Training Thoughts: Week 6 & 7 (Feb 12-Feb 25)

I have to admit that these past two weeks have been light mileage wise and with the race in less than 2 weeks, I’m not beating myself up about it! I know that I’ve put in solid work thus far and am still staying sharp in other ways. Exercise wise, I’ve gotten great strength work in as well as awesome yoga practice. In these past two weeks, I’ve done a lot of soul searching about my future and life (which included a relaxing, solo mini road trip to the Outer Banks in North Carolina). I’ve made some big life decisions and am now in transition! And I believe the best things can happen during transitions 🙂

Being Present

Do you know someone who says they don’t like yoga because there’s too much posing? Too much just sitting there when they could be doing other things? (Ironically, sometimes I think people with these thoughts could really benefit from practicing yoga and mindfulness!)

Mindfulness takes consistent practice, something that I struggle with everyday, if not every minute or less. Sometimes I struggle with mindfulness during a yoga class, at work when I have a dozen tasks or projects, or when my apartment is a mess and I don’t know where to begin cleaning. Being present and mindful helps me focus on what I can do now, if anything, and frees me from stressing out about things I cannot control. Mindfulness and being present are active choices I must make to focus on the present instead of preoccupying myself with the literally thousands of other things swimming around in my mind. I believe that our choices and intentions in the present make us more actionable, building toward our future vision.

For example, every time I think about skipping or delaying a work out, especially when I’m already awake at 6AM, I try to focus on the present, on the fact that I woke up specifically to create time to be active. Every time I think about procrastinating on a writing project, I think about what time I have now to get some words on paper or plan when I can. This way, all of my deliberate, conscious actions made in the present eventually compound into routines, habits, or paths to my goals. I’m only human, so of course there will be some lapses and getting overwhelmed, but as long as I recognize this, it’s never to late to make the choice to be present and mindful.

My recent reading

Do you like reading while on a cardio machine at the gym? When I was in college, I would sometimes read assignments and articles while on the stationary bike or stair master, but I felt like the multitasking was compromising my attention to both activities. I was also a student who firmly believed in highlighting and annotating, not easy to do while in motion! So in lieu of reading on cardio machines, I’ve been reading a little bit more every day, setting a timer for myself in smaller increments, since I’m someone who likes to read in big chunks but doesn’t often have huge blocks of time to do so.

In 2018, I’ve completed 4 books so far (What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami, Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance, About Love by bell hooks, and Goodbye, Vitamin by Rachel Khong) and have 3 in progress (This is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz, Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond — I started the last two about mid-year 2017, but I’m set to finish them soon!). In addition to podcasts and stand up acts, I’ve thought about getting into audio books for time spent in the car.

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To read more from the RnR DC 2018 Half Marathon Training Thoughts series, click here!