Whats this?! A new blog post?!
This Saturday will be my 125th parkrun, I`ve been hammering away on the rowing machine in the gym and really enjoying it and last but not least, I`m back to running some consistent long stuff. I`ve not felt this fit in a loooong time and I`m having a blast! Its so nice to be back to this point again physically but most of all mentally. I think sometimes you just need to mix things up or take a complete break. I got to a point where I think I just wasn't enjoying running anymore, not a nice place to be.
I started to try and get the fire in the belly burning again by mixing up my training at the beginning of December by attempting some indoor rowing. I`ve always avoided the rowing machine to be honest simply because...well...its bloody hard! This time I decided that`s exactly why I wanted to give it a go. You see I have been going to the gym at lunchtimes at work so I only get a limited amount of time, by the time I get there and get changed it only really gives me about 30-40 minutes then I have to get changed again and high tail it back to work. I tried running on the treadmill, I HATE the treadmill. Also from the type of training I wanted to do, what was I going to accomplish in about 35 minutes? Its just not long enough to do anything other than mess up my technique.
I tried the spin bikes, I really enjoy spinning but again I was finding that as much as I loved it the time was a problem. To make the most of the time I would get on the bike, take the resistance off and thrash it for 30 minutes just to see how far I could get. I was cranking out nearly 18 miles!! Totally couldn't replicate that on the road but it was good fun! The "problem" is where do you go from there?!
Well I thought maybe I could mix things up and try a "dry triathlon" kind of idea. I figured I would try 1km row, 5km bike, 1km run as fast as I could just to see what would happen. Vomit nearly happened. I started my timer and went all out, only stopping the timer at the end of the run. I was SMASHED! The time was a little under 15 minutes and I was utterly destroyed! After the initial pain of it and a very conscious effort not to heave my guts out all over the gym, my thoughts quickly turned to "WOW, what an economical use of gym time!!" 15 minutes and I was done. I could get into this! I kept giving it a go and found out very quickly that the rowing part was soooo hard! This led me to attempting a little more distance on the rowing machine in an effort to get a little better to benefit my overall time when I gave the "dry tri" another bash. The more I worked on it, the more I started to enjoy just how difficult it was. This also led me to start chatting with a guy at the gym who I had seen just DESTROYING the machine. This guy is a beast on a rowing machine. To be fair he is built like a rower, I on the other hand am not but we chatted just the same. He gave me some tips on technique and I started improving, working on both my times and distance. I found myself starting to really enjoy pushing myself again and watching my progress but most of all I began to feel like it had stoked the fire in my belly for training once again.
After about a month of mainly rowing I started to add in some running in the evenings after work. It was tough going but like the rowing I found myself beginning to enjoy the fact that it was hard. This has continued all through the winter with my rowing increasing per week to as much as 9k each lunchtime up to 5 days a week, running 3 to 4 times a week with a long run on a Saturday.
Fast forward to this Saturday.....
I actually finished my first 20 mile training run in a loooong time, I mean, events aside, maybe years?! Just under 15 miles BEFORE parkrun, parkrun then a little cool down to round it up to 20. Who is this guy?! I can feel the fire in my belly growing, I like it. I like the renewed hunger, it feels like when I just started running back in 2012. I`ve started to look at marathons as training runs, I`ve even booked one for next Saturday! Ultras are beginning to creep back onto my radar. Perhaps much like the fabled Phoenix, this monkey just needed some time in the ashes?
I hope you enjoyed reading this and a promise that the next post will not be years away!
Much love
Cardiosaurus
