The other day while watching discussion of the
sequestration on the news the analyst speaking used the anecdote about the
boiling frog as a way to illustrate the possible effects of the sequestration. I've heard the story before and although I don’t like the idea of the outcome it
really fit the point he was trying to make.
The story goes like this- if you put a frog in a pot
of boiling water it will just jump out. However, if you put a frog into a pot
of cold water and slowly heat it, it won’t think it’s in danger and it will be
cooked to death. Gruesome, I know.
Random note: Wikipedia says that “a frog submerged and gradually heated will
jump out” so that makes me happy.
Anywho, I have been
thinking about the boiling frog anecdote ever since I heard it and today I
decided to test out my own version. Instead of a frog in a pot of water I used
a human (me) on a treadmill.
As you know, I have
been fighting a cold which unfortunately screwed up the latter half of last week’s
training plan. Since I am still a bit under the weather and my legs have been
out of work for a while I needed a plan to shake out the cobwebs and get back
to business.
I decided that maybe
what I needed to do was slowly ease back into my running but in a way that
would still allow me to push myself. So I opted for the ‘run myself cooked’
method. This isn’t rocket science or really anything fancy or creative. I just
thought that the best way to get my ‘sea legs’ back was to start off at a
comfortable pace and the slowly speed up, using such small increments that it
wasn’t very noticeable each time I adjusted the treadmill. Over the course of
two miles (that’s what was on the training plan for the day) I went from a 12
min/mile pace to a 9 min/mile pace. I ran my first mile in 11:45 and the second
in 10 minutes flat. Although I doubt I could sustain a 9 min/mile pace for much
more than a half mile or so right now it was nice to know that even while sick
and after taking several days off to rest I was able to shake that all off and
push myself for a bit.
And in the end I didn’t
feel tired or cooked. I just felt happy. Probably leaps and bounds happier than
a frog slowly being cooked to death that’s for sure.
I guess my point of all
this is that sometimes in life we need to jump back into thing full-swing, guns
blazing, take no prisoners- style but other times we are better off to slowly
ease back into them and today’s run called for just that.
And even though it was
a short two miles walking away from them feeling healthy totally makes me feel
ready for tomorrow’s seven mile run (3 miles at HMP) in the morning.
How to you jump back
into training after a break? Do you go full steam or do you ease back into it?
I ease back into it. That is more because of the osteoarthritis in my knee and exercise induced asthma and I don't want to end up feeling like I've just about killed myself, literally. This way I can enjoy it and feel like I still want to follow my routine daily.
ReplyDeleteThat's definitely a smart way to go about it. Ultimately it should be a fun and enjoyable experience. If it isn't then we probably should be doing something else that is. That's my belief.
DeleteI learned to ease back into training after a break. I had a few weeks earlier this winter where I had a bad cold and barely left the couch. I tried to get back into running right where I left off and it was terrible! Now I know to take it easy for a few days and ease back to where I left off.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you're feeling better!
Definitely! Especially for me a big downside of jumping back in is that when you do and you realize you aren't at the same ability or endurance level it is easy to feel defeated and that's no good. I'd rather go slowly and feel strong
DeleteI'm glad you are feeling better and can go back to running. I am kinda jealous. I have been sick with 2 different viruses for 4 weeks now and I have not been able to train at all. I am not going to run my half marathon because I haven't been able to train. But once I am better I am going to slowly start doing the Couch to 5K program and start where I should have for running. I wish you the best of luck with your running.
ReplyDeleteThat's where I started with the C25K and it really helped. I think I would have felt far too overwhelmed to start off with a half- I'm not sure how you did that. Probably because you are awesome :)
DeleteI hope you feel 100% soon. I have been really off my game since we moved and my training has been hit or miss. Hoping to get my act together soon- only a mont away from the Pensacola half. Yikes!