Fall training update: Where the heck did a whole month go?

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I guess I have to laugh at myself a little bit here…the title of my last post – remember that, a whole long 4 weeks ago? – spoke of “consistency” and my struggles with it; so I follow that with a total lapse of writing…at least it was a consistent failure, right?

Fortunately, my training has been progressing much better than my writing, in many ways. There have been some adjustments, caused by circumstances, but on the whole I am satisfied with how things are going. Let’s take a look:

1. Rather than doing most (or all) of my training alone, as I did last year, I have made a commitment to get coaching and support from a running club; three of them, in fact! I do track workouts and long road runs with the Houston chapter of Runner’s High; race/run roads and volunteer with the Houston Striders; and race/run trails and volunteer with Houston Area Trail Runners. The support and camaraderie is priceless…I don’t know how I managed without these wonderful friends!

2. I have established a regular, varied routine of workouts – speed work, tempo runs, long runs, recovery, rest days – and I am sticking to a written plan, which helps me build mileage gradually, avoid overtraining and injury, and allows me to see steady progress from week to week, which increases my self-confidence as well.

3. I have had to cut back on my cross-training, and drop my personal trainer, which I really regret – but I have plenty of resources to help me develop a decent strength-work routine on my own.

4. The reason for losing the trainer is that I lost something else as well: two weeks ago I became unemployed 😦 You may remember me talking about The Hero…the new manager at my office who appeared determined to send me down the road at the first opportunity? Well, he got his chance – I missed work a couple of days, and even though I did check in daily with my project manager, and the jobsite supervisors, and my foremen at the site; even though I was taking phone calls and emails from home, without pay; even though the job never lost forward momentum, but remained three weeks ahead of schedule; even though I was back at work first thing Monday morning; he chose to accuse me of not being a responsible team player, and had already assigned one of his people to take over my responsibilities; I was to merely “assist” him…which meant that I would continue doing exactly what I had been doing, but with no authority, and no credit for the work…also without the promotion, pay raise, and perks which had been promised to me. When I expressed my lack of enthusiasm about this new arrangement, I was Heroically informed that my time there was finished…four years of hard work, undone in fifteen minutes.

I can’t deny that I have enjoyed a respite from the stress of work, but of course that cannot last…bliss doesn’t pay the bills, after all 🙂 I have some leads, and some friends who will help me out with temp work until I find something permanent. The hardest part is resisting the temptation to go “off schedule”…to keep my workouts on the normal routine, and keep my days available for work and work-related activities; even if that means filling the day with those nagging chores that I never had time to get done 🙂 I have to admit – I will be glad when normal becomes normal again!

In the meantime, the calendar turns its pages, and my fall races approach…the first one is less than 4 weeks away! (I’m sure glad that all the major ones are already paid for; the extra ones that pop up have to be weighed carefully, as added expenses are not our friends right now.) I hope to be more regular about posting updates, as well…I hope that these little notes I send out encourage, inspire, or at least entertain someone – why else would I be doing this, if not for you, my dear readers?

Thanks for your patience and understanding!

How are you coming along with training, racing, and life?

I’d love to hear from you in the comments 🙂

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