Dear Steady State, (like jogging pace) – I love you. I promise to never take you for granted again. I promise to cherish the time we get to spend together and the freedom you allow me to feel. I promise to push myself sometimes but to also just enjoy the minutes. I promise all of these things because I was reacquainted with your sister, High Rate Interval Training, at the end of last week, and I’ll see her again at the end of each week, and though she has her merits, I sort of hate her and realize I’d gotten pretty complacent in my relationship with you…

Kidding aside, I was completely unaware that as my steady state pieces got longer and lower in stroke rating, I was forgetting about the importance of speed work to being a well-rounded athlete. Despite my age and mom status, I want to be a well-rounded athlete.

As I move through week 2, a little more tired and eyes a little more open to what I’ve started, I’ve got a couple of different thoughts competing for my attention: 

1. I KNOW I’m not going to feel the same as I did at age 21, as a former teammate called me out on over the weekend. She literally told me she was laughing at me for even mentioning it as a struggle. This was the first time in many years that I’ve attempted stroke rates approaching race rates, and I definitely felt it in a way I hadn’t before, when I was young and super fit. I’m not the same person, don’t have the same mindset, don’t have the same body that I did back then. This is all ok. 

2. This training plan is no joke. Again, this is something I knew in my brain because I looked at all of the workouts before I started, but my body is registering it now too. I’m pretty tired. This is where trust in the plan comes in. My body will adjust. Improvement doesn’t happen by doing the same thing over and over again. There needs to be challenge to stimulate change. 

3. I’m doing some other things better to maximize the benefits of training. I’m eating a little better by bringing in more lean protein and removing cereal and snacky carbs (which I love), trying to recover a little better by stretching right away when I’m done and foam rolling throughout the day (when I can), and drinking more water. 

So am I an Olympian all of the sudden at age 36? Nope. Was that the goal of this? Also nope. What was the goal again? To try something new and work on fitness! Can you do that too? YES ABSO-FREAKIN-LUTELY, either with erging on one of the Rowers Dream plans because they have multiple levels, or running on one of the multitudinous free or paid plans available on the internet. 

Truly. There are lots of special things about me (see that confidence?), but being able to follow a training plan isn’t one of them. Prioritize yourself for an hour a day, and if you need help, help is out there, waiting for you.