleeve Winner!

“Don’t bother to just be better than your contemporaries or predecessors.
Try to be better than yourself.”
— William Faulkner
Love this quote – it’s a great reminder that we’re really only in competition with ourselves!
And, the winner of the McDavid Compression Sleeves is DEM from Happy, Healthy and Strong. Congrats! Shoot me an email at runningwithattitude (at) yahoo (dot) com and I will put you in touch with the folks at McDavid.

To everyone else – thanks for entering and don’t forget the great folks at McDavid are offering Running with Attitude readers a special promotion of 15% off any of their products! Just use the code RWA11 – it’s good thru 7/31/11.

Happy Running!
signature

Monday Motivation – Week 2

“Every day is a new beginning. Treat it that way.
Stay away from what might have been, and look at what can be.”
— Marsha Petrie Sue
Week 2 Plan:
Monday – Rest Day — (Much needed since I took advantage of the rainy day yesterday to push my pace a bit)
Tuesday – Track work (4)
Wednesday – Easy run (2) & Strength work
Thursday – Yoga
Friday – Long (8)
Saturday – weekly Pilates reformer session
Sunday – Easy (3 or 4)
My schedule this week could get a little nutty as my boys’ schools continue to jam everything into the final few days of school – Seriously, why do teachers do that? So I may have to play with the days a little to get it all in.
When it becomes a battle of your schedule vs. your training – if you have to give up a workout in your plan, which one do you forfeit?

 

signature