I didn't really dig into my athletic background in my first post, but I thought it might be pertinent for this one. It all started with Tee Ball when I was in elementary school, and then basketball in 5th - 8th grade..... ok ok. Not that far back.
Actually, after 8th grade there really wasn't much until about 5 years ago. In the pursuit of a healthy lifestyle, TKB and I joined the Platte County South Community Center YMCA. I started running on the track and then eventually the treadmill when the track started making me dizzy.
Workout Thing
Two years later I finally started to get intrigued with this "workout thing". What was I really doing to my body besides extruding sweat from it (known around these parts as the "Scotty Funk")? I bought a book called "Smart Exercise: Burning Fat, Getting Fit" by Covert Bailey. To be honest, thanks to a fast metabolism as a kid and into my early adult life, I really haven't had an issue with weight; however, I had been increasing curious about what the body does when working out. What does it mean to be aerobic or anaerobic? This book did a great job explaining it. I highly recommend it.
The book led me to the concept of working out in specific heart rate zones that are tied to aerobic or anaerobic energy burns. The problem was, I didn't have a good way to check my heart rate. Enter the Kansas City-based GPS company, Garmin. I bought a Garmin Forerunner 405cx and this moved my runs that had been indoors on a treadmill, outdoors so I could take advantage of the GPS features.
Runnin' Runnin'
Within a month (and with encouragement from some friends) I had signed up for my first race! It was the St. Patrick's Day 4 Miler. A month later I took part in the Brew-to-Brew on a Relay team. In fact, I ended up doing 11 miles of relay legs that day! After the Trolley Run, I signed up for my first endurance race. Can you take a guess which one? Hospital Hill Run Half Marathon!
Push It
Before long, my pursuit to discover what my body was doing with this "workout thing" turned into seeing where I could go with it. A half marathon turned into a full marathon. Then in 2011 I started triathlons and pushed myself to a half ironman. In 2012 I had my first true time goal at the Chicago marathon, but also pushed myself into the world of ultra marathons at The North Face Endurance Challenge 50K. In 2013, I joined the Goofy Challenge club by running a half marathon and full marathon in the same weekend at Disney World, and now I'm pushing myself by training for a full ironman race!
What's your style? What pushes you?
- Are you trying to see what distance you can achieve?
- Are you trying to lose weight?
- Are you trying to add years to your life or life to your years? (one of my favorite quotes)
- Do you just want to see what your body can do?
- Trying to regain that energetic "you" of 10, 20, 30 years ago?
- Bragging rights with your friends?
Whatever your goal is, own it. Let it drive you as a person.
If you don't have a goal, that's fine. What I do tell people is make sure what drives you is internal. Don't do something for external factors (boy friend, girl friend, husband, wife, job, friends, etc) because it may be out of your control. What if something happens in which that part of your life is no longer there or becomes unsupportive? Do you lose your workout mojo? I realize this is kind of a depressing thought, but it is something to consider.
Once you have those internal goals, tell everyone! Post it on Facebook, on twitter, at work, on the fridge, on the bathroom mirror, on the I-35 overpass!
Ok... maybe not that last one.
My goal? For 2013 it is to survive a 2.4 mile swim, followed by a 112 mile bike ride, followed by a marathon! I have 17 hours to finish this race and it very well could take all of them, but I'm determined to finish!
Up Next
As I mentioned earlier, I'm a fan of heart rate-based training. In the next installment of my Hospital Hill Run Blog series, I will plan to discuss what this means and how you can use it in your pursuit to "Conquer The Hill".
Feel free to stop by and ask questions in the comments or hop over to Twitter to chat me there! You can find me as @ScottyTris.
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