Finding Inspiration

I step out into the wide expanse of the internet and immediately I am drowning in words. The sensation of screaming opinions overwhelms and I long to escape to the safety of a secluded library with the scent of books and card catalogues.

This is how I often feel when I enter the world of blogs on the internet seeking to learn from someone else's experiences. There is so much information, some of which is misinformed and/or unintentionally de-motivational. As a result, I am very picky as to which blogs I read to follow someone else's training journey. I am not looking to read anything that is overly opinionated on training and nutrition or to read about how a professional athlete trains. I will be unable to learn from these people as I am not a professional and sometimes the training methods that work for me contradict some of the advice. What I am looking for is to read about someone who works full time, like me, and who has a life outside of work and training, balances an intensive educe training schedule. Of course, what one person finds inspiring can be as different as training and nutrition needs.

There are two individuals whose writing I particularly enjoy and have learned a great deal from. Both are Sheclismo team members.

The first woman is Molly Nance. She is a marathon swimmer and presently she is training to swim the English channel this July. She is detailing this training in her blog: Mollysbigswim.blogspot.com. She is one of the reasons I am writing about my own training experience. What I particularly enjoy about her writing is the amount of detail she gives about her training schedule. I have learned a lot about how to carve out time in my schedule to fit in long workouts. She also describes different nutritional options for fueling while exercising and gives her own reactions. Also, when I read about her goals, I realize that there will always be new goals for me.

The second woman is Laura Anderson. I rode with her a few times when I was still living in Nebraska. Laura does triathlons and shares my passion for extra eating that being a runner allows you. She was also the first person I ever received multi-sport advice from. Her blog, http://fitfreshandfunny.wordpress.com/, follows both her training and day to day living. She makes it seem like fitting in running, biking, swimming workouts throughout the week is easy. She, like myself, did not start running until her mid-twenties. I have enjoyed reading about her journey of realizing that she is now indeed an athlete.

These are just two examples of excellent and inspiring blogs on the internet. I do believe that is important to choose who you read with care, whether it be training, home improvement, or whatever subject. If you find that pieces of writing perpetually leave you discouraged, then it might be time to realize that you are not the intended audience. There are others that might be a better fit. I would love to hear about any blogs you find particularly motivating.

Training Update:
I have started increase my weekend mileage on both the bike and on foot. This past weekend, I did a 40 mile cycle on Saturday followed by a 10 mile run on Sunday morning. This is the first time I have done two longer workouts on two consecutive days. I only felt a little sore on Monday, so it seems I am taking my training on the appropriate pace. I also learned this past week of the importance of a rest day. I had too many workouts too close together on too many days, and as a result, my weekday workouts left a little to be desired. I hoping that this will be a better week. I am sure that many running parter Thyla is ready to push me so we can do more runs at her pace. (My workouts can be found here: http://www.endomondo.com/profile/4756204)

With Jake (my bike) Post 40 Mile Ride
Photo by Piper Williams (http://500px.com/PiperWilliams)

I am participating the London Ultra Duathlon to raise money for Scope, a charity that provides services for individuals with disabilities. If you would like to sponsor me please visit http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=EmilyGrace. Any amount helps and is appreciated.

Happy Exercising.

Running and Biking and Running for Charity

Endurance training, like getting an advanced education, can become an incredibly selfish venture. Your training schedule becomes a priority, you start focusing on your diet, you are constantly listing to your body and everything becomes about you. While these activities are not inherently bad, (in fact they can be quite good for you), it does become easy to give into the temptation of becoming very self absorbed. I speak from experience on this point.

A practice I began engaging in when I first started doing long run was using this time for meditation and prayer. Those of you, who know me well, know how busy my mind generally is. Seeking quiet and silence is challenging for me, but not so when my legs are carrying me across pavement and trails or pumping bike pedals. In doing this, the time that I spend training becomes about something greater than just my athletic endeavors. In these moments, I begin to realize how incredibly blessed I am. I have a life that allows me to make time for endurance training. I have always had enough in life. I am physically capable of doing athletics. These things are not afforded to everyone. I have tried to invest my time in helping more people realize that they can make time to have the fitness levels they want. I have taken multiple individuals on their first runs. I started a column on commuting advice to encourage more people to take up cycling and bike commuting. I have tried to be generous with my finances, though this is something that I could always do better. Still, I want to do more.

This led me to the decision to run this duathlon to raise money for charity. While I am excited to work towards new athletic achievement, I want this effort to be about more than me. Scope is a charity that works to provide services for individuals with disabilities, both mental and physical. This gives people who have different challenges than the rest of us to have more normal lives and to go after their own goals and dreams. I believe that this is an important service and I am excited to contribute to this cause. If you are able, please consider sponsoring me financially for this event. All of your contributions go directly to Scope to fund the services they provide. My fundraising page can be found here: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/EmilyGrace. I will have this link at the bottom of every blog post I write about training during this time, but I wanted to dedicate at least one post about my reasons for training for charity.

Training Update: Over the past week, I have been focusing on rebuilding my distance running and increasing my running pace. I have an excellent running partner, whose natural pace is faster than mine. We have been running throughout 2-3 days a week after work. We usually do one run for distance and one for hills. After each run, I hop on my bike and ride 6.7 miles home. This is starting to give me a little more of the feel of a run followed by a bike ride. I also did an 8 mile distance run at an average pace of 10:28 min/mile. This is my fastest distance running pace yet and gives me hope that I will be able to run the miles of the duathlon at a sub 10 min/mile pace.

I have been using the free workouts available on YouTube heavily throughout my training. I have found some really good workouts, so I have decided to post a link to one in each of these training blogs. Here is a link to a good 20 minute interval indoor cycling workout http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGGvKt8vWho. This is the perfect workout for busy days.

Post Hill Run and Cycle Home Celebrating the Sweaty Disheveled Goodness of Exercise
Photo by Piper Williams (http://piperwilliams.500px.com/)