Tuesday, March 29, 2011

How will you be tenacious today?

I participate in a forum on Runner's World with people who train for the Marine Corps Marathon. We write to each other daily about workouts, training, and life outside of running too (if there is such a thing). It is like we are a virtual team - we train all over the country, but are good about holding each other accountable and also celebrating each other's victories. The daily posts have some sort of title indicating the first poster's mood going into the day. But since the fall, every Tuesday has been...
Tenacious Tuesday
I absolutely love it - because it ends being a challenge to the entire group - to go out and be tenacious. It is one of my favorite "power" words. Tenacious -
holding together; cohesive; not easily pulled asunder; tough. It was my attitude going into my master's comprehensive exams in the summer, and now we challenge each other to be tenacious every week.
I was so overwhelmed by all of the positive comments about the National Half Marathon. It was an absolutely fabulous race, and I am just on cloud 9. It is a sign that the training (and cross training) is working, and the Boston (less than 3 weeks away) will awesome.
On Sunday, I had to do a 13 mile recovery run. Sunday's 13 was a lot harder and slower than Saturday's! But I got through it, and it did loosen me up a little bit.
This week is my peak week of training, and then I will have a 2 week taper. School and work are really picking up right now, so it is going to be a mega busy week in general. Yesterday was one of my double days, and I had to keep reminding myself that a) the training is clearly working and b) the hard stuff will be over soon! I rowed for 30 minutes in the morning (5500 meters). I am really starting to like the rowing (have been doing it for about a month now) - I think because it incorporates both cardio and strength work in the same exercise (and it's no impact). School was a blur, and it was hard to get myself back to the gym for the second workout. But again, I just had to remind myself that I am so close to my goal, and that ultimately it will be great (I don't have to motivate myself so much on running days). Within 15 minutes of being on the elliptical, my energy kicked back in, and I was on there for an hour (7.5 miles). Also did some weights and core work. Feel like I have finally gained some core strength, because doing 9 x 13 Roman chairs (in sets of 3) is no longer as difficult as it was in the fall. And then it was all done!
After school and work today, I have a mega track workout that I am really looking forward to. 6 x 1 mile repeats (getting progressively faster). That will be my tenacious run for the day. But I feel like our tenacious challenge is good at keeping us steadfast and persistent all day long, beyond the running world. It is not a question of "Will you be tenacious today?" but "How will you be tenacious?" It means I can channel my training energy into the rest of my day, be tough, and hopefully come out stronger!

How will you be tenacious today?

2 comments:

  1. Have fun with the taper and good luck in Boston

    ReplyDelete
  2. Such an awesome read! TENACIOUS TUESDAYS FOREVER! Asaintsfan sends!

    ReplyDelete