I am pretty sure that the only reason I’ve made it this far through training is my custom-built paper training schedule. I’m a freak for checking the box. Don’t get me wrong, PDAs are nice and I’m a slave to mine, just like everybody else; but for feeling satisfied with a task completed, nothing in the world compares to that moment when carbon kisses pulp.
My Half Marathon schedule was quite rudimentary. Basically, a calendar by week, created in Excel, with the number of miles I was to run by day, with key milestones and business trips called out. Over the last three months, I jotted other bits of information down in the margins. Things like cross training activities, sickness, weight fluctuations, and notes about very hard or relatively easy runs – just so I’d remember when they happened and be able to notice if any patterns were forming. I put all three months on one page, so it was kind of tight.
I never did a mid-course upgrade to the schedule because I felt a sentimental attachment to it. The calendar itself hung on the inside door of my cabinet desk at home, except when I was traveling, and then I brought it with me in a plastic folder; and I always marked my miles down with the same mechanical pencil because I’m a little superstitious like that. I’ll probably continue to use the same pencil for the second half! It’s just a yellow mechanical pencil from a box; but, you know...
For my new Marathon training schedule, I’m putting two months on a page, and I’ve expanded the information I’m tracking greatly, though perhaps not even enough. I’m going to try to stay open to upgrading mid-way if I have to. There’s so much to aggregate now, so many things to do, so much time going to be put towards this goal; I may just need a better tool down the line.
It was such an overwhelming experience tonight to type in literally every day of the year for the next 6 months. This is a good exercise if you’ve never done it. It forces you to realize how many days you actually have...and ask yourself, is this a lot of time, or a little time? What can be accomplished in 6 months? The answer I find is, “nothing,” if each day isn’t taken quite seriously. Ugh! This feels awfully “heavy” and un-fun! Must not focus too hard on the grave ramifications of taking one’s eye off the ball here.
On a positive note, though looking at my new schedule scares the crap out of me, it also gives me respect for what I’m about to do. For example, the week of August 23rd, I’m going to be running 42 miles! Now, that’s just ridiculous. But I guess that is what I need to do so I don’t die out there on the road during the Marathon… I don’t want to die! So I’m going to do what they say to do, ya know? Knowing that I’m building up to running 42 miles in a week does feel sort of cool… So that’s something to look forward to.
And finally, having this new schedule in hand gives me a kind of writer’s outline! If I was wondering what I’d be blogging about for the next 6 months, how I’d sustain your interest, and whether I’d have anything new to say… Well, now I realize I don’t have to worry! There are plenty of challenges ahead. Understatement. And they’re conveniently structured with a beginning, middle and end. How lucky! I just have to keep showing up, following the road map, and reporting back on what’s happening as my character arc unfolds…
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