Skip to main content

I am an Athlete!

Many years ago I did a weekend camp for marathon runners.

I will always remember that the chap who ran it (an former Olympic runner) said

"Every single one of you here is an Athlete. It doesn't matter what speed you run at you are an athlete. If you put your trainers on and train then you are an athlete"

So that's me.

I'm an Athlete in Training.

Why an athlete in training and not just an athlete? Well I firmly believe that we can always improve. Or aim to improve in one small way or another. Perfection is not a thing and therefore we are always improving and therefore training!

One thing that Ami has said is that the mind likes to work, to be used and to do "stuff" (she might have been more technical than me there!). So if you stop using it and doing things then you are actually doing your brain harm. Not using your brain is the worse thing you can do - it is, just like your muscles, a case of use it or lose it. And the less you use your brain the greater the chance of Alzheimer's disease. So l keep using you brain and challenging it.

I am currently in a job that does not make me smile in any way. I know I am not using my brain. I was a teacher for 7 years, when I was constantly having to use my brain to learn things as well as teach things so not having anything to do and not using my brain is driving me mad. (It really doesn't help that I work for a biscuit company and when I am bored I eat!)

And this is how Ami has helped me.

This is how I came to be plotting my escape and move to a more fulfilling job. I am hoping that by the new year I will be on the path to becoming a swimming teacher.

I can swim and I can teach and I love exercise so it seems a good combination.

I have already been able to use my mind by taking a couple of online courses with the Institute of Swimming and it is very much evident that I will have lots to learn too.

As an athlete this can only help me. If I am working for the gym I can use the gym for free so can do more of the strength work that I know I should do but don't. I can learn more about the body and how to use the machines and the free weights to optimise my running body and maybe get back to being a triathlete too!

My long term aim is to be fast enough to qualify for The London Marathon! This needs less body fat, more fitness and more speed. So I will be in training for a long time!

I will be training both body and mind as the miles needed to get to the position where I can qualify means I need to take care of my body and fuel it properly. To have a positive mindset and be kinder to myself.

I have lots of things that I can expand my mind on which in turn will help me to become my own coach and plan my training rather than just running as I do now.

At the moment though I am tapering for a race next weekend. I did the same race last year and have trained a lot better this year and hope to take up  to 30 mins off my time!


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Remember this?

Yes I'm back on the bench :-( That sore foot thing on Wednesday... well it's still here. In typical bruised fashion it hurts more after a period of sitting down/sleep and I've been popping the brufen. There is a slight swelling too. Don't think it is laces ... on closer inspection the pain is (looks at google ... gives up and picks up "how to run injury free" instead) on the sesamoids area of the err middle phalanger (??? impressed hey!) In the same location where you would get morton's neuroma but the description is wrong so I don't think it's that!! (oh the perils of a little knowledge from a book or the web hey!) Anyways this means I'm on the bench. No running. I have 4 or 5 weeks until the Suicide Sixish so no panic, I will take 1 whole week off regardless and see what happens next weekend. Also think I will get some new shoes with more cushioning. Now all I need to do is locate my bike and/or exercise bike from the depths of the garage un...
Post a Comment
Read more

Sensible Head

The choice was getting wet or getting wet. I opted for the wet but warm option rather than the wet, cold and wind swept option! So 1m done at the pool including 2 goals being achieved and some board work. I said a while ago I wanted to be able to do 20 lengths non stop DONE and 10 lengths of front crawl non stop DONE!! So happy pixie. Used a different pool today as I wanted to see about lessons for Gnome. It was a nightmare to locate the car park and once I found it, it was full to the brim with cars circling for spaces so I drove the 200m down the road to the free parking and nabbed the last space there instead! The pool is old so not pretty or ponced up but it is clean and in good repair and they do Saturday lessons and Gnome can start this week! OK so he then has 2 weeks off but how good is that! My other option was the pool near work and a possible start mid February! So just need to get the OK from Gnome and a commitment to get out of bed for a 9:30 lesson every week until March (...
7 comments
Read more

Ten Week Training Block

Monday is the start of a new 10 week training block. Well Ok it's the start of my second round of The Six Pack Revolution this time I am doing the sculpt program. I did Signature in May and did really well. Lost 21lbs and rediscovered my love of running lots (rather than just running!) which has meant that I have had a great, extended, training block for my race next weekend. Problem was that at the end of the 10 weeks I slowly but surely reverted to a lot of my old habits and as such have regained 4-5lbs. Luckily my running has kept it to just 4-5lbs - I know if I hadn't been doing so many miles then it would have been more. So next week I start again, and I am trying a different mindset. Instead of seeing it as a 10 week program I am thinking of it as a 10 week training block. The say Winter miles make for Summer smiles but also the winter is a time for more indoor training! When most runners hide away a bit but do more of the stuff we should do all year as we then have an ex...
Post a Comment
Read more