Just do it!

A phrase made famous by Nike and one that carries so much emotion.  There are times when you don't feel like training or you're in the middle of a session and some negative thoughts enter your head.  On Monday I was due to meet my coach for an early morning run.  My longest run to date, 18 km.   I was starting at my office and my car was sliding around on the roads due to the extreme cold conditions so I knew it would be slippy underfoot - I wasn't wrong.  I headed off like Bamby on Ice and on a steep hill heading towards my meeting point I was almost sliding all the way down.  I met Genevieve and she'd had a terrible time coming down a similar hill and as we headed round Strathclyde Park we slipped all over the place.  We could have quit for safety reasons but we kept going and I'm glad we did.  It was our "just do it" attitude and we would have regretted it if we'd given up.
My sports therapist worked on my foot later that day and taped my leg - what a difference that made for the rest of the week.  I'm back seeing her tomorrow and hope that will keep my foot quiet for a while and my VMO has also been behaving itself.
On Friday I had a tripple session and the challenge was how to fit this into the day.  The answer was to get up at 5am and do my core session, drive to the swimming but head out for a run before the swim.  By 8.30 I was having my breakfast and at my desk by 9am - just do it!
Saturday was a tough run at Chatelherault.  We upped the distance to 12 km and I was hanging off the back the whole way round.  I had to work hard the whole way round and not let the fact I was at the back get to me.  It's my training session set to meet my requirements for my race - nothing else.  What everyone else is doing is not relevant to my plan.  When I finished I checked my pace and it was under 6 min per KM which for Chatelherault is good so I was pleased.  I jumped in the car, got home and had some food before driving up to Aberdeen with my wife to see my daughter and some friends.
When I got home at 3 pm on Sunday I had a core session to do plus a 45 min turbo session and I could really have done without it.  I had  some food (fuel) and did the core sessions.  Then had a power nap before making dinner (more fuel) and very unusually for me I did my turbo session at 8pm.  I'd much rather have sat and recovered from the weekend - just do it.  I surprised myself with a great training session and now, after I've finished my blog, I'll relax before heading to bed.  I've another early start as I have an 18 km run with a Fartlek section as I work on "fast legs".  My bags are packed and I've already programmed my mind for the morning to "just do it".  Sometimes your best sessions are the ones you were least looking forward to.  Have a great week.