A note from my coach this past Friday: “TWO MORE LONG RUNS! And then you get to plaaaaaaaay! Hope you’re continuing to celebrate endless growth and finding joy in the process. As always, rooting for you!” - @lindsayscottphysio (check her out on insta, she’s a fantastic HAES run/joy intuitive movement coach) Since I last checked in late July, running has had some big wins and challenges. August 2022 was the 2nd hottest month in BC History, second only to July 1958. This reality certainly made for some challenging hiking and running conditions. Thankfully PNW forest fires were somewhat under control and I didn’t have to also battle smoky conditions (until now). The heat was difficult, there were many days when I could not get up for a morning run (needed to prioritize more rest/sleep) and it was too hot to manage running later in the day. I value intuitive, joyful movement/exercise. Pushing oneself into conditions that are either unsafe or too uncomfortable is not aligned with my values. Structured training for a race is in many ways at odds with approaching movement from a place of joy and flexibility. And also, training for a big distance like a marathon does require a certain amount of structure and consistency... and flexibility. I know that with my running, consistency (not sheer volume or type of run) is also what helps me build strength and endurance while prioritizing joyful movement as what is most important in this process always. The biggest wins in the last 6 weeks have been finally getting to a place where I have experienced incredible ease on my “easy” runs – For the last several weeks, I have had 1 run per week feel strong, effortless, fast and really fun (note: fast isn’t a pace, it’s a feeling). I’ve been really excited to start to feel this way again on my runs. I only had 1 really strong fast feeling run before I ran the Chicago Marathon in 2019, and it happened the week before I left. I remember thinking on that early October day, “Yes! Finally! Running feels awesome again!” I am SO thankful to have had many weeks now of some runs that have given me that pure joy burst of happiness feeling. Building up endurance and strength is and was slow (I started working on this mid-January, from zero running from basically March 2020 onwards!) Now I can comfortably talk and run at least 1x per week …and have seen myself trending faster too, which is a fun bonus! I’ve also had 1 run per week pretty consistently which has felt terrible, and I’ve needed to quit my long run or planned run early because my body was saying no. I will always prioritize listening to my body and respecting what it wants, and also, the worry gremlins get quite loud as the ticking timeline down to the marathon start line gets closer and closer. The way my training is scheduled, I work on increasing my long runs for 3 weeks in a row, then I have a recovery week (a mental and physical break from working on building strength and endurance) and then I work on building up those long runs for another 3-week block. This is the first summer I have really tried to figure out how to balance training for a race with also enjoying backcountry hiking trips, day hikes and rest. During some weeks of “training” little to no running happened and in other weeks I found ways to rest, hike and run. Since June I have also started to work towards a goal of being able to do a full push-up - I am not there yet, but I think making some good progress with some strength training 2 times per week most weeks. It is small, mostly consistent, slow progress that sometimes doesn’t feel like progress day to day and yet when I zoom way out I am both proud and excited about how I’ve been showing up for myself and some fun movement goals.
I do a lot of work with clients around building a healthy relationship with movement/exercise, one that has NOTHING to do with appearance/aesthetic goals, and I want to emphasize again, that if you are reading this thinking "no way can I get to a place where exercise has nothing to do with appearance or allowing food," I want to emphasize that it is more than possible to get back to that 3yo version of you who ran, played and moved their body for fun, and not to control/change their appearance or justify food choices. Movement supports overall health and wellness AND using movement to justify food choices undermines the health benefits of that movement. Health and fitness are also not the same thing as body size. Size does not equal health.
Read the above paragraph again if it is helpful.
As I sit here typing this now, I have been reflecting on how I needed to quit my 4-hour run at 2h 20min last week because my body said no. It is VERY smoky outside currently due to forest fires in BC and Washington State and so I’ve delayed heading out for today’s scheduled 4h 15min run. I plan to show up and see how the air feels in my lungs, see how my legs and body feel running and take it from there. I have this big run and 1 more to complete, then I am off to London and into “taper” time pre-Marathon. I know I really need to complete at least 1 big run to feel comfortable showing up at that Marathon start line. There is no Half Marathon option at this race, and this race is supposed to be STUNNING so I really do want to show up and see what I can do. The race cut-off is 7h, so I am hoping worst case scenario, I do a LOT of walking over 42.2k but can still complete it. That, or if the next 8 days continue to not feel great as I attempt these long runs, I may drop down to the 10k and cheer on my friend Kristy who is so so ready to do awesome things come race day October 2. I hope to write another update hopefully before the plane takes off. For now, it’s time to lace up and attempt a wildly long run. The last time I tried to run this long was in September 2019. Here’s hoping the smoke continues to dissipate and that movement feels good when I get out there. Much love, Monica
