This is the most true statement of all true statements. About running. And treadmills.
Quite obviously I have sucked at blogging each Friday about Fitness. There is no denying, avoiding or ignoring it. I tried that for a little while, but have chosen to move on. Ha. So I have oh-s0-intelligently named this post “Friday Fill-in & Fundraising” because I know that a wonderfully creative post title will help you to forgive me more easily. Thank you.
As many of you will know, largely due to the countdown on the main blog page, the 10K is coming up in 6 days!! This Sunday!! And here is how I am feeling.
10 weeks is a long time to be in training. Maybe it’s not really, but I feel like it is. Well, it’s a long time to stay on task with something that is difficult. Perseverance is required. Perseverance is hard. My perseverance may not have been perfect. But I’m still here.
Running is a mental battle. How a run goes depends almost entirely on my mental state at the time, with slight input from my physical state. A few weeks ago I was still struggling to get back into the habit of a long slow run without walking breaks, as I had been doing lots of quick runs-walk break type running/training. So I decided to go for it, and did 7K fairly comfortably and easily. I was somewhere new and different, with a route more scenic than the usual footpaths around home, and had left Paul to bathe the girls and cook dinner, so felt obligated to really go for it and make the most of the run. My mind determined before my run pretty much if it would be a good one or a bad one.
Fundraising is hard. Much harder than I was expecting. On that note, please think about donating to World Vision! I have no shame!
My motivation has risen and fallen – currently low. I am counting down until Sunday, so I can stop thinking about the training I have to be doing, and how it is all going to go. I know I should be getting more excited, and I think that is beginning, but mostly I am just not feeling great about how my training has gone. I am super glad to be raising money for World Vision, and to attempt a 10K race on Sunday, but it’s not been easy.
What I find hard is finding a balance between being sensible, and making godly decisions, and just doing something regardless. It’s hard not to feel like taking time off from running because my girls have been sick, and I have had a cold/cough for a few weeks (almost cleared up now), and with Pippa not sleeping well. So am I just giving up/weak/looking for reasons and failing at my preparation? Or is that wise when I think about my family? Urgh, it’s so difficult to know. Probably it’s a mix. Sometimes I should have pushed harder, other times I made the right decision.
Running on a treadmill is not fun. I have done it once. I did not like it. See above funny yet true picture.
Running is a family sport. In the sense that Paul really supports me well, and without that I wouldn’t be able to do it! If he doesn’t make time to look after the girls, (and then occasionally encourage me to get out for a run), it doesn’t happen.
I have kept at it. I have run usually 2 or 3 times a week, but my distances have not been long, with 7K being my longest. I am hopeful I can do the 10K! Any advice for my last week, having just recovered from a nasty cough? And what the heck do I do if it pours with rain all through the race – cold, wintery, blustery Melbourne rain? I’m not sure how I feel about this very real possibility…!
Thanks again though for all of your support. And please, any amount of support for World Vision would be life changing to someone, somewhere in the world. And encouraging to me. Thanks.
PS. http://runmelbourne.everydayhero.com.au/melissa_jessop
A Heart Filled Life 