Back to the Track 2011

Back in Colorado and back to work.  This week has been pretty brutal: hill workout on Sunday, killer fartleks on Tuesday (on an uphill route), Wednesday I ran hard on the Alter-G, and today I had a 5 x 1,000 track workout.  I am smoked!  

The worst part about getting back to work is that I feel like I've lost a great deal of my acclimation to the altitude, which makes everything harder!  Getting back into things is never fun.  In this way I can totally relate to everyone who made a fitness resolution this year.  It's HARD work when you're starting out, but it gets better, I promise.  It's easy to want to throw in the towel when you first start, but when you stick with it for a few weeks it gets much easier and the end results are incredible!  

Hard work pays off!  

On tough workout days like this I have to constantly remind myself of that!  During workouts like this, I often find it hard to keep my thoughts positive.  It's easy for me to drift down a negative path when I am struggling to hit my times, I have to make a conscious effort to erase those negative thoughts and turn them into positive energy for my workout.  One tip I learned from Dr. Z is to envision the negative thought on a chalkboard, then wipe it clean with a mental eraser, and finally fill it's place with a positive word or phrase.  

I love this pic because it looks like I'm beating the pants off of Kenny.  The reality is that he was lapping me!

My teammate, Kenny was super-motivating today.  He was really running strong and pushing himself to the limit.  He had to overcome an nasty illness this fall and is now back and better than ever!  It's great to workout with such a motivating person!  Thanks, Kenny!