Today was one of those days that you could probably crack an egg on the sidewalk and watch it cook. It was the day I decided I needed to go for a long run. Well... I thought I did, but after 59:02 and 6.23 miles (9:28 average) of going nice and slow, I decided that it would be wise of me to not remain outside, and so I went to the gym and went cycled for an hour, doing 14.5 miles on the stationary bike. As I was cycling, I read a book called "Chi Running" which talked about running at it's most basic form. I was convinced that the way I was training was good, and encouraged that I really needed to follow my knowledge. My head told me that I was jumping in too much, but what I really wanted to do was run even more. I knew my body couldn't handle running too much too fast, so I needed to take a break from that and go at my body's pace.
We all have a pace we train at, and our body is capable of handling up to a certain degree. We need to make sure that the pace is correct. Going too fast would mean injury while going too slow means not as good of a performance. I needed to truly know my body and train according to that. I know my body really well and could tell that I've been pushing it a little too much, and because of that, I wasn't sure where I needed to be. However, reading this book encouraged me to continue training as I usually did, where my knowledge of my own body would shape the pace that I would go.
When you train, you train according to your level. If your level is low and you train high, you'll end up getting hurt. Also, if your level is high and you train low, you'll end up wasting your time because you are not at where you should be, challenging yourself just enough to grow, and not to get hurt. I need to make sure that I train at a pace where I know my body can handle.
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Friday, June 29, 2012
The Can-Do Attitude
In yesterday's game, we had our ups and downs. Our team could have lost it at the end and given up, but with the whole team working together, working hard, we were able to manage to put up two goals in less than two minutes. We had two choices when the other team scored their 11th goal. We could either choose to give up, or to fight. The thing is, we had that Can-Do Attitude, which allowed us to persevere and use our talents to overcome this obstacle and succeed in tying up the game.
A Can-Do Attitude is vital in a life of success. With that kind of attitude, no matter how hard an event can be, you can overcome it. When life throws something difficult at you, you have two choices. To give up, or to fight. When we give up, do we get any stronger? Do we grow? I can't see that happening. However, when we fight, do we get stronger? Do we grow? We do. No matter what the outcome is, growth is inevitable. A Can-Do Attitude is what pushes us forward, a Can-Do Attitude helps us achieve the 'impossible'.
When confronted with something, will you choose to focus on the things you can't do about the situation, or focus on the things you CAN do about the situation?
A Can-Do Attitude is vital in a life of success. With that kind of attitude, no matter how hard an event can be, you can overcome it. When life throws something difficult at you, you have two choices. To give up, or to fight. When we give up, do we get any stronger? Do we grow? I can't see that happening. However, when we fight, do we get stronger? Do we grow? We do. No matter what the outcome is, growth is inevitable. A Can-Do Attitude is what pushes us forward, a Can-Do Attitude helps us achieve the 'impossible'.
When confronted with something, will you choose to focus on the things you can't do about the situation, or focus on the things you CAN do about the situation?
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Can or Can't
"Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do."
-John Wooden
I am not a soccer player. I'm a runner... yet I play in indoor soccer matches with my friends.
Today, I had one of the best games of the season. We had a great lead, but they caught up in the end and were up 11-9, with 1:30 left in the game. One of my team members managed to get a shot in, making the score 11-10 with only 24 seconds left in a game. In that last 24 seconds, we pushed hard, and an opportunity arose, Nathan passed a perfect ball to Nick, who dribbled it into the penalty area, and just as the goalie rushed towards him, I sped in from the other side and he passed the ball right to me, and before the final second ticked, I kicked the ball in, tying up the game 11-11. In that 50 minute game, I made 5 goals, and it was one of the best games I have had.
Indoor soccer has been really fun for me. I'm still learning the techniques and tactics of how indoor soccer works, and it's been a long process. However, I choose not to focus on my inability to understand techniques and tactics. I choose to focus on what I can do: on my running, my ability on reading the player's movement, and especially on doing my best and not giving up.
