March(ing) Forward
TL;DR
- Body still healing, feels better
- Training more
- Running longer
- Optimism stole my credit card
- Heavy lifting is starting to suffer
- Day job
- Warning: Too many puns contained within
What Happened?
It is hard to believe that another month has gone by already! It has been a bumpy 31 days, but a good 31 days.
I managed to ride twice in February but have gotten on the bike 18 times in March. The rides are typically limited to 30 minutes on a dumb trainer (no Zwift) and at an effort just hard enough to work up a sweat. I'd like to think that I'm getting some more endurance by adding these rides after runs, and I probably am, but the biggest consequence is that they make my body feel better and a body that feels better runs better. (Ok, another pun, but last one...I promise🤞)
The glute still feels tight at times and is clearly going to be the "1 thing" that limits my run training for this cycle. It seems like there is always "1 thing" that becomes the limiter and while it changes over time whatever the "1 thing" is seems to define just how hard I can train. I'd like to be running more than I am, but I'm running more than last month and feeling better about it, so I'll take that as a win.
March vs February
- Amount of time training is up 25% (12:17 per week)
- Includes run, bike, weights and yoga
- Average weekly run mileage has only increased from 25 to 29 miles
- I finally found the ability to run for over an hour on March 7th with an easy 8 miler
- This has been a source of a lot of frustration and I'm glad to have gotten it behind me
- I've been able to run 1+ hours 4 times in March! 😎🎉🥳
- Body Weight is down from 235 pounds to 230 pounds
- New PRs for Squat, Deadlift and Bench...but...
Optimism Defines 2021
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| https://www.facebook.com/groups/chicago2boston Who would have thought that me, the original social media denier, would create a Chicago2Boston Facebook group to bring together silly people that are interested in doing the double? |
I've started a rough outline of what training is going to look like and frankly, I think it is going to be a lot like the training plan that I put together for my neighbor John that got him a 13:00:34 at his first Ironman (Lake Placid). A key feature of that plan was long rides on Saturday and long runs on Sunday. This seems like a strategy that might help me stay healthy and get a massive amount of training volume in.
Since Boston 2021 will make 8 in a row for me I'm also feeling pressure to make sure I've got a strong BQ time for Boston 2022. There is a lot of uncertainty here, but at the moment I'm hoping that I can get into a live, in person, Erie Marathon 2021 in September. Since Erie has not yet been able to finalize permits and open registration is delayed this is a big risk, but for now I think it will be the target and later if I have to pivot, I will.
Mix the ingredients from the previous 2 paragraphs and the conclusion is that I've got from now until mid-May to build a foundation of injury free running and then switch to a moderate volume 18 week run plan combined together with a high volume of cross training to improve fitness AND stay healthy. Not your conventional plan, but then since when has anyone accused me of being conventional?
Be Humble, Stay Healthy
And now we've come full circle to the graphic that started this blog post. It is pretty normal for me to have an off day lifting weights every once in a while. I've accepted that occasionally I just don't have the oomph and it is OK to walk away. Well, a lack of oomph hit me hard on March 23rd and no matter how much I wanted to work hard my body just wasn't responding. I had to do the main sets at a weight that is lower than what I've been doing as part of a warmup lately. This sucked but led to a mantra that might be what keeps my training smart in 2021. Be Humble, Stay Healthy. Too often I get wrapped up in trying to prove something in my workouts. I want to prove that I am fast enough, strong enough, good enough, whatever the insecurity of the day is...but you know what? Why? Who cares? A great workout feels good, but it doesn't define me as an athlete and neither should the bad ones. Too often I get hurt because I'm overreaching. Sometimes I get away with doing something stupid, but when I've hurt myself I've almost always known that I was taking risks to fuel my ego. F*ck the ego.
2019 was spectacular. I spent most of the year trying to help others and chasing my joy of being on the bike in the middle of nowhere. There was barely any structure to my training, I did what I enjoyed and did a lot of it. You know what was not present for almost all of 2019? My ego. I smashed my 70.3 PR by 24 minutes with a 4:36 on a hot day because it was bleeping fun to push hard and see if I was going to go up in flames. (Literally, it was like, really, really hot that day) The same thing happened with the 9 minute marathon PR at Chicago 2019. I wasn't there to prove myself. I was there to reveal myself and relish in the experience of whatever that day brought me.
I need to bring more of 2019 into 2021. It started with the unrestrained optimism of a Chicago2Boston attempt, but it really hit its stride on March 23rd when I just couldn't find more power lifting heavy things. Be Humble, Stay Healthy. Do the work. Do the really hard work. But do the hard work because I enjoy it and NOT because there is something to prove.
Day Job
I'm a software guy, you might have guessed that from the Pace Calculator. I've been very lucky because for the last several years I've been given latitude by the boss to get involved helping others while not having any actual organizational reason to be involved. I did the work because I loved it. I helped because I wanted to and was blessed to have support from a manager that allowed me to freelance within the company when and where I saw opportunity for my skills to help the most. It was awesome. I loved that job. It was fun being an internal influencer. I often had a seat at the table helping to shape how we solve problems without a lot of actually responsibility to see them through, but now that has changed. We've reorganized a bit and now I've got actual responsibility. 😱 The consequence, and the reason I bring up the day job on this blog, is that for most of March I've had to work a bunch of extra hours AND the hours that I work are way more intense than they have been for a long time. This has created some substantial challenges to getting my training volume up. I've had to flex, sometimes starting work at 5:30am because it is the best thing for my coworkers but so far have had the resolve to make up for it with a 2 hour lunch where I get some run/bike time in. It is hard for me to look more than a couple days ahead and know how I'm going to get the day job and my training both done. I could stress over this but I'm not going to. Why? Because right now I'm doing the hard work at my day job because I love it and I want nothing less than to see my team of wonderful people succeed beyond everyone's expectations.
...and now it all makes sense
So, there we have it. I started this meandering post with no planning (shocking, I know) and out of a chaotic jumble of thoughts came the same conclusion for work and play.
Be Humble, Stay Healthy. Do the work. Do the really hard work. But do the hard work because I enjoy it and NOT because there is something to prove.
That really says it all doesn't it? The same principle applied to my training also fits perfectly to the new responsibilities at work. I'm excited to see where the rest of 2021 takes all of this. Now, back to work...
