Slow and Steady

Monday, August 29, 2011

Monday Motivation: TRX

There are really only two requirements
when it comes to exercise.  
One is that you do it.  
The other is that 
you continue to do it. 
 ~The New Glucose Revolution for Diabetes by Jennie Brand-Miller, Kaye Foster-Powell, Stephen Colagiuri, Alan W. Barclay

Ok so I have had a problem exercising and I have had a problem doing it consistently. I am officially 7 weeks away from the Nike Women's Marathon SF. Ask me how far my long run has been in the last month? Go ahead, ask. I ran 5 miles 15 days ago. F-I-V-E. I am supposed to run 26.2 in 7 weeks. Yikes! So what is my plan. Well 3 weeks ago when I thought I had 10 weeks left, I had the big idea that I would return to swimming, really start making an effort to attend Tri Club workouts and on and on. Shocker: I am almost 4 months into this new job and while my schedule should be predictable, there is still a learning curve and I have not prioritized working out.

So here I am three weeks later, revising my training schedule for the 3rd time and now realize the only way I can cross the finish line injury free is by actually taking that first step, so I did it. I saw on Facebook that my old personal trainer is having a TRX Bootcamp special promotion for the month of September and so I signed up. Just so I didn't have to wait until Thursday for the special, I paid the drop in fee and worked out today. If you are not familiar with TRX you can check out this video HERE.

Before I got started I was sent out on a short run to warm up. I just mapped that run and it turns out it was .75 miles. Pretty decent I think for a warm up, but it felt kinda hard. I remember thinking to myself how can I possibly do 26.2 miles. Then I flashed back to the Nike course and when I mentally break it up, the hard part was really just the last 4-6 miles. I love that the marathon is more mental than physical. Sure I have to be able to complete the distance, but having done the course last year, I feel like I have some good and bad by-products. The good: I feel like I can do it, I can even visualize almost every step of the 26.2 miles. The bad: I let myself get over confident about the distance and have slacked off. 

My "respect the distance" response is this current lack of effort is to bridge my training gap with solid core strength and cross training fitness. I honestly believe that a focused effort for 7 weeks can adequately prepare me to cross the finish line, upright. When I reworked my training schedule, I had to check the website for the official cutoff time, that is how scared I was that I might have to drop the race completely. In case you are wondering, they lovely folks at Nike have decided that 6.5 hours is the official cutoff for the pretty Tiffany's necklace. I would rather give it my best and DNF that not toe the line race morning. 

The next thing on my list is to re-connect with my morning master's swim group. They meet at 5:30AM MWF and becoming a morning person again has been tough stuff. I would like to take a moment to give thanks to my Keurig for helping me survive the last couple week. You ROCK!

Why I kick A$$: I tried TRX for the first time and survived...but just barely.
Thankful Three
  1. For my Supportive Husband
  2. For relaxing in the backyard with my wacky kids
  3. For 8 hours of sleep last night

 

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Consistency, or the lack thereof, has been the story of my exercising. I have no problem running, it's just doing everything else that falls by the wayside. Doh!

carla said...

oooh I covet and long for a TRX!!!


MizFit

Christi said...

I have not been consistent either but this is my week to change. I guess we can do this together!