Everyone has things that they can do, and things that they can't do, and when life throws things at us, we need to make a decision. Do we focus on the few things we can't do about it that we wish we could? Or do we focus on the things that we CAN do about it? Let our knowledge of what we can't do help us grow and not hinder us in our steps towards our goals. Let the things we can do push us forward and deal with whatever life throws at us. Remember: Knowing what we cannot do is just as important as knowing what we can do.
In the last few seconds of the game, we worked together as a team, focusing on the things we could do, and took steps to make it happen. What we couldn't do did not stop us because we did what we could do. We took charge of our abilities and when combining our talents and abilities, we were able to make that last goal, tying up the game. Our victory didn't come out on the score board. Our victory was when we overcame the obstacle that was before us.
-John Wooden
I am not a soccer player. I'm a runner... yet I play in indoor soccer matches with my friends.
Today, I had one of the best games of the season. We had a great lead, but they caught up in the end and were up 11-9, with 1:30 left in the game. One of my team members managed to get a shot in, making the score 11-10 with only 24 seconds left in a game. In that last 24 seconds, we pushed hard, and an opportunity arose, Nathan passed a perfect ball to Nick, who dribbled it into the penalty area, and just as the goalie rushed towards him, I sped in from the other side and he passed the ball right to me, and before the final second ticked, I kicked the ball in, tying up the game 11-11. In that 50 minute game, I made 5 goals, and it was one of the best games I have had.
Indoor soccer has been really fun for me. I'm still learning the techniques and tactics of how indoor soccer works, and it's been a long process. However, I choose not to focus on my inability to understand techniques and tactics. I choose to focus on what I can do: on my running, my ability on reading the player's movement, and especially on doing my best and not giving up.
Everyone has things that they can do, and things that they can't do, and when life throws things at us, we need to make a decision. Do we focus on the few things we can't do about it that we wish we could? Or do we focus on the things that we CAN do about it? Let our knowledge of what we can't do help us grow and not hinder us in our steps towards our goals. Let the things we can do push us forward and deal with whatever life throws at us. Remember: Knowing what we cannot do is just as important as knowing what we can do.
In the last few seconds of the game, we worked together as a team, focusing on the things we could do, and took steps to make it happen. What we couldn't do did not stop us because we did what we could do. We took charge of our abilities and when combining our talents and abilities, we were able to make that last goal, tying up the game. Our victory didn't come out on the score board. Our victory was when we overcame the obstacle that was before us.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
A Small Step
It's important to take those small steps because instead of going behind, you get a little closer. Every little step really does add up in the long run. It's because of the small steps that you get closer to your goal. Today wasn't too bad of a day. Since I was still a little sore from working out before, I just did 10 pull ups and then cycled for 31:50 and went 8 miles. After that, I went to the sauna to stretch out. My knee isn't giving me as much trouble as it had before, but I still want to make sure that I'm set to go so I'm going to make sure to take these little steps to go forward.
Sometimes, people want to just jump and take a bunch of big steps. When you're ready for that, it'll be okay, but sooner or later, because of the big steps you take, you'll end up hurting yourself. I want to be able to do those big steps, but where I am right now, small steps are just what I need to prepare to take the bigger steps. I chose to take the smaller steps because it's safer and surer. It's always better to train at a safer and surer route rather than a unsafe route. Slow and steady wins races, while fast and sporadic hurts. Even though I have a couple races here ahead of me, the big races aren't going to come for a couple years. As a ultra distance runner, I'm going to take those little steps and continue to take them until I reach my goal.
