If You Do What You Always Did . . .

Well, you all know the rest. When I came in with a 2:36 at the Tinker Bell Half in 2012 I set a goal for this year to make sub 2:30. It seemed very realistic considering that was a 21 minute PR for me so cutting off 6 more minutes shouldn’t be that big of a deal. Well, I have already completed three races this year and I am getting farther away from that goal instead of closer.
Sure my life has been turned upside down and my training lacking, so it shouldn’t be a surprise, and really isn’t, but that didn’t change that fact that my confidence has a been shaken. Now I find myself doubting my ability, my drive, and my determination to hit my goal, and honestly it’s kind of a lonely place to be. I have decided I really only have 2 choices here. Either I wallow in self-pity or I give myself a swift kick in the pants and shake things up a bit and I have decided to go with the latter.
Usually in the summer I try to do some strength training while still running 3 days a week, keeping the mileage pretty low (3-5 miles) due to the temps. Well that lasts for a little while and I end up dropping the strength training and just running and nothing really changes or improves, so this time I’m going for something kind of different.
A few months ago I read the book New Rules of Lifting for Women and was really intrigued by it, but at that time in my life it wasn’t practical for me. Now that things have changed I think I am ready to give it a try. In a nutshell it is lifting heavy, alternating 2 workouts, 3 days a week. Seems to be right up my ally. Although honestly the lifting heavy for me wont be that heavy, but it will give me something to work towards outside of running. For the first 5-6 weeks there is no cardio so I may or may not comply with that part of the program, but I am going to try real hard to stick with it and give it a fair chance. I plan to really back off on the running and limit it to one or two short speed work sessions a week, and maybe alternate spin in there, which I have never done before but am eager to try! I will be starting this program on May 27th, since that is when I will be added to Officer P’s gym membership and I’m pretty excited about it. One of my favorite parts? It’s about 45 minutes for a whole body workout. I can totally do that, even when I don’t want to.
Also in June I am going to attempt Whole30. I say attempt because I do not do well on overly restrictive plans and usually only make it a week or so, but lately I have not been feeling great and I do believe it is directly related to what I have been putting into my body. I am hoping that by making these changes I can regain my confidence, lose some of the weight I gained while we were “displaced” and get back on track to meeting my sub 2:30 goal in November.
So there you go. I have a plan. Now all I have to do is stick to it.
How do you rebuild your confidence after it has been shaken? How do you deal with disappointing races? How do you move on and come back even stronger?
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