TandemHearts

This year I thought I would follow a training plan for preparing for a Half Ironman Triathlon.  I downloaded the weekly workouts, put them all into a nice pretty notebook…I am five weeks out from my first race this year and the plan is calling for some seriously long runs mid week.     TWO HOUR mid week runs… c’mon how can I possibly do that.  It’s not going to happen before work.  I know myself well enough to know that the most time I can put in pre-work is 90 minutes.   That means a two hour run has to happen after work. Teaching is a draining job and your hours are not flexible.  Anyone who thinks it’s easy and you only work 8:00 – 2:45… stick a cork in it!  You never know when a parent is going to show up after school to talk about why Little Edgar isn’t doing his homework.  You never know what kind of day it’s going to be.  I deal with 31 direct reports (my students) and they are not stable, mature adults.     If any of them wake up on the wrong side of the bed… I’m in for a tough day.  There are days when I come home and I take a nap until Thom gets home because I so mentally drained and exhausted.

This week the plan called for a 45 minute run on Wednesday and a two hour run on Thursday.  I do a lot of thinking while I’m running and on my Wednesday run I had this epiphany.  I had it in my head that I couldn’t do a two hour run after work.  That it really was just a mental thing.  I had decided I couldn’t do it… therefore I couldn’t!  I had failed because I hadn’t tried.   Well, that just wasn’t going to happen.   I was going to do that two hour run… it would hurt.  I would probably end up walking some… but it was going to happen.

Thursday run- 1 hour 55 minutes, 9.26 miles.  Not a blistering pace, I walked 1.5 miles of it.  But I conquered the mental demon.  I CAN do that!