Sometimes, people want to just jump and take a bunch of big steps. When you're ready for that, it'll be okay, but sooner or later, because of the big steps you take, you'll end up hurting yourself. I want to be able to do those big steps, but where I am right now, small steps are just what I need to prepare to take the bigger steps. I chose to take the smaller steps because it's safer and surer. It's always better to train at a safer and surer route rather than a unsafe route. Slow and steady wins races, while fast and sporadic hurts. Even though I have a couple races here ahead of me, the big races aren't going to come for a couple years. As a ultra distance runner, I'm going to take those little steps and continue to take them until I reach my goal.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
100th Post Challenge
It's my 100th blog post and it's been quite an adventure. I've had one heck of a journey. In the last few 100 or so days, I've run a marathon and a 12 hour race, I've trained recklessly out in the sun in the middle of the day, as well as in a gym for more than 4 hours. I've grown a lot through writing about what I've done, and at the same time, I've also learned a lot more about running and how it has changed my life.
Looking back, I see how I've grown. The ups and the downs, and looking at the running, it really is similar to my life. Looking through the other 99 blogs I've posted, I can see where I've stood and where I am now. Physically, I've been up and down, but all in all, I can see that psychologically, I've been steadily growing. Sooner or later, my goal is to not only steadily grow psychologically, but also physically. As the 100th blog post, I'm challenging myself to grow further and not stop. I'd like to see the seeds sown in my life to take root and grow.
Psychologically, I've gained knowledge on how I should train in order to achieve the results that I want. Now, I'm putting what I've learned into practice and work towards achieving my goals. As I have stated before, I want to be able to work on my 5k time, marathon time, 50 mile time, 12 hour run, and finish a 100 mile race. Today marks the beginning of my epic journey.
I have one year from June 10th to finish. I've challenged myself almost 3 weeks ago, to achieve this, and today is the day that I begin the real journey towards accomplishing it. In order to achieve this, I need both speed and endurance. If I want to do well in a 5k, I need the speed. If I need to finish a 100 mile race, I need the endurance. The hardest thing isn't training for speed or training for endurance, the hardest thing is to train for both. That is why I'm excited about the challenge. If I could accomplish achieving my goals within the year, I would be amazed. This isn't something that I can do half-heartedly. This is something I need to focus and work hard towards.
Today, I cycled for an hour doing 18 miles (making me think that yesterday's stationary bike is a lot more different than I thought). I also did 10 pull ups and 30 push ups. I also forgot to mention that both yesterday and today, I spent a good 20 minutes stretching to help myself become flexible (to insure I don't get injured and also allow my muscles to work with each other more efficiently). After that, I hit the sauna, able to let the blood flow through my tired muscles, helping with the recovery.
Taking everything into account, I think I'm at a good place and can't wait to get in shape TO GET IN SHAPE. In order to get to where I need to be, I need to be in shape so that I could start the hard core training I'm going to get into. After 2 weeks of muscular fitness, I'll begin piling on the things that I need in order to run my fastest 5k as well as working to run a really fast 50 miler. 2 weeks of pre-training, and then I'll go super-training until October when I have the 50 mile race. I'm probably going to run a 5k in the winter or spring, but while I'm focusing on getting my 5k time down, I'll also be working on extreme distances... I'm so excited.
Challenges work to better yourself, and it helps push you forward. The most important thing is to not let it break you. Challenges are there to better you, not destroy you. Make sure that when working towards that challenge, you are bettering yourself and taking care of yourself. With the wrong balance, you might end up hurting yourself. Use challenges to take you to the next level, because ultimately, that's what challenges are.
Looking back, I see how I've grown. The ups and the downs, and looking at the running, it really is similar to my life. Looking through the other 99 blogs I've posted, I can see where I've stood and where I am now. Physically, I've been up and down, but all in all, I can see that psychologically, I've been steadily growing. Sooner or later, my goal is to not only steadily grow psychologically, but also physically. As the 100th blog post, I'm challenging myself to grow further and not stop. I'd like to see the seeds sown in my life to take root and grow.
