It seems like ages ago that I got up on January 1st and
registered myself for my next 5K run. I
decided it would be the first thing I was going to do in 2015 as a symbol of
how I planned to spend this year – being active. Well 5 months later I’m only a few days out
from running my second race ever.
Tonight I have been thinking about the last 5 months and know that there
is nothing else I can do now to change the outcome of Sunday’s race. Ready or not this race will be run.
I have to say that I feel a lot more confident going into this race
than I was going into the Terry Fox, last September. I have been incredibly blessed with a trainer
who has been super willing to find answers for me when she isn’t sure of the
best way to train me. (I mean it’s not
every day someone my size says hey I want to run, how do we get me there…thank
god for her patience.) When I started
telling her about my struggles with running and my desire to have a training plan
she found answers and came up with a plan.
The day she presented it to me I looked at her like she was nuts. She proposed a plan in which I would run at a
snail’s pace for 30 seconds and then walk for 30 seconds and repeat. As the weeks would go by I would increase my
running time. To say I had major doubts
is probably an understatement. I left
telling her I was doubtful it would work but that I would at least try it. This
was and so far is the only time I have ever really second guessed my
trainer. I didn’t think it was possible to
do such short intervals and be able to keep my breath and not want to die. I’m glad to say I was proven wrong and I have
never been happier to eat a little crow and tell her I was wrong.
The last couple of months have been following her plan and working my
way up not only to longer run intervals on the treadmill but also to running
longer distances every Sunday when I hit local parks to run set distances
outside. The results have blown me
away. I went from hardly being able to
do intervals outside on my first couple Sunday’s to now running almost all of
them. Outside I’m still doing 30 seconds
on and 30 off but the consistency is night and day to what it was. In the gym on the treadmill I have been able
to increase my interval time to 45seconds on and 30 seconds walking which means
I’m officially running more than I walk.
This thrills me in so many ways.
Having spent the last few months working so hard on training I feel
super excited to see what Sunday will bring.
When I signed up on Jan 1st my original goal was that I would
run the 5K in under an hour. When my
trainer gave me my new training plan I decided to change that goal because
running at a slower pace I didn’t actually expect that it would be possible
plus I had major doubts with the terrain of the run. So I changed my goal to just run more than I
walk since the last race I did I walked way more than I ran.
Now at the end of the training I once again am looking at my
goals. On Sunday I ran my fastest 5K
yet. I finished the training run in 1
hour 3mins and 19 seconds. I was so
close to being under 1 hour that it is all I have been thinking about since
Sunday. I’m trying to keep things
realistic and know that my run is taking place in a location that will have
hills, which I have done some training on but it’s not my strongest strength
but there is a part of me that can’t help but hope I can pull off this run in
less than an hour. That being said I
figured it was worth sharing my goals.
So here is what I hope to accomplish on Sunday.
1. To consistently run my intervals as much as possible. I may not be able to do the whole 5K
alternating 30 on and 30 off but it is my plan to run as many of them as
possible even if I’m only just barely jogging.
The struggle will be in the 2nd and 3rd
kilometers. These are typically the kms
where my brain likes to try and get in my way.
2. To beat my Terry Fox run time.
I finished my first 5k in 1 hour and 16 minutes. I will consider this race a success even if I
do it in 1 hour and 15 minutes. There is
some fear that with the hills I will actually have a longer time and if that
happens I will be a little crushed but if I have done the first goal I will
still be happy and proud of all that I have done.
3. My third goal is not so much a goal as a dream. I would really like to finish my 5K in under
an hour. If I had run all my intervals
last Sunday I would have finished in under an hour of that I’m fairly confident. I’m counting on the fact that I will have my
trainer with me (because she is awesome and signed up to support me) and the
adrenaline of the race to help push so that hopefully I can push through the
hard spots and kick some ass. If I don’t
accomplish this 3rd goal I will still be over the moon excited with
my results but this would be the icing on a pretty fabulous cake if I can do
it. I might even have to reward myself
with a piece of cake if I do this ;-)
Whatever happens on Sunday I know that I have given my all so that I am
as prepared as I can be. I have worked
hard and consistently for more than a year and have been specifically training
for this race for months now. Since completing
the Terry Fox I have gotten stronger, more confident and gained more skills to
help me on this journey. I am also
carrying 25 less pounds than I did the last time which helps. I am so proud of myself. I keep reminding myself that no matter what
happens on Sunday I will still leave that race a winner.
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| One of the photos from a 6 month photo session to help document my journey |
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| One of the photos from a 6 month photo session to help document my journey |
Photos taken by HelloLuv Photography
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