“You can either go to bed satisfied with your efforts today or stressed with what you left for tomorrow. You can either work hard to take on the hill or never know what it is that people see at the top.”
Joe Desena
Day 3 didn't get done until Day 4 ... bugger! I did not stress ...
Day 3 didn't get done on Saturday. My day was busy and I did not prioritise the time. Instead of beating myself up about it I committed to rising early on Sunday, when in all honesty I would have preferred to stay in bed, and getting it done, and then fitting Day 4 in later that same day. As luck would have it, Day 4 (fortunately) was restorative, so pretty much anything I wanted to do was ok. My early morning Tai Chi, pre run, time spent playing chess with my boys, drinking coffee with my partner and reading my patient copy of Dumbo Feather on my own felt completely restorative - job done.
Day 3
I took my LSD in the morning on Sunday and covered a distance of 7.2km in the time allowed. It may sound slow to some, and that's ok. The win in this workout was a cool air early morning run on the trails with a climb of 239m upwards and some awesome scenery at the bottom, at the top, and along the way.
My base of training this year means that hills no longer intimidate me. In fact, I find myself enjoying the challenge, safe in the knowledge that once I hit the top I get to come back down again, and that really is fun!
To appraise my running performance I am now gauging my HR and it's fluctuations throughout the run and my cadence. Statistics tell us that elite runners have an average cadence of around 180 strides per minute. My average of 160 strides per minute puts me squarely in the average category of most runners. I keep enlisting for the elite waves of Spartan races so now I have a new goal to work towards - improving my cadence over distance to the elite standard of 180 strides per minute. Curiosity has me wondering already if my legs can even fathom that speed in dreams. Knowing the goal is half the battle though, so now I know what I'm working for.
Day 4
Opening the plan on Sunday morning and looking for the Day 4 workout had me slightly worried. I was delighted, to put it mildly, when I saw the word "Restorative". I let the day take it's course and completed more than 3 times my average number of steps on a Sunday by simply doing the things that I love - spending time with my favourite people, spending quality time on my own and giving my brain some great food for thought, spending time moving in fun and playful ways that made me feel good. A restorative day is a must in every program. I didn't anticipate it quite so early in this one, but no complaints!!
Day 5 - today ... it's Monday and I'm back to work. Update coming soon!
