My First Flora London Marathon. by Live_Your_Dream_Life_Today

Wow it’s been a hot day out today, so it’s a good job I’ve not been running.

I’m planning to run tomorrow, and the weather will probably be the same. I’m tempted to go for my run in the heat of the day as this would be good training for the Marathon des Sables, but I suspect common sense will prevail, and I’ll end up running in the cool of the morning, or wait till late afternoon.

I’ve planned a nice 17.6 km route for tomorrow, and I’ve just realised next weekend I’ll have the opportunity to go and do a 20km run that will be “special” to me as it holds very good memories. More about that in the next week or two if it all comes together.

I watched some of the Windsor Triathlon 2008 DVD that I’d got free with the Triathlon 220 magazine.

Why is it that triathletes generally have much more attractive bodies than runners? Is it because they also work out the upper body, rather than just the legs? I’ve never heard my wife go “oooooh” when she has seen an elite beanpole runner strutting his stuff, but I have heard it once or twice when she’s been watching triathlon!

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT TIP OF THE DAY:

Don’t worry what other people are thinking about you. They are very unlikely to be thinking about you, and if they are… they are probably worrying about what you are thinking about them!

D

Ooooo… a tough swim today.

I headed off to the pool, with the plan of doing 750 meters non stop. This is the swim distance I’ll be doing in the London Triathlon in August.

It’s been ages since I swam, and even longer since I’ve swum the race distance.

I immediately struggled, and tired, and it was a real mental battle, right from the off.

You see, since I’ve last done this distance, I’ve sort of stopped doing my weight training. As a result I’ve lost a lot of my upper body strength, and I really felt it today.

I also made the mistake of just getting in the water and going. What I should have done when I first got into the water was to - make sure my goggles were properly adjusted.

Every five lengths or so I had to empty the water out of my left lens. Not easy to do while still swimming. Every time I did it, it felt like doing so had sapped even more energy out of me.

Anyway. Mind over matter, right? I forced myself to keep going, until I eventually touched the end of the pool for the thirtieth time. 750 meters fought for and done and some lessons learnt.

And a surprise!

Despite not working out for ages, and despite really struggling – I’d managed the 30 lengths in 25 minutes, just a minute or two slower than when I last did it. Now, that is encouraging!

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT TIP OF THE DAY:

When you are stuck making a decision, remember:- there are no wrong decisions, just decisions with different outcomes.

D

This morning I got up, and straight away, while my eyes were only half open, I jumped on the exercise bike. I then did a whole hour, while watching Sex in the City. SIC is a great way to distract me from the effort of exercising and it actually feels like I’ve not exercised at all – until I stand up! I’ve now exercised my way almost to the end of series 5.

After that, I got myself sorted and went out for the weekly shop. I treated myself by dropping into Boarders book shop so I could look for  a long distance running magazine. No joy. I did almost buy a running book though. It was 1,000 pages long and called Runner’s Lore or something. A thousand pages for £20.00 – that’s just 2p a page! I spent ages with it clutched under my arm, before forcing myself to put it down as I’ve already got a couple of running books on my “to-be-read” pile. Addict or what?

I’ve come up with another running goal. I’ve printed out a list of the runs that my local running club are doing this year. There are 27 of them before they break for the winter towards the end of October. My goal? To make every one of the 27 runs – unless I’m on holiday. And a sub goal, to make as many of those the long and fast option. The first part of the goal is easy. The second part makes me nervous as it involves upping my speed. We’ll see how I get on.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT TIP OF THE DAY:

If something is stressing you, just ask – “how big a deal will this be to me in 50 years time?”

It puts your trouble into perspective, doesn’t it?

D

Set your DVDs if you’re into running – especially if you’re into running loooooooooooong, and I know some of you are.

Yesterday morning, I was watching the BBC news program, and saw them interview the Blue Peter presenter Helen Skelton, who was literally just back from running the Namibia 24 Hour Ultra Marathon. The race is 78 miles across the desert, and you must complete it within a 24 hour cut off time.

Helen completed it in 23 hours 45 minutes, apparently becoming only the second woman to have done so.

They showed a film clip of her as she ran through the night. She was in tears, saying that every step “feels like stepping on razor blades,” but as she took every step she was crying to herself – “I don’t want to stop, I don’t want to stop, I really don’t want to stop.”

Wow. Why does seeing that make me want to both, hide from ultra running and anything connected to ultra, while at the same time making me want to ultra even more?” I must be nuts, because seeing this just increases my desire to – GO ULTRA!

Set you DVDs as they said that the Blue Peter special on Helen’s Ultramarathon experience will be shown on the 6^th May 2009. I’ve not found any specific time for it, but if I do I’ll let you know. If you find out, could you let me know?

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT TIP OF THE DAY:

One of the most common characteristics of those people called “successful” is – PERSEVERANCE – the ability to just keep putting one foot in front of the other, towards a specific goal, even when everybody else has given up, or the going is tough.

D