training

Progressive Resistance

Posted on August 5, 2014August 5, 2014 by stilllearning2b

On your first day stepping foot in a gym, you’re probably not going to try to pick up these.

More likely, you assess your starting point and gravitate towards some weights that will challenge you a little.

But not too much.

Maybe something like this:)

As time progresses and you become stronger, those little weights begin to feel puny. They are no longer a struggle as you become stronger.

So, you apply the theory of progressive resistance, trading in your little weights for some that are just a little bigger still.

And a strange thing happens as you progress to heavier and heavier weight.

If you do it right, the resistance always feels about the same.

Not because the weights aren’t changing,

But because you are.

It would be nice if life progressed like sessions at the gym.

But that’s rarely the case.

Often, you’re humming along, happily curling your 1 pound weights when life suddenly drops this in your lap-

And expects you to lift it.

Life’s challenges rarely come with a warm-up.

We usually don’t have the prior warning to begin training for the challenge.

The trial simply appears. And we either have to figure out how to lift it.

Or we end up crushed.

You can wail it’s not fair.

Or complain that it’s impossible.

Or you can get to work.

Take it apart. Break it down into manageable pieces. You can lift anything if you make it small enough.

Enlist a buddy. Ask for help. A load is lightened by many hands.

View your challenge compared to others. It may not be as heavy as it looks. Perspective has a way of making mountains into molehills.

Tackle your trials a little at a time. Each experience will make you stronger for the next. Celebrate your growth.

Ignore the impossible for a time and build yourself. Get better, get stronger and then come back and show it who’s boss.

Seek out the experts. Learn how to lift and how to breathe. A little guidance can go a long way.

Progressive resistance teaches us that it’s okay to get there in baby steps.

That struggle is rewarded with strength.

And that there is no burden we cannot lift given enough time and enough effort.

So when life throws these at you,

get busy training.

Be A Hill Climber

Posted on April 19, 2014March 6, 2024 by stilllearning2b

When I trained for my marathon a couple years ago, I made a big mistake.

Before the official race training began, I would run 20-25 miles per week on the roads and trails around my house. Some days, I would run long and flat whiles others would be shorter yet much hillier. As the training intensified and the required mileage entered into the daily double digits, I slowly changed my patterns. You see, the marathon was being held in Savannah, a city whose only hills come in the form of bridges. So, I reasoned, I don’t need to train on hills for the race. All I needed to be able to do was run 26.2 flat miles.

It was all too easy to forsake those hills. After all, when you’re already facing 3 hours of running, the last thing you want to do is add any additional difficulty.

But it was a big mistake.

I didn’t realize it at first. The runs were progressing well and the injuries were minimal. My speed work was improving my pace and my endurance. But avoiding the hills was beginning to have a negative effect behind the scenes. My hips and glutes became weaker, the level surfaces not enough to challenge them. My stride changed as other muscles compensated for the deficient ones. Tendons became irritated and inflammation set in.

By avoiding the challenges, I had allowed myself to become weak.

Hills serve a purpose, both in running and in life. They teach us how to dig deep, switching into a different gear in order to power through. Hills help us understand that periods of intensity are followed by periods of rest and that no struggle lasts forever. Hills build fortitude and perseverance as we grow stronger to meet their demands. Hills provide perspective, making the level ground of life seem tame by comparison.

So be a hill climber.

Rather than avoid life’s challenges, face them and grow stronger.

And then, who knows, one day you may even be ready to tackle mountains:)

How Long is Your Marathon?

Posted on September 12, 2012May 20, 2013 by stilllearning2b

Marathon Preparedness (Photo credit: super-structure)

I’ve been getting this question a lot lately and it always make me shake my head and smile. Those are about the only smiles associated with the marathon at the moment. It turns out the nagging little virus I had a couple weeks ago was actually the beginning of pneumonia. I ended up taking a week off work (something I NEVER do) and spending all of it in bed. The marathon is now 6 weeks away and I’m trying to build up my stamina enough to stay awake past 6 pm, much less run for 4 straight hours.
At this point, I’m feeling quite a bit better. I’m just still very fatigued and my left ear has been blocked for two weeks and the associated dizziness, deafness, and ringing is about to drive me mad. I starting running again last Sunday (2.3 miles!) and just now got back from my second attempt (3.5 miles!). Tiger is happy as my reduced speed and short distances means he can join me on the runs. I, however, am not so happy as I should have run 9 miles today according to my now-defunct training schedule.
So, what do I do? I could give up and scrap the race entirely. I could force my body into running the distances spelled out by the schedule and just pick right back up. I could get angry and curse my body for getting sick without consulting me about the timing.

I’m not going to do any of those things. I’ve invested too much time and money to quit, my body isn’t ready to run 40 miles in a week right now, and the anger would just be wasted (especially since I wouldn’t be able to hear my cursing over my ringing ear). Instead, I am going to run as much as I can over the next 6 weeks. I’m going to listen to my body (figuratively until the ear clears, of course) and rest when I need to. I’m going to enter the race with no expectations about performance or time; I’ll just do the best I can with where I am on that day. Okay, maybe I have one expectation. I’m hoping the damn ear clears so that I can hear the bands the Rock n’ Roll race series is known for…

This isn’t that different than how I felt when the dust settled after the divorce. I never expected to be divorced. It was not part of the training plan I had for my life. I realized I could give up, pretend it never happened, or get angry and curse it for all time.

Or, I could accept that it happened and go forward the best I could.

How long is my marathon? Long enough that it will be a challenge but not so long that it will defeat me. I’ll complete it just like I got through the marathon of my divorce – one step at a time while remembering to keep breathing.