This morning was an exercise in quelling my perfectionist tendencies. 🙂
I woke up around 7:00 AM and was disappointed to see 1) the sun was still sleeping and 2) it was raining. Apparently, the sun doesn’t really rise in England until 8 AM in the winter. I ate breakfast and played on Twitter to kill some time:
I ate a Clif Bar and some apricots.
And then I geared up for what I hoped would be a double-digit run outside:
I knew right away that any hopes I had of running 10 – 12 miles was unrealistic. It was cold, raining, and pretty miserable outside. However, the city of Bath is so beautiful that I managed to distract myself from the weather for a few miles.
Every single building in Bath is made of that beautiful white stone! It looks so uniformed and orderly and appealed to the former urban planner inside of me. 🙂
After about 3.0 miles, the cold started to set into my bones. Also, I was really, really, REALLY nervous about slipping on the stone paths and breaking my leg. All I could think was “don’t break a leg 1.5 weeks before the marathon!”
I decided to loop back to the hotel room and finish up in the gym, rounding up to 4.0 miles outside. I knew I wouldn’t be able to reach double digits on the dreadmill (I seriously hate the treadmill).
At least it had a TV:
In the end, I did 7.0 miles in 1:10. It was a good, if disjointed, workout.
On the treadmill, I gave myself a little pep talk about not reaching my goal for the day. I tend to be a perfectionist about my workouts and try really hard to always reach my mileage goals. My Type A personality has been great in some ways – it’s driven me to run 19 (mostly) fun races and reach a level of fitness my former couch potato self would be amazed at. If I wasn’t so dedicated and ambitious, I probably wouldn’t running a marathon in January.
In other ways, being so Type A can be detrimental. Known as the “Superwoman Syndrome,” sometimes women like me can really beat ourselves up. There’s actually a chapter about Superwoman Syndrome in the Operation Beautiful book.
I always remind myself that one missed workout or one “reduced” workout is a good thing for a perfectionist like me. It forces me to be OK with not being a Superwoman! 🙂 Also, I try to put days like this into perspective… I am not disappointed that I ran 7.0 miles! That is an accomplishment in itself.
After my lovely, invigorating workout, I rummaged in my suitcase for a mini breakfast:
Not a fan of the Vega bars at all! They were sent to me for a sample, and I think they taste funny and have an odd consistency.
I’m going to go join the Husband in the hot indoor/outdoor pool for a swim, and then we’re going to have a real brunch!
Are you Type A or Type B? Or Type AB (somewhere in between)? I think I’m Type A about certain things (like multi-tasking work, exercise, scheduling), but Type B about others (being flexible and patient in groups – I don’t have to be the leader). How is your personality a benefit or a determent to your health and fitness goals? Discuss! 🙂
A. maybe A+.
usually it helps me — and i feel like the majority of my coworkers in the hospital are the same way! — but sometimes i know i could benefit from turning it down a few notches.
i say you are awesome for getting out there are all this AM! and i wouldn’t worry about it too much with respect to your training. at this point, your body is prepared for the marathon – rest and safety are more important than mileage!