Taking my early years of this and combining it with....
Some good ol' life experience like this....
And then three times of this.
Gaining yet another perspective from this. Injury and Rehab.
Then finding new wisdom and information in these. Learning things I've never even known about!
And this! Deciding on a plan/program,
Finding my Target Pace Level to start with and deciding on a goal to work towards.
Then learning as much as I can.
And eating good food, getting rest, and asking lots of questions.
And here I am. A learner. I continue to reflect, work hard, and take steps towards improvement! I'm so very thankful for all I've learned from so many of you. Today I woke up with a lot of questions on my mind about my training and the paces I've been running my speed workouts in. I started really coming down on myself for probably running my mile repeats too fast (more like 5k pace instead of 10k pace) and I was worrying about what this would mean for possible burn out and peaking too soon. Kind of freaking out in an "Amanda freak out kind of way"...the kind that really warrants a slap on the head and a "Chill out!" from those that know and love me.
But then I was able to take a step back, talk about it with some of my favorite blog friends who are oh so wise and basically take a "chill pill". I was able to digest my worrying with a grain of salt, trust my training plan book and program which comes highly recommended and is based on lots of research and chalk it all up to part of the learning experience. Isn't this one of the greatest things about life?! That we continue to learn?!
Everything we do...as runners, athletes, mothers, sisters, daughters, friends....it is all part of the big scheme of things and we learn from it all. I'm always thankful for opportunities to reflect and learn more. I'm thankful for things I read and hear that make me take a hard look at what I'm doing and refocus on my end goal.
So, the conclusion is in: I'm going to keep trusting my plan, my years of experience and have faith that the end result will be awesome! It is hard to trust the process sometimes. For me this means that I need to remind myself that I am still in the beginning phases of this longer training program that I trust and I will need to run slower paces sometimes even if I am "feelin' it" and want to push it harder. My tune-up races will give me a chance to push it and then reevaluate where my Target Pace Level is.
Okay, really this was just a long ramble of personal reflections. More of a blog for ME than one written for an audience but I figure these types of posts serve a purpose too. Even if it is just for my own personal reflections to go back to later. I should just cut this out and put it in my running journal. I think I will!
1. Do you ever have a hard time trusting the process? With running plans, parenting, etc?
2. What's a goal you have in your life right now that is very important to you?
My marathon training is really important to me right now. I wan to so badly to push myself to some more intense levels...to really see what I can do as a runner. It is also very very important to me to make the most of this time I have to be home with my children. I know I won't have this time forever and they will GROW so fast. Big goal to be in the moment and cherish them fully!
3. Are you a self-motivated learner? Do you do well with teaching yourself things and learning through reading, research, etc. or do you do better with having a class, teacher, coach, or some sort of formal education to help you learn?
I think that my five years of homeschool where I taught myself everything (Algebra, History, Science, etc. Even planning my own lessons using the teacher manuals) really helped me learn more independently. I think it is really awesome that there is a book out there for pretty much everything and anything. With the right amount of focus, time and motivation, I think we can learn just about anything! Of course, it helps to have lots of people to bounce ideas off of and talk about things with...this is part of learning for me. One reason I love this blog so much!
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