"This one day workshop is for runners over 40 who would like to learn how to be able to sustain their active passions for the rest of their lives. Don McGrath, author of 50 athletes over 50, and Terry Chiplin, owner of Active at Altitude, team up to provide this fun-filled day, where participants learn how older athletes have been able to sustain their active passions by tapping into several joys. Participants then take these lessons and apply them to their own situations to enable them to sustain or unleash their running passion."
It was a small class of three attendees including myself and my friend. The small size made it a very intimate and focused event. We were able to have all of our own questions while also learning the strategies and tips presented by the presenters.
My goal was to learn how to balance my running and training with the rest of my life. I've been feeling a little overwhelmed with boot camp and work and then trying to fit running in there somewhere. I've been thinking I need to either eliminate boot camp or, at the very least, cut back to two days a week instead of three. My body is starting to feel over worked as well. I don't have enough recovery time to have enough energy and strength to even run when I need to. But, emotionally, I wasn't ready to give it up just yet. Boot camp is what brought my energy and strength back. It is what gave me the confidence to start running. It is what put me on the path to the half marathon and put me on the path to better health. So, I feel quite loyal to it. I suppose that's a good way to describe it. Additionally, I've been a little afraid to let it go because I am afraid of losing some of what I've gained. And it took me a long long time to build my strength and health to where it is now. And I don't know if I'd be able to do that all over again.
Well, that's been my biggest fear so far. But, after attending this workshop, I no longer have that big fear hanging over me. I know I can do it again if I wanted to. It's not hard. It's just about the commitment and I am very committed to staying active and healthy. What I am really afraid of is change. That's what I learned at the workshop. I am afraid of moving on from boot camp which is preventing me from jumping wholeheartedly into running. Whew! That was a big thing for me to realize and admit to myself.
I am not afraid of committing to running. I really want to devote myself to running. My goal was to make running a lifelong habit. I feel like I am on my way to that but that other things are in the way. At the workshop, we talked about creating a time budget to determine the how much the things we had to do cost us and how much time we'd have left over for the things we want to do. We also talked about other time management skills such as planning the week and adjusting by the day. Not a lot of things I hadn't heard before but I had not thought of them in the context of my running life.
I think the biggest thing I learned was that to continue my healthy and active life, I needed to think about it as a part of my life. I don't think I was thinking about it that way. It was just another thing I was trying to do rather than I thing I have incorporated into my life, just like work and everything else. So, I've been trying to schedule my running around my life rather than melding everything together.
Coincidentally, I just received the latest issue of Runner's World in the mail. Some of the cover stories include "How to Plan Your Weekly Workouts" and "Train Smarter & Race Stronger". How timely!
I took today the day off from boot camp. I was kicking myself for not taking a break on Friday so, even after the weekend break, I thought I should really step away for today to recharge. That leaves four days in this session plus the final test day. After that, there is a two week break before the classes start up outside again. During that break I plan to ramp up my running and also make a decision about stopping boot camp altogether or only going two days a week rather than three. I think the two weeks will be a good indicator about how much time I will really need for running.
I don't have a time goal for Estes but I want to finish happy and strong. To do that, I think I need to train in a more focused way than I did for the Vegas half. This is going to be very exciting! I'm really looking forward to the training and the run!
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