Feb 12, 2009 First Thursday Workout

February 12, 2009

Today began with 23 minutes of yoga/stretching. I didn’t quite make the 30 minutes that I set out for. After that I just kind of relaxed. My pecs were kind of sore from the push ups the night before, and I knew that it was necessary to save some of my energy for the track workout tonight.

Not too much happened during the course of the day, had my daily bowl of oatmeal, cleaned up some stuff, had my daily salad. Around 3:30 I rode my bike about 2 miles to help coach a little league baseball team. On the way I stopped and talked to my friend’s mom who happened to be outside their house. The practice was fun, gave some advice, and when that was done went I biked over to Stanford for the workout.

I didn’t know what to expect from the workout as I missed last weeks due to a work conflict. I showed up about 15 minutes early and started jogging. By then it was pretty cold and I’m very glad I brought a beanie, gloves and a jacket. I ran about ¾ of a mile before the program started. We talked for a bit and then were ushered off to run a mile, stretch, and began drills. The drills were surprisingly fun and brought me back to high school morning practices for baseball, though we weren’t forced to run liners until a few unconditioned players gave back their breakfast. The coaches at TNT are a bit nicer.

I am now looking forward to the Thursday night workouts as they will be getting more difficult as the preparation for the marathon heads forward. This coming Saturday will be a timed 5k(3.1 miles). I’m looking forward to seeing what pace I can complete. A few months ago I was running a 5k in roughly 25 minutes, and considering my new diet, being in better shape, and not dealing with the boredom of a treadmill, hopefully my time will increase.

I mentioned the book Younger Next Year last night, and as I read it this morning a few things made sense, and are happening in my life as a result of TNT and a marathon.

#1 Working out in a group.

At the team workouts there are about 40-50 people all doing the same thing, a few people cracking jokes or grunting, but we are a little family. The authors of the book stressed the importance of exercising with a partner or group. It will be this person that drags you out of bed and forces you to exercise some days, others the opposite, or the motivating force to get out and go to the class. I really do enjoy working out on my own, and dictating my own successes, but I also remember the times when my friends would be pushing me that extra 40 yard dash, and trying to beat me(as far as I can remember they never did). Or as a part of that baseball team, running the liners, or miles in 40 degree wet weather, all the while the other schools’ players were probably sleeping. Because there was a dedication to some unknown reward that family was able to accomplish the impossible and the benefits far outweigh the sacrifice. In the TNT and LLS case, we know exactly what we are fighting for, and that’s an even greater feeling, because our efforts are being rewarded on a daily basis. Knowing that everybody out there training is outside their comfort zone, but the sole purpose is to make somebody, somewhere a little more comfortable.

#2 Doing it everyday

I have had the San Diego Marathon in my sights since November 10, 2008. Since that point I have been sick twice, and worked out on average about 4-5 days a week. I have read a marathon book, a diet book, I’m working on a general exercise book, a few running magazines, and talked with numerous people. And while half of this doesn’t even count towards what I consider to be my training, it has all benefited me in some way. The point, every single day I look forward to knowledge and experience that will help me for the rest of my life. From doing yoga a couple times a week to starting spinning for the first and second times and absolutely loving it, these little pieces of my life are going to be the reason that miles 20-26.2 are just another phase(not fun, but necessary), and that I will someday complete the Boston Marathon. I certainly won’t be a frontrunner, but someday I will have that mental image and the physical picture on my wall to prove it.

That’s all for tonight,

Ryan