“What matters most, more than training and luck, is the heart. Only a fearless and determined heart will get the the gold medal. It’s all about passion.” ~Isabel Allende
My training for the upcoming Austin half marathon can be at best described as “taper first, train later”. You could call it “fearless”, but it wasn’t determined nor passionate for that matter.
The passion has been about the WHY I am running, not so much about the HOW I am running. This race will be my 30th half marathon, my 3rd Austin half marathon and my 10th official Team in Training event. That’s a lot of milestones (and miles). When I was asked by a friend if I would join her for the Austin half marathon and be part of the Austin Team in Training alumni team, I spontaneously said, yes. Even though I just completed a Team in Training season as a fundraiser and volunteer staff. Being part of the team gives me a feeling of belonging and the satisfaction of doing my bit to change this world for the better and getting closer to a cure for cancer. It’s what makes me fearless, passionate, and determined – even when my training is slacking.
Talking about training (and this is NOT the Team in Training method!), I really can’t recommend the “taper first, train later” training method, which consisted mainly of yoga and short (albeit intense) training runs after my last race in October, the Nike Women’s half marathon. I did all my long runs in the past 3 weeks. You don’t need to roll your eyes or shout at me. My chiropractor has been doing exactly this for the last 3 weeks… My dear readers, be better than I was and listen to your coaches and train properly!
rewarded with a beautiful rainbow after getting soaked today
And there was today’s run: I have been mocking the California weather (reports) for the past few months (rain does not require a severe weather alert!), so the weather finally took revenge on me today. Tempted by a dry early morning run, I ventured out to meet the team. After mile 6.5 the sky opened up and we were drenched through and through within minutes. Not expecting rain, I didn’t wear any rain running gear. I have had 2 years of running in the rain when I lived in London, so I do not voluntarily run in the rain (been there. done that). But the weather god had one more card up her sleeves: she presented us with a beautiful rainbow after the run. Who can argue with that?
Fearless, determined and passionate I will go into the race next weekend.
If you would like to hear Isabel Allende’s TED talk on Tales of