That's not a bad thing. It's kept me going. It's pushed to try harder. I can honestly say that my progress was steady and consistent. I had some setbacks but I kept moving toward longer distances and faster paces.
I have a few races coming up: a 5K next week, a 5-miler in April, another one in June. Nothing major, nothing I have to kill myself for. The Tough Mudder though... it's looming.
I went to Xfit 4 times this week, I used to go twice. I'd like to go 5 times this week. I am getting so much out of it. When I see myself in a year, I see myself as a well-rounded athlete. I hope to have completed the Goofy Challenge (I better! I signed up for it! We're planning a vacation around it!) but I want to see myself as more than a recreational runner.
A new friend came to workout with me yesterday at Xfit. He's done the Tough Mudder so he has great advice. He's doing the same one I'm doing this year in VT. But he's got about 4 other endurance/obstacle course races he's also looking to do this year. He's always up for a new athletic challenge, he jumped into our Xfit WOD and not just did *okay* -- he did as well as our guy crew who have been there since the beginning. That's what being an athlete means. It's the training and the confidence to take on anything. He's very inspiring and if the Mudder doesn't kill me in May, I might sign up for the Spartan Race in August as part of his team (if the offer is still good. He made it before we worked out together -- he might not be as confident in me now, haha!).
We had a great time and we even had a 4-legged friend to join us in WOD, done in honor of Sgt Matthew Abbate, killed Dec 2, 2010 at the age of 26. It was a 1 mile run, 21 clean and presses, 800 meter run (but we messed up and actually did more), 21 clean and presses, and another mile run. I was bummed that I was last but when I think of what was achieved in 30 minutes and change I can't be unhappy.
My other change in focus is to engage with more people for my goals. It's no longer being about the "loneliness of a long distance runner." It's about finding people in my life who can help me reach the next level of athleticism.
Today was partner WOD. When I saw it listed on the website last night I thought today would be a perfect Sunday to stay in bed. It was 200 pushups, 200 pullups, 200 med ball slams, 200 box jumps, and 200 kettlebell swings. We could divide it up any way we wanted with our partner.
Christine is awesome. This is our 2nd partner WOD. She's the one who encouraged me to go on partner Sundays. I find strength in her and I hope I do the same for her. We're compatible in ability but we push each other to try harder. I knew I could do it working along side. We immediately devised our strategy and stuck with that but when we needed to adjust at the end when certain exercises were really taking the toll, we did it seamlessly and supportively. One of the greatest things about Xfit is that when the WOD is happening I have no idea what anyone else in the room is doing because you're entire mind and body is engaged in what you're doing. I was only focused on what I was doing and its contribution to the team total and when it wasnt my turn for the reps I was completely focused on Christine and cheering her on. Our WOD today took 51 minutes and we were not lounging around. As soon as one of us would finish the other jumped in. Fifty one minutes of straight work. We've got a lot to be proud of.
This picture encapsulates how Xfit works for me now. We are ALL in pain here with these wall squats. If we were alone and the pain got to be too much some of us might have given up (me, in the pink shirt on the end. I would have given up). But not one of us did because we feed off the strength, motivation, and -- yeah-- a little competition from each other.
This is whole new focus for me. Training that is a team effort. Reaching out to new friends to inspire me and motivate me. Moving away from endless, lonely runs. We'll see how it goes!
Freaking ROCKSTAR!!!
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