JTG: "What we learn with pleasure, we never forget."

MILES  98


We learn something new from everything we do, each experience, each moment…. we may not realize……. we begin to see and understand this when we take the time to live in the moment and capture the experience….


….My oldest daughter did something really strange.  She had the opportunity to sign up for art or music as her middle school elective.  She is an artist.  A natural, honest, really good, talented, 100% self taught artist.  I am often in awe of her work.  So, of course, I assumed she would pick art.  She signed up for music. Yet she spends hours in her room, reading about art, creating, painting, drawing and steadily getting better.  She is not disappointed if a piece turns out different than she expected…. there is always a fresh canvas which she can begin anew…. she enjoys the process of learning, creating, and getting better…. every experience is something she learns from and she values and utilizes that knowledge.

I am learning a lot about my body these days. How focusing on clean and lean food, lifting weights….not just moving a 10 pd dumb bell…. sleeping and hydrating…..actually have the ability to change your body composition.  I'm learning about being strong and solid… I am learning to treat each run as an actual work out.  I am learning to run for speed, muscle, and miles….. and these are all very different and separate runs.  Before I would run X amount of miles in X time…. somedays would be fast, some slow…. NOW it is all together different.
When I run…. I am either trying to gain….. speed and increase my fast twitch muscles… build my glutes and quads for power  OR increase the slow twitch fibers working towards developing the endurance and capacity strength to run for a long time….. My running coach brakes it down into 4 categories…. as of now I have a handle on 2… short and fast…. and long and steady…… my hold pace maintain and my race pace …. those are still grey areas…. but I am truly understanding my body gains something from every single run. No matter how fast or how slow.  I am trying to like and understand…. the process….

It is cool to see each run as a unique experience and not just more miles in…..With each run I think… what did I get out of that… "wow that was really hard to fit in my busy day….my heel strike felt off… this music sucks….this song is perfect…that run killed me…. this pace makes me happy….oatmeal apple banana and raisins are pretty clean and efficient fuel for running…I have energy but I don't feel heavy…. all that sleep gave me so much more energy"…. hey… now we are getting somewhere! It's funny how sometimes we learn things…. I knew there was a link between eating and performance… but it wasn't until I made a commitment to eat clean, whole and all the time…. that I noticed a difference.  like a huge difference.

Oatmeal for the record really is amazing…. even though I denied this for years…. the no carb motto…. I am getting firm in areas I didn't even realize weren't firm… and I am eating everything and….. my clothes fit just fine…. I look and feel great and… well… I will just say it again,,, that stuff we hear about eating healthy working out, and sleeping…. IT is ALL true…. fruits, veggies, food you have to COOK…not microwave…. WATER…… WATER….. limiting alcohol…. kind of you get out of it what you PUT INTO it….. Right now we are at an understanding… my body and me…. If I am good to my body…. if I give it clean fuel, enough rest, push just hard enough…. back off when something feels bad…. my body will be good to me…… and I kind of like this arrangement…. it may just work out for us.

Back to my oldest daughter who has always been wise beyond her years….  My oldest daughter once reminded me that it is not all about winning…. sometimes it is about having fun and trying your best…. and she always tells me "Run happy Mom!"  I think back to some other great words of wisdom I was once told…. Sometimes when you are forced to do something you love, it can have the opposite effect….. Often times we leave our first loves…. art, baseball, music…math, not because we didn't enjoy it, but because we were pushed to hard and our loves became such frustrations that all we wanted to do was quit…. and we never went back…. I think music is a fine choice for her!

This weekend my youngest had a difficult, intense competition.  She did not win.  Truthfully…. we were both devastated…. although I am so proud of how well she did do and I think she is amazing.  I saw parents and children crying… it was crazy!  I was not upset…. more mad…. she is my kid… so naturally she is the best, end of story… her philosophy is a little different…. It is all about having fun… and winning is fun… so it's all about winning…. this morning, after crying a little more over her celebration cupcake…. she asked me when the next meet was…. WHY? I asked her…. Because I am excited, she told me…. I will be ready.  To her the unexpected breeds desire and determination to do better…. she is a natural born competitor who can only see to the first place finish.  It is not about the process, it is about the win.
I am somewhere in the middle of these two…. I want to win, but I want to keep going….. I want to be determined and focused….but I want to have fun… it is not fun to not meet my goals… but each run teaches me something about the sport or about myself…. it brings me closer to where I want to be.  I need to learn to love the process, and I need to teach my youngest the same….  Sometimes not winning makes up better than if we had won…. it makes up stronger…. we learn from it….after all, every time we try again….we are armed with the knowledge of our previous experience…and knowledge is power.  





RUN
1 mile warm up
90, 80, 70, 60, 50, 40, 30 sec sprints followed by equal second cool downs
3 miles at half marathon pace
1 mile cool down

LIFT
OVERHEAD SQUAT

FOOD
1-2 cups of fruit topped with 1/2 cup steel cut oats