Larry's Blog Pages

October 17, 2011

A bit of this and a bit of that...

So, I was suppose to run the Toronto Marathon on the weekend and had a goal of 2:50 in mind for this event. When I agreed to be a back up pace bunny my schedule was wide open but boy did things change.

In the weeks leading up to the race, I received word that I needed to fly out to California for a week of business training and would return Saturday morning, only 27 hours before the marathon. I also noticed the hockey schedule posted online that showed games on Saturday and Sunday of the marathon weekend.

I continued to train hoping to find a way to fit everything into the short gaps of time that I now had to work with but, on my flight home from California, I realized that it would be better if I scrapped the marathon plans and help out around the house Sunday morning instead of running 42.2k.

Luckily, I was not called in to replace any of the original pace bunnies so I would have been able to run my own race, therefore, the decision not to run at the last minute did not affect anyone else but certainly gave my wife a little relief as I was able to spend more time at home than expected this weekend.

Now that this event has passed, I am finding it difficult to re-set my short term goals for the rest of 2011. I kind of feel spent from the past 2 years of training and racing. I know the hockey schedule is just getting rolling so I really do not want to book a new race on a weekend that also includes hockey. I also am not feeling motivated to race anything more than 10k so that drops a bunch of the event options off the table.

As you can see, I am currently stuck without a game plan for October, November and December of this year so it will take a huge commitment on my end to stay focused on training during this period of time unless I find a goal to work towards.

Thankfully, I do have someone to kick my arse back into gear but Tyler and I have decided to give this week a "what ever" attitude and I will see how I feel at the end of the week. He will try to his best to get me back into the flow next week. It may be tough but if I can circle something on the calendar about a month down the road, it will be much easier to snap out of this lull.

This morning I still feel tired from the traveling so I have not attempted any workout. I did not lift any athletic type shoes on the weekend either so hopefully, I find some inspiration very soon as sitting around and snacking are not a good combination for my weight maintenance. I am always amazed at how fast the pounds attach to my frame.

As I ponder my future, I will leave you with a pic from yesterday's Toronto Marathon. Maybe they can spark the fire in my competitive spirit soon!

2 comments:

richard westwood said...

Hey Larry,
I can relate to the weight gain problem. And I don't think with me that the reduction of training is the chief culprit. Rather, the lack of focus leaves me restless and in need of something to fill the void. And that something often takes the form of 'comfort food'. I eat the food and feel comforted, at least temporarily. It's too easy to tell myself that I'll get back on the band wagon once my training starts again. I'm saying this about me but I see that you're also falling into the same pattern so I'm calling you on it (feel free to do the same with me). Don't do that, dude, it's self destructive!
-richard

LARRY BRADLEY said...

Richard,

Yeah, it is so easy to give in to the bad foods. They taste so good... You are right and always a great voice of reason. Glad I have the support of friends like you to get me in the mood to get off my ass.

Thank you!
Larry