Thursday, January 21, 2010

READJUSTING, REBALANCING AND ADAPTING

Since I began my formal half marathon training I've been going through a period of readjustment, rebalancing and adaptation. I still have a long way to go but these are the challenges I'm facing.

Juggling my diet to include more carbs (but not too many), a little less protein and watching my intake of fats will take some mastering. Old habits die hard and I find myself reverting to high protein/low carb eating very easily. Then I make a conscious effort to up the carbs but where is the balance? I have yet to find it.

We indulged in a TDU (Tour Down Under) event with friends last night which meant dinner out, including coffee and cake at the end of the night. No big deal and I was totally ok with it all but then tonight Peter and I made an impulsive decision to eat out again as our son is staying with my folks overnight. Well tonight's choice wasnt so great and looking at it we both agreed that the constant eating out had to be reigned in as our waistlines would suffer. I'm ok with mine (waistline) but Peter has some Christmas excess to lose and I dont want mine getting out of control either. So I've set myself a personal challenge to not eat dinner out at a restaurant or cafe and see how long I can mainatain this. I do go out for the occassional lunch or breakfast but eat much less and healthier then. Anyways my persoanl challenge is ON and I'll keep you posted on my success with it.

I'm loving my training. But the legendary Pat Carroll has made a typo in my program, I'm sure. Doing sprints of one minute with a 45 second recovery after doing distance based sprints with equal distance recovery, is a KILLER. This was Wednesday morning's session and I gave it my all but still lost 7 seconds in the minute over the same distance. The mind was willing but the legs couldnt deliver. It was one of the hardest running sessions I've ever done and they are programmed regularly. I felt mentally great when I finished it but as the day wore on I just felt more and more tired and by around 5pm I was dead flat. I put this down to two things: 1. I'm just not used to training at that intensity. 2. Not enough carbs in my recovery meal. Very, very important and something I'll pay more attention to next time.

When talking to people, the statement "this year I'm doing a half marathon" just rolls off my tongue so easily. But every now and then I stop to acknowledge the magnitude of it. Yeah I know that millions of people have done it and many have done it really well but I still come back to my deepest insecurities and doubts about myself and there is this fear buried deep within that I may not succeed. That I may suck at this and that it will have been all talk and no action.

There is probabaly as much mental preparation for such an event as there is physical and I'll need to get that right as well so that it all comes together on the day. Well thats what I believe anyway.

Cheers all

Magda

4 comments:

Gillian said...

It's definitely more mental than physical. You will cope fine with the physical part. Just take it one day at a time. That way your mind will adjust to each increase in distance and before you know it, it won't seem half as long:)

Lauren said...

You will need to get in touch with your 'zone'. Being able to lock your mind into the 'zone' whilst on these long, enduring runs is the only way to get to the end. Keep up the good work, your doing well!

Magda said...

Hi Gillian. Its great having my training planned out by a professional so I know that its right and I just have to "do it".

Hey Lauren, me and my zone have become best mates. We meet regularly especially on my long runs. Then its just me and him til the bitter end :-)

Cheers

Magda

Anonymous said...

I agree with the others. The hill sprints are not so much performance enhancing as getting the mind to endure for the sake of it. There will be times when, at the end of a long run, the last 2-3 km will kill. It is merely a matter of switching into this 'just do it' mentality. The sprints prepare you for this. It does get easier.