Psychologically, I've gained knowledge on how I should train in order to achieve the results that I want. Now, I'm putting what I've learned into practice and work towards achieving my goals. As I have stated before, I want to be able to work on my 5k time, marathon time, 50 mile time, 12 hour run, and finish a 100 mile race. Today marks the beginning of my epic journey.
I have one year from June 10th to finish. I've challenged myself almost 3 weeks ago, to achieve this, and today is the day that I begin the real journey towards accomplishing it. In order to achieve this, I need both speed and endurance. If I want to do well in a 5k, I need the speed. If I need to finish a 100 mile race, I need the endurance. The hardest thing isn't training for speed or training for endurance, the hardest thing is to train for both. That is why I'm excited about the challenge. If I could accomplish achieving my goals within the year, I would be amazed. This isn't something that I can do half-heartedly. This is something I need to focus and work hard towards.
Today, I cycled for an hour doing 18 miles (making me think that yesterday's stationary bike is a lot more different than I thought). I also did 10 pull ups and 30 push ups. I also forgot to mention that both yesterday and today, I spent a good 20 minutes stretching to help myself become flexible (to insure I don't get injured and also allow my muscles to work with each other more efficiently). After that, I hit the sauna, able to let the blood flow through my tired muscles, helping with the recovery.
Taking everything into account, I think I'm at a good place and can't wait to get in shape TO GET IN SHAPE. In order to get to where I need to be, I need to be in shape so that I could start the hard core training I'm going to get into. After 2 weeks of muscular fitness, I'll begin piling on the things that I need in order to run my fastest 5k as well as working to run a really fast 50 miler. 2 weeks of pre-training, and then I'll go super-training until October when I have the 50 mile race. I'm probably going to run a 5k in the winter or spring, but while I'm focusing on getting my 5k time down, I'll also be working on extreme distances... I'm so excited.
Challenges work to better yourself, and it helps push you forward. The most important thing is to not let it break you. Challenges are there to better you, not destroy you. Make sure that when working towards that challenge, you are bettering yourself and taking care of yourself. With the wrong balance, you might end up hurting yourself. Use challenges to take you to the next level, because ultimately, that's what challenges are.
Monday, June 25, 2012
Change
"Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their mind cannot change anything."
-George Bernard Shaw
I've had a couple people ask me for help with their training. One of the first things I do is find out where they are. After figuring out where they are, I go and find out what their goal is. Once we find out where they are (point A) and where they are going (point B), all we have to do is find the path that will take us from one point to the other. The path is what takes you from one place to another, and as for those that ask me for advice, it helps them understand the change that they need to make in their lives to progress towards their goal.
People can only overcome themselves if they change themselves. The progress that they make is only due to the change they make in their life.
Change leads to something new. Just as the seasons change from winter to spring, the change brings with it, a new life. Progress cannot exist without change. When we set our eyes on a goal, we must change a part of us in order to achieve that goal.
Today, I went to the gym, did 20 pull ups, 25 push ups, and cycled for 60 minutes (21.6 miles) and then 210 calf raises for each calf, and then did 210 vertical lunges with high knees in order to work on my quads and hammy. In order to achieve my goals from 5k to 100 miles, I needed to change my training, and make my whole body capable of performing its best for all the distances I wanted to do. Little by little, my training would incorporate both short distances and long distances.
If you want to achieve your goal, you're going to have to change. Change, and you'll achieve your goal.
-George Bernard Shaw
I've had a couple people ask me for help with their training. One of the first things I do is find out where they are. After figuring out where they are, I go and find out what their goal is. Once we find out where they are (point A) and where they are going (point B), all we have to do is find the path that will take us from one point to the other. The path is what takes you from one place to another, and as for those that ask me for advice, it helps them understand the change that they need to make in their lives to progress towards their goal.
People can only overcome themselves if they change themselves. The progress that they make is only due to the change they make in their life.
Change leads to something new. Just as the seasons change from winter to spring, the change brings with it, a new life. Progress cannot exist without change. When we set our eyes on a goal, we must change a part of us in order to achieve that goal.
Today, I went to the gym, did 20 pull ups, 25 push ups, and cycled for 60 minutes (21.6 miles) and then 210 calf raises for each calf, and then did 210 vertical lunges with high knees in order to work on my quads and hammy. In order to achieve my goals from 5k to 100 miles, I needed to change my training, and make my whole body capable of performing its best for all the distances I wanted to do. Little by little, my training would incorporate both short distances and long distances.
If you want to achieve your goal, you're going to have to change. Change, and you'll achieve your goal.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Easy Run
There's a time to go easy on yourself, and today was one of those days. In the afternoon, I went out and ran 7.54 miles in 1:09:37, an average of 9:13 min/mile. It wasn't the hardest I've run, but it was a good distance for me. My right knee is still feeling it, so I'm making sure I take it slowly, running and then taking a break, but if I keep on doing it, I believe that I'll be able to make progress and eventually, my muscles would be able to take the strain off my knees and everything would be alright.
The next big race on my agenda would be The North Face Endurance Challenge (50 mile race in Atlanta) and probably a few 5ks here and there. I'll go little by little, make it a goal to go under 17 minutes, and then 16 minutes, and then hopefully 15 minutes. In order to do that, I'm going to train in two extremely different ways. The way I see it, if marathon runners can keep that pace up for a whole marathon, I could keep that pace up for just 5k. I know I'll do a lot better on the 50 miler because I'll be a lot more prepared this time compared to last year's 1 month training.
The first thing that I need to do is to build a solid foundation. Running 7+ miles for an easy run should get me to where I need to be. As soon as I build my muscles to a point where it won't hurt my knees, I'll start training 2-3 days on speed for the 5k, and 2 days taking it medium and easy, and at the end of the week going long, so that I could be training for the 50 miler. The easy runs are going to help me recover from the hard speed workouts I would be doing, and the long run in the weekend will just be a long run that works my endurance and not my speed. I've never done this form of extreme training and I'm excited to see how it would work... but before all that I need to keep doing my easy runs so that I would be running fully prepared to take on the punishment I'm putting on myself. As for weekly mileage, I will probably not go over 45 miles, but each and every mile of my training will be dedicated for my personal growth.
Easy runs are good and helpful. They help you with your recovery while not giving you too much of a break. In life, we all need our easy runs, to help us take a break, yet at the same time keeping your feet on the ground and being productive.
The next big race on my agenda would be The North Face Endurance Challenge (50 mile race in Atlanta) and probably a few 5ks here and there. I'll go little by little, make it a goal to go under 17 minutes, and then 16 minutes, and then hopefully 15 minutes. In order to do that, I'm going to train in two extremely different ways. The way I see it, if marathon runners can keep that pace up for a whole marathon, I could keep that pace up for just 5k. I know I'll do a lot better on the 50 miler because I'll be a lot more prepared this time compared to last year's 1 month training.
The first thing that I need to do is to build a solid foundation. Running 7+ miles for an easy run should get me to where I need to be. As soon as I build my muscles to a point where it won't hurt my knees, I'll start training 2-3 days on speed for the 5k, and 2 days taking it medium and easy, and at the end of the week going long, so that I could be training for the 50 miler. The easy runs are going to help me recover from the hard speed workouts I would be doing, and the long run in the weekend will just be a long run that works my endurance and not my speed. I've never done this form of extreme training and I'm excited to see how it would work... but before all that I need to keep doing my easy runs so that I would be running fully prepared to take on the punishment I'm putting on myself. As for weekly mileage, I will probably not go over 45 miles, but each and every mile of my training will be dedicated for my personal growth.
Easy runs are good and helpful. They help you with your recovery while not giving you too much of a break. In life, we all need our easy runs, to help us take a break, yet at the same time keeping your feet on the ground and being productive.
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