When You Want To Succeed

I heard a quote the week before last week that's pretty much ignited a fire within me.

When you want to succeed as much as you want to breathe, that's when you'll be successful.

That just hits me to the core. For so long I've had a goal of qualifying for Boston and yet I don't really feel that I was ever 100% committed or motivated to really actually reach that goal. But now, more than ever, I WANT IT BAD! I want it because I want it and no one else.

I am a very competitive person. I have a lot of determination towards reaching a goal. I mentioned in my last post that I've been making goals based off everyone else. And I didn't have a whole lot of motivation to really succeed with any of those. But now I've figured out what I really want and I'm going to get it.

This past year of running has been so up and down and all offer the place. This past week or so I've really had to rebuild mentally and physically. I'm a numbers person. I run based off performance. My best. I push myself to reach certain goals. I have been told several times this week that, one way or another, that I'm not doing it right, doing too much, or something along those lines. I HATE being told I'm not doing it right or I'm doing too much. I'm sorry, but I am not you and I know MY BODY and what works best. For far too long I've done it everyone else's way and that's gotten me NO WHERE. It's time to do me and focus on what works best for me.

All too often I've been told that the way I train is not the right way. I've trained and ran hundreds of miles over the last 2 years, I am starting to understand that I do know best, when it comes to me and training. I've used several different kinds of trainings and did tons of research about how to train properly. But I think it all comes down to trial and error. Over this past year I have wanted a PR in a marathon and of the 5 I have ran after my first, I have come close to getting a PR but always come up short. I truly believe it's because of my training. I'll be sharing more about this as I get closer to race day, in February, because again, this is trial and error. But it's something I am confident in.

This past week was a week of rebuilding and getting consistent. I finished out running and biking a total of 42 miles, 14 bike 28 running. I did some speed work, ran 1 mile worth of bleachers, body weight strength training, and mental training.

Monday-rest day from a big weekend
Tuesday- 5 miles of speed work (1 mile w/u, 3 mile repeats with 2 min rest between each mile 7:01, 7:16, 7:19, 1 mile c/d)
Wednesday-6 miles on my bike pulling my kiddos. That evening I ran 1 mile of bleachers
Thursday- 2 miles recovery, very sore from the bleacher run haha
Friday-rest
Saturday-20.2 miles (sprinted the extra .2 for mental training) 8 mile bike ride with my family
Sunday-unexpected rest day....rainy outside and I am pretty sore from the 20 miler.

This past weeks goal was consistency. I've been struggling for a while at being consistent and so I made that a priority.

This next week I am adding in weight training. I have always felt the need to lift weights but never have. I made my own little home gym and super excited about it. Time to kick it into high gear and finally reach my goals!

The 2 main goals for the year are:

Sub 20 minute 5k on November 9th

First half marathon, racing, November 17th. (Yes, I have run the half marathon distance but not in a race setting at my own pace, very excited!)

I do have a 5k September 21, marathon #7 October 5th (no goal) I will probably run another 5k in December if I don't hit my goal on November 9th. I love racing season!!