On breaking the mold…and making it your own

The one thing that marathon training has taught me — make it your own.

Or — as the Dove chocolate wrapper I opened the other night said, ‘break the mold.’ 
…I don’t know why but I totally dig that phrase.

To me it signifies so much more than just where my head is at marathon training-wise…but I’ll get to that in a second.

First – my thoughts on marathon training and why making it my own has become incredibly important, particularly these past few weeks.  I truly believe it’s why this process has been a totally joyful experience for me. And quite possibly why I apparently make training look ‘easy’ to some of you. 😉

It’s truly because I’ve made it MINE.

I created my training plan from scratch. 
…based on what I know will work for me.
…what my body will respond best to (hi, no injuries here please!)
…and based on what will give me good balance between my ‘working out life’ and the rest of my life (because there’s a LOT going on there right now too…)

I don’t use anything tech-y to get me through my training runs. 
…no garmin to obsess over my pace (afterall, I just want to run 26.2 proud, no real time goal in mind…)
…no ‘rules’ as it relates to when to fuel/hydrate or what to fuel/hydrate with. (when my body says ‘I’m tired’ it’s time for fuel, when my body says ‘man my throat is dry’, drink please!)
…and no incessant daily mile updates to publicly track how many miles I ran week-by-week. (to me, that’s sort of personal and not something I feel the whole world needs to hear about from me.)

I *try* not to compare myself to other runners, particularly those training for a race like me. 
…I don’t need to start putting doubts in my mind about how effective my training plan is compared to theirs.
…or wonder if I’m working hard enough as they are.
…and most importantly, I don’t ever want to steal the joy out of this process for myself by letting comparison games rule my mind.

I feel the need to preface ALL of these thoughts by saying that this is simply what works for me, what I believe in for my own training goals, my own approach to running and fitness — my own.

Because honestly, no matter what you’re training for, no matter what your fitness goals may be, no matter how structured or unstructured your weekly workouts are — you should always, always, always make it your own. It’s so easy to get lost in the cluster of how everyone else ‘does it’ and by default, either confusing the heck out of yourself, or losing a little piece of you in the process.

So my message to all of you today is simple — Break that mold, lose all sense of preconceived boundaries, remove the limits from your days, and make it your own. 

This week, more than ever, I am truly living that ‘no limits’ mantra I set for myself at the beginning of 2012. And I believe it’s in large part to my continued focuse and commitment to breaking the mold, questioning boundaries and just going for it.

…life is simply too short for anything less. 

(take a deep breath, step off that ledge, have some faith and just go for it. Note to self.)