It's Our Job

LISA: 

When Niki and I marathon train we call it  “our job”.  We approach it that way.  We “work/train” five days a week just like a regular job.  Besides church activities, everything else pretty much comes second to our training.  Of course we have to balance family and all their activities too.  We both have two kids.  Niki has Chalon (10) and Rosalyn (11).  I have Abigayle (10) and Olivia (10).   Our families totally support our training and do plenty of sacrificing and pitching in.  We couldn’t make this happen without their encouragement and help.   But because we are both stay-at-home Moms we can fit most of our training in during the day when the kids are at school….  what Niki’s husband, Taylor, called the SWEET NECTAR!   So here’s a glimpse of our weekly “work” schedule:

Sundays – Early morning tempo run

We’re running 5 milers right now.  I looked up the definition of a tempo run and it is described as a  “comfortably hard” run.  Hmmmm.  I’m not sure how something can be comfortably hard.    I guess it’s just not as hard as the “UNcomfortably hard” speedwork we do on Tuesdays.  So, on a tempo run we run faster than normal but not as fast as a full-out sprint.  It’s that in-between speed.  Make sense?  Tempo runs train our bodies to sustain speed over distance.  More importantly, tempo runs train our MINDS to know that we can push harder for a longer period of time than we think we can.  Running is physical but it’s a HUGE mental game. Right now because our mileage is pretty short we can fit these runs in before church. But I can see that as our mileage increases, I’m going to have to show up at church in my running clothes.  Oh well, Jesus doesn’t care what I wear.  J  

Mondays – Weight workouts at B/CS Fitness

This is an hour long, small group session.  Have you ever watched the TV show The Biggest Loser?   These workouts are like the “Last Chance Workouts” they do.  It’s a mix of weight work and cardio.

Tuesdays – Speedwork with Trainer John

I wrote about speedwork last week.  You’ve heard that expression “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”.  Well, I thought on Tuesday I might die during our speed workout.  And you know, I was completely OK with that.  In fact, I was sort of hoping for it so I could be done with the workout.  John assured me I was going to be OK.  DARN!  We worked on sprinting up long hills.  It didn’t help that the temps were in the 70s and the humidity was off the charts.   Close to the end of the workout – when I was really physically and mentally hurting - the song “Jesus Loves Me” popped into my head.  I don’t know why.  It’s a children’s song and one I haven’t sung since my kids were babies.  But I figured Jesus wanted me to focus on it, so I sang it – in my head – all the way up the last, LONG hill.   One part of the song goes “they are weak but he is strong.”  I was weak and He was strong for me… getting me up that last hill!  Thank You Jesus! 

Wednesdays – Another weight workout at B/CS Fitness

Thursdays – Rest Day

YEAH!!!!  Recoup for the long run. 

Fridays – Long Run

These runs can take us a good half day.  Remember Niki’s blog about tan lines?  Last Friday the temps were in the 30s when we started.  Niki had her cold weather gear on (see photo).   We ran from my house in Pebble Creek to TAMU (about 10 miles) then ran around campus and out to Research Park until we hit 15 miles.  My husband, Les, works on campus so we finished at his office (photo below) and he drove us back home.   Thanks honey! 

Saturdays - Recovery Day

No workout! 

There you go, a glance at our weekly work schedule.  So, the next time you see Niki or me out and about (or at church) in our running clothes, know that we just got off of work.  J