Phew! That was a tough day.
Gosh! That was a really tough week.
Aargh! That was a tricky month.
What's that old adage? If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. This could be spectacular...
I've got two marathons coming up, York and Snowdonia. I had a charity boxing match planned too, luckily it's been postponed. I am bloody useless as a pugilist. Still the training I've done in preparation for the marathons will stand me in good stead for a bloody brilliant October. My concise, well thought out, crystal clear and effective training plan is as follows:
Monday - Rest Day
Tuesday - Perhaps get hit in the face and be involved in sparring and body weight exercises for one hour, if not a rest day
Wednesday - Recovery from aches and pains of getting punched in the face and body or possibly, a Rest Day
Thursday - A repeat of Tuesday
Friday - Reps of 800m x0, or long run x0, or perhaps a 5 mile tempo run x0
Saturday - Long Run before work usual distance about 15 miles less than 15 miles
Sunday - Junior Park Run with the children, perhaps, if not a Rest Day
On the basis of all this training I'm in tip top condition to nail York Marathon in my fastest ever marathon time, barring all the other marathons I've completed this year. Have to say I'm really looking forward to it. Still, I've got a few weeks to re-prepare myself and after all I have a few miles in my legs from earlier this year. Wonder if that counts?
My incredible powers of recovery will then kick in to steel myself for the tiny few hillocks around Snowdonia.
The other week I relented and booked myself in for physio at Teeside University. Apparently I might have a touch of tendinopathy, great, I'm even better prepared than I initially thought, a truly marvellous physical specimen of a human being. Occasionally, I'm doing heel drops. Occasionally, I'm stretching. Occasionally, I'm using my resistance band. Not once though since May have I used my foam roller.
Once again I'm repeating age old mistakes of failing to prepare, kicking myself that I should have prepared better, doing the event and then beating myself up even further lamenting my lack of expected performance. I despair, why am I on this merry-go-round of laziness, procrastination and lack of compassion? Nothing to prove to myself, just enjoy what you do I keep telling myself. No pressure I say. Smile and enjoy it. Yet, for whatever reason it is, I keep blocking myself from achieving the high standards or high levels of performance I still foolishly expect. I'm sure I just try to set myself up to fail, it's probably comfortable, after all that's what I expect, failure. Give yourself a break and find out how it feels to succeed through a little bit of application and hard work, I tell myself.
I have no grounds on which to provide advice or support to others since I simply don't do what I say I want to do. I have no consistency. At this moment in time I am so frustrated with myself. Why, oh why do I not seemingly want to succeed?
Think I'll sign up for more boxing after these two marathons in October, it might help knock some sense in to me. Will I ever learn?
