Will the Real Athletes Please Show Up?

Yesterday, I was reading a post by one of my favorite bloggers & triathletes, Frozentriette, about what success really means at the end of a workout. Something she said really stuck with me - "I want this and I show up for it." Wow. Right there is the difference between the weekend warriors, and the athletes. She's getting up at 4:30 am to workout, regardless of the temperature, regardless of the weather (and she's in Alaska, so definitely not as mild as it is here!). She went on to say about her workouts that:

"It may or may not go according to my expectations or desires, but
regardless, I'm there. Performance at this stage in my life is irrelative. I would love to arrive at the pool and swim like a fish for an hour and walk away with complete satisfaction.

"However, what truly makes my training a success is the simple act of showing up. Today, and Saturday's race, the performance was not there, but I was. Some days, we connect. Some days we do not. Regardless, I record it in my training log and show up again tomorrow."

Somedays, I want to beat myself up for not being able to run faster or longer, but the truth is that I'll get there. The important thing is that I'm showing up, putting in the work, finishing my workouts. Maybe I struggled on Tuesday with my first post-race run, but I still did it.

Just showing up was the thought that was in my head when the alarm went off this morning. It was another grey, rainy morning, but it was already 63 degrees (of humidity, mostly). I really wanted to sleep in a bit longer, but I asked myself, "Do you really want this?" And since the answer was yes, I got up, put on my running clothes, and headed out the door.

After talking to Coach J yesterday, my goals for the rest of the week are to run 40 minutes today and 45 on Saturday. Yes, kids, this is a 4-run week, which is what I'm now switching to. Gotta get ready for that 18-mile race in October!

I shortened my warm up walk this morning, in part so I would focus on how long I was running instead of the distance. I could tell I was running a bit faster than Tuesday (whew!) but my body is still a bit tired and sore. The first mile was tough on my right leg, which has some serious muscle soreness just behind my knee and lower thigh (makes walking up the stairs a joy, let me tell you!). But on the plus side, my hips felt great until right towards the end of the run, and once I warmed up, I felt pretty strong. I ran further than I ever have and figured I'd stop right where I started, at 40 minutes and 30 seconds. After mapping the run, I know that I ran 3.69 miles, with about a 10:58 pace. Not great, but certainly faster than the 11:43 pace I had on Tuesday! Now I've just got to bring my body up to where my mind already is.

Oh and for anyone who's wondering, I managed to put my socks on the correct feet this morning (On Tuesday, I realized that my socks had a "right" and "left" on them, and I'd been wearing them on the wrong feet all day). I'm not sure it made me faster, but it can't hurt to try!

Next up, a 45-minute run on Saturday, then I'm looking at runs on Monday/Wednesday/Thursday/Saturday next week!