Thursday, December 30, 2010

Awakening

I have officially emerged from my post-Christmas coma. The sparkly-full-of- magic holiday last Saturday left me in a complete catatonic state for the two days following. It's quite remarkable, now that I think about it, that I didn't get sick. {actually...I sort of did get sick. But it never leveled me so I consider that a success.) However, I am also proud to mention that despite being paralyzed and glassy eyed on the couch in my pjs for 48+ hrs after Santa's visit and playing hostess to 30 of my in-laws, I did manage to haul myself up, don layers upon layers of running clothes and bust out a fairly hard 15 miles on Sunday. Twenty minutes after walking in the door, I was back in pjs on the couch. No joke.

Our holiday was full-on craziness. I saw some people yesterday who, when I asked about their Christmas, replied, "Oh it was so nice. Very low key and quiet."
HA!!!!! Mine was not. Not low key at all. And you know what, I like it that way.
We go all out for Christmas in every way possible. My parents did for us when we were growing up and I want the same for my kids. We make loads of cookies, build homemade crafts with greens we cut outside, decorate full tilt, sing songs 'til we're blue, go to parties, fill the house with too many gifts and track Santa until he's in South America. Heck--we even threw the tooth fairy in on Christmas eve!! I am quite sure she helped Santa eat all those Hershey Kiss cookies the kids left for him. And then, on Christmas Day, I hosted 30 members of my husband's family for a little meal. phew....this is making me tired again. That little list doesn't begin to touch the myriad of Christmasy activities and preparations that were happening here. As you all know.... I am not alone here. On top of that, we threw in a birthday for my now 9 year old and um, Marathon training!!!! I sort of forgot about the insantity of December when I picked a January 15th marathon down south.
Amidst all the shopping, parties, basketball games, birthday celebrations and planning, I have been running running and running some more.
I love it.
The weather has cooperated for the most part. There have been a few nasty long runs during which my fuel belt bottles Froze solid and the gels I had made me nauseus. Running sub marathon pace with no hydration and thick gels did put me over the edge a few weeks back. I am proud to say however, that I donned my high heels just hours after that 20 mile suffer-fest and partied the night away. I refused to miss anything this past month!! It's been fun.

Somehow Vacation week is cruising along too fast. The boys are totally enthralled with their buckets of legos and remote control helicopters. I'm finding time to sleep late and feed them breakfast at lunch time. We had a blizzard and we've found our way back to the ski slopes. It's been a good week.

I have been out of blog-ville for quite some time. I couldn't justify the the time it takes to write one. I have read a few but not many.

I have read enough and talked enough to others to say that I have come to this conclusion.

Training for me isn't complicated. It's not stressful or fancy. It's what I do to make me who I am. Racing is in my blood. If I need to miss a workout for some reason (and believe me, it needs to be a GOOD reason) I don't like it, but I know it's not going to ruin the big picture. As long as the rest of things stay intact and consistent. You can't haphazardly skip a workout Monday, Thursday, move Tuesday to Saturday, miss Sunday and do 3 to make it up on the following Monday. Things will start to fall off at that point I believe.
Train consistenly and when you're training, focus on your training.
When you're not training, live a life that supports your chosen hobby and focus on your life.
Try your best not to over think, over analyze, worry and obsess about all the workouts. It will drive you crazy. At least, it would drive me crazy. That's why I choose to 'just work hard.' I am dedicated and try to be smart. I do my best to eat well, sleep well, listen to my aching body parts now that I'm almost , gulp, 41. I enjoy myself too. I really enjoy the work. And, I look at the big picture, I make sure all the components of a good training plan are in place (thanks to my coach Jen I do.....) and then I just do the work. For exacmple, on a Tuesday, I know what Wednesday's work will be. I am always a few days ahead of the plan in my head. I think about my nutrtion and my rest accordingly. If Saturday is a huge day, I will get plenty of sleep on Friday. I even know today, that next Wednesday is a hard day. I have locked that away in my brain so that when it arrives, I am ready. I will follow the plan consistenly until that time and be ready.
I don't know exactly what I'm saying here, or why...... it just seems like people spend so much time worrying about what they are not doing. Instead, try focusing on what you Are doing and do the best that you can with it.
Be Consistent and work hard.
Give yourself a break if life throws a curve ball. Get back at it and start again. You will be fine if you do that.

Happy New Year!!
2011 already?

12 comments:

Christi said...

Great post! I am glad you had a marvelous Christmas.

It has taken me a long time but I have finally learned that training consistently is the most important tool I own. Thanks for the reminder during this hectic season!

Alili said...

Wonderful post! I love how you 'do' Christmas! And thanks for the reminder that curve balls aren't permanent. :)

GoBigGreen said...

Ange, good post. So true. We are where we are, and we are as fit as we are today, so go with it. And to some extent shut up and train. ( I mean that to myself, not to anyone else)
Glad you had a great holiday and good luck in the marathon! Woot!

Jason said...

This is a great post. I do the same as you and I hear and read about only doing or not fast enough or some other negative statement. Instead of focusing on the negative part of it find the positive and learn from what hurt the most then move on.

Have a happy and safe new year!

healthyish said...

I think like you think. Are you sure you're not ENFP?

Jennifer Harrison said...

Athletes over-think this way too much. It is really not complicated. Take away all the toys, tools, and get back to the rawness of the sport: the training, consistency and competition and learning your body...and it brings you back to the basics!

I find that the most successful do not over-think or over-complicate things!

PS we do Xmas the same way! OVER the top!

GetBackJoJo said...

Well, yes. It's true that simply working hard and being consistent produces results. But some people (umm, like me) motivate out of worry and tension. Does that make sense? And then the blog serves as a place to house that worry and tension...
Motivatin should be pure. But it's not always pure.. and that's okay, too, I think.

GetBackJoJo said...

Also, I swear to God you and Jen are soulmates or born from the same womb and separated at birth or something.
Up with the analyzers and worriers! We may analyze and worry, but we are still so cool! Like the coolest! Like REALLY REALLY COOL! And we will triumph!
sniffle.

Swimming for ME said...

I didn't know you were doing a marathon in January - and along with all that you did for Christmas - Go Ange! Looking forward to seeing you in February. :)

Kurt P. said...

That's some deep stuff, Ange. Can u be my life coach?:-)

Christy said...

WOW. Great post. (and can I just say I love your header picture)

Happy New Year...and I can't wait to see what happens next for you. You're so inspiring!

Christy

http://christy-goingthedistance.blogspot.com/

The Lazy Triathlete said...

God Bless ya for having 30 inlaws. We went to Chicago and it was only 7 of us and it drove me nucking futs.

I loved the rest of the post. Its time to get my ass in gear. Thanks for the motivation.