In my early 20s commitment was the farthest thing from my mind. I was a foot-loose and fancy-free single gal — I didn’t need nuthin’ or no one to tie me down. That philosophy served me well at the time, but as I matured I realized I was ready to settle down. I was ready to make a commitment.<\/p>\n
My first wooed me with his promises. He respected my need for “me time,” never demanding my company for more than a couple of days a week. Our weekday trysts were short, yet intense; we saved our long encounters for the weekend. He made me feel great at first, but I began to sense things were moving too fast. I cut our weekday visits short, and sometimes avoided them altogether. I just don’t think I was ready for what he had to offer.<\/p>\n
My second was recommended to me by my therapist. She thought his easy-going style would better fit my nature, plus he too respected my time. I was skeptical at first, but he soon won me over. Within five months I was professing my love for him in my diary; I just knew he was a keeper.<\/p>\n
While others questioned my devotion to him — they felt our relationship made me less of a woman — I felt nothing but pure bliss. But a year into the courtship I started to feel pangs of want. I couldn’t put my finger on it, perhaps I was getting bored? Even though he assured me he’d provide everything I ever hoped for, the skepticism returned. I yearned for more. Within a month of our year anniversary we broke up, and I went it alone.<\/p>\n
Three months later we hooked up again, albeit for a one-night stand. He was what I needed at that moment, but we both knew it wouldn’t last. I already had my sights set on someone else, someone much more exhilarating.<\/p>\n
I’m now with my third and couldn’t be happier. Sure, he has a reputation of being a tough guy. He demands a lot and there are times I wonder if he’s asking too much of me. People who know him say it might not be obvious at first he loves me, but by sticking with him his true feelings will reveal themselves. But I gotta tell ‘ya: our sessions exhaust me; he’s insatiable!<\/p>\n
You DO know I’m referring to my training plans, right?<\/p>\n
\nJust as it can take dating several people before you find a compatible life mate, you may need to try out several training plans before finding one that fits your needs. You must not only factor in your goals — are you looking to run in a specific time, or merely to finish? — you should also be realistic about how much time you have to give to your training.<\/p>\n
When I ran my first half marathon in the early 90s I didn’t follow a plan; I just increased my mileage until I felt I had run enough. There was no speed work or hill training involved, I just put in the miles. I don’t remember my exact time for that first race, but I know if was more than two hours.<\/p>\n
My first formal training plan was, appropriately, the FIRST<\/a> training plan. Its promise to get me to the finish with just three days running per week appealed to me. The key to the program is knowing at what pace to run your speed work and tempo runs. It recommends using a recent 5K or 10K race, however, I didn’t have one. Therefore, I just based it on what I hoped my finish time would be — 2 hours. Problem was, I wasn’t ready to run at that pace and so the weekday speed sessions really beat me up. I did come close to my goal, however, finishing the Seafair half marathon in 2:03:33.<\/p>\n After diagnosing my runner’s knee, my physical therapist suggested I try Jeff Galloway’s run\/walk program<\/a>. So when I signed up for the Seattle half marathon (four months after Seafair), I decided to give it a whirl. What a difference! I found I could run longer and my legs would still feel fresh. It was tough to incorporate walk breaks from the beginning, especially during the race, but I forced myself to do so. My times were much slower using his program — 2:18:57 for Seattle (although that included seven minutes waiting in a port-o-potty line) and 2:11:55 for Mercer Island — but I didn’t feel as beat up.<\/p>\n Jeff has his detractors — some people feel you’re not a true runner if you take walk breaks — but I didn’t care; his program was working for me. My darling had trouble with it as the walk breaks aggravated his knees, but he kept up with it. I figured since we’d be stopping to drink wine during the Marathon du Medoc, Jeff’s program would be ideal. And because he has you run a full marathon in training, your anxiety tends to be reduced on race day.<\/p>\n Once I had Medoc under my belt I started thinking about Boston. We had followed Jeff’s “to finish” program, but he also has plans for finishing within a specific time. I wasn’t quite ready to embark on his 4-hour program (my BQ time), but I thought I’d try his 4:20 program as training for the Goofy Challenge. Assuming I did well with that, I’d then follow the 4-hour program for the North Olympic Discovery Marathon.<\/p>\n While the “to finish” program simply increases your mileage over 26 weeks, the timed programs include hill and speed work. After taking a couple weeks off after Medoc for recovery, I started up the 4:20 program. I ran 30 miles the first week, over half of which was hill work. The hip issue that plagued me in Bordeaux returned with a vengeance, so I went back to my physical therapist. She not only admonished me for not doing my strengthening exercises, she ordered me to stop running for at least two weeks.<\/p>\n