January 1st: The Pain Begins

I find this title very fitting. Not only because my official training for "The Pain" starts today (my loving new nickname for this event), but I woke up several times overnight and this morning with some pretty severe pain. Over the past few months I have been dealing with a nagging shoulder injury on my left shoulder, and recently my back pain has started again. Couple these together and you have one awkward and uncomfortable night of half sleep. Put these together with round trip drives to and from Buffalo and a 5 year olds first ball drop and you have the perfect combination of crap to convince you to do as little as possible.

These are all legitimate issues and I am positive that I am not the only one out there that has had these or has had the opportunity to let these infiltrate their thinking especially when it comes to talking themselves out of training. This is what got me started thinking this morning about what motivates us and pushes us.

New Years Day is the day for resolutions. Traditionally millions of people pack themselves into gyms for the first time or first time in years. Maybe they got some fancy new home workout station or decided to give up on smoking or eating crap. Either way it is a day where almost everyone tries to live healthy. By the end of the month however the gyms empty out, the fancy new equipment starts collecting dust, and the greasy fast food joints start getting their clientele back. So how do we stay consistent?

For me, and for the clients I have had through my side gig (OCR Librarian) I always try to push both the internal and external motivating factors. I have found you can't really stay committed to something without both.

For me it started with wanting to shed a few dozen pounds. That was enough to get my ass in the gym. To keep me there however I needed a longer term goal, something that wasn't just about me or losing weight. It started with my first race, then a series of races, then quite simply to be there for my daughter when she was older.

This is how I have attacked my planning for The Pain. I originally wanted to get in shape for a triathlon and drop below 10% body fat at the age of 37. When the idea of the triathlon turned into an ultra and eventually the entire Erie Canal I decided that I would use this as the yearly fundraiser I have been doing for Kevin. The thought was simple, running that kind of distance would be painful, but nowhere near the pain I have witnessed Kevin and his wife Hilary go through over the past few years. A pain that they have not only taken in stride, but have maintained a beautiful life and raised 3 great kids!

I also knew that on days like today I could look at this as motivation. Yes I am in pain, but is it even close to what Kevin has gone through? How many days had either he, Hilary, or both wanted to just stay in bed and pretend the world didn't exist or worse? I can only imagine what waking up knowing you are going to go in for chemo must be like, or worse waking up the day after chemo or a surgery. Yet, from my perspective at least, they have both gotten up and been champions in their families and lives! Hell, Kevin was texting me and getting his computer to take a look at some of the stuff for the initial concept of The Pain while he was recovering from a major surgery in the hospital!

So on mornings like today, with numerous motivating factors I can look at what I am trying to accomplish and realize that all of my pain is temporary. Really it is just muscle soreness since I typically lack proper recovery in my training. A solid stretch this morning will loosen me up enough to get my ass in gear and start moving.

As for my official training I am going to run my plans Sunday through Saturday and will post them each week here. For the first two days of the new year I am going to try to squeeze in a minimum of 4 hours of running. This should equal roughly 20 miles to start the year off.

My training style has been much different and I have taken a few weeks to start getting use to it. I am trying to maintain a heart rate of between 135 and 145. This has been slowing my pace from a 7:30 5k and 8 minute 10k/half marathon pace to a 10-12 minute running pace. It has been aggravating to say the least, but I am looking forward to seeing how far I will be able to go at this pace. The last time I ran 20 miles monitoring my heart rate like this I felt great and did an additional 8 miles several hours later when I couldn't sleep.

For this New Years Day I want to know what your motivating factors are! What are you pushing for to benefit you, and what are you doing to benefit others? Leave a message on the blog or on my social media channels (@ocrlibrarian315) and let me know! 

Happy New Year and let's CRUSH 2021!