The Big One: Week One

Looking very cold on the T42

Dear readers, I feel I have reached a crossroads in this blog of mine. I've not updated much because I was too busy skating, coaching, answering emails related to coaching, or going to meetings (about coaching). The last thing I wanted to do when derby was eating so much of my time and brain was to then sit and write this blog, so I'm sorry. I've missed you.

Truth is, I'm suffering a little from derby burn out (derburnout?). There have been some horrible accidents in the league this year and they've hit me pretty hard mentally (though not nearly as hard as the victims of course), the admin involved in making sure coaches are where they need to be, when they need to be there is immense and there are a lot of people out there who need information from me ASAP is not before. It was taking the shine off the sport for me and I was losing sight of my goals. I'd stopped working out outside of derby, rediscovered spending weekends with hangovers in and generally lost my edge. Eeek.

Then came my birthday. 29. There was a party, and an almighty hangover to follow. Then the realisation that I'd been telling people for a long time that I had a dream to run a marathon before I hit 30. Bugger. No big deal, surely? People have "things to do before I'm x" lists and I bet that most of them never go anywhere. There's no shame in saying "Actually, the idea of running 42km non-stop and having my toenails fall off and nipples bleed doesn't appeal that much". Is there?

Not if you're me, it would seem. The idea just wouldn't go away. MARATHON! To follow in my dad's footsteps and run the 26 miles. To put myself through months of training, sacrifice even more hours of my time, to do something which I enjoy in theory but find extremely hard just so I can have another story to bore people with on long car rides.



Harbour bridge on race day.

 Naturally I signed up. In 23 and a half weeks I'll be lining up with 9,999 other lunatics (and half lunatics) in Devonport at 6am on a Sunday morning. I'll run along Lake road to Takapuna, over the harbour bridge (cool!), down towards Victoria park, along Tamaki drive all the way to St Heliers, and then all the back to finish at Victoria Park. 42 kilometres. Up to a quarter of a day of running.

I'm incredibly excited.

Why excited about early morning training runs and a house that permanently smells of feet?

I'm excited because, well, how many of us stop talking about "Someday I'll do X" and actually make steps to do it? I remember the feeling when I stopped saying "some day I'll lose weight" and actually started changing my diet and working out so I started to lose weight. I just woke up knowing that to reach a destination you have to start the journey (yeah, that sounds like a motivational poster. It's still true). I think that's what puts people off starting on something like this, they don't see the journey as having any value. Bollocks, I say. I think there's as much value in learning the discipline of having to train four days a week as there is in crossing the finish line. I like the idea of this because I want to test myself, to see if I have the mental strength to push myself hard enough physically that I can run that far. I don't want to run this and then lapse back into unfitness, I want this to be like my weightloss epiphany. This is when I go from being fit-ish to actually FIT.

So far I've been on two training runs (I'm using the Map My Run app for iPod). One was in torrential winter rain, and I went only marginally faster than if I'd just walked but you know what? It didn't matter. I loved every minute of it. I loved feeling like I was pushing myself, that I'd overcome all the excuses I'd made up to not get out the house (TORRENTIAL. RAIN) and had done something. Like quitting smoking, this is acheiveable as long as I just don't deviate. Don't find excuses not to run.

I recently read on a yoga blog (yeah, I still do that) something that really resonated with me. It suggested that instead of saying "I don't have time to do that", say "That's not a priority". Once I started attaching that prefix, I was able to have a good look at how I spend my time. Do I really not have time time to go running for half an hour a few times a week, or is it just not a priority? What did I actually want to make a priority in my life?

This. I want this to be a priority. I'll still be skating, but I'll be training for the marathon as a priority. I've made sure my running plan has me taking days "off" (or crosstraining) on the days I'm skating, and I have proper full on rest days with no fitness obligations whatsoever. I'm going to be as smart as I can about it, but also determined as I think sheer bloody-mindedness is what's needed to get me through.

As extra incentive, I'm fundraising for the New Zealand Red Cross. It was bloody hard to decide on a charity to raise money for, ultimately I wanted one that helped people around the world and in the most desperate need. I've done a little bit of work with them in humanitarian education and what I learned about them I liked, so it seems a logical choice for support. If you'd like to donate to the NZRC and give me an extra, amazingly positive incentive to lace up my running shoes, you can at http://www.fundraiseonline.co.nz/RozSimpson/ . My target is $1000, and so far I've raised $55 in my first day. Unreal!

Anyway, off to bed. Tomorrow's a rest day and I'm feeling knackered after this morning's run and an 11 hour day at work...

TOTALLY AWESOME REALISATION POST

OK, so I have to update you on Vegan Challenge (there has been a slip-up) and the duathlon I ran today (harder than I thought, lots to learn from that one) but I realised something totally amazing today and it takes precedence and I'll write about cheese some other time.

It's me! Running! Photo courtesy of Gary O

I'm on a huge documentary kick at the moment. I have a cool TV but I can't seem to get it working with the aerial cable that comes into my flat (apparently I need a freeview box). I've managed without for about 4 months now so I think I'll keep things as they are, especially as my DVD player has USB slots and there are thousands of documentaries on youtube and other places for my delectation. Today, after the duathlon that was much harder than I thought it would be (there's a lesson in that), I decided to unwind with a couple of programmes about mountaineering (I also do a little rockclimbing from time to time). I put on one about Everest and the thought struck me "Hey, that would be something awesome to do, maybe as a 35th birthday present?".

Then it struck me.

I JUST THOUGHT SERIOUSLY ABOUT CLIMBING EVEREST LIKE IT WAS TOTALLY POSSIBLE.

And it is. It'd be hard, it'd require a HUGE training commitment and a lot of money, but it's not outside the realm of possibility at all.

The reason I mention this is that training and getting fit opens up worlds like this. The more you train and the further you push yourself, the more you realise what is possible, given enough time and effort. When I first started working out, I thought in time frames of days or weeks. Then it became "I'll train for this 10k which is a few months away". Now I'm focusing on a half marathon in April. Then the full marathon in October, which is quite a ways away. I know it'll be hard, but I also know I can do it with enough preparation. Now, I'm thinking years ahead. I was looking at the website for the Speights Coast to Coast race the other day, thinking "It looks hard, maybe 2014?" but it didn't register how big a deal thoughts like that really are at the time.

The truth is, events like Coast to Coast, the marathon, Everest, or whatever you fancy, are not out of reach. The people who do these things are not members of some other species, they're people like you and me who just decided to quit with the excuses and take a long view with small steps. I know I'm not fit enough to run a marathon now, but I know with a few months of graft I will be. And that's pretty amazing.

If you want an example of someone who cut the excuses and is achieving amazing things, check out Allan Ure. I met Allan through motorcycling and he showed me some photos of before he started cycling and running (talk about change!). He's now raising money for Muscular Dystrophy by running marathons in full motorbike leathers (see the video!) and plans to run the length of New Zealand in February next year with his running partner. An ordinary guy, just like everyone else, who's looked beyond this week or this month's goal to something bigger and better.

This is what fitness can do for you, it makes pretty much everything you like feasible, given enough graft.

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Back to more mundane things next time, and there's a review of Qube 8-Ball bearings coming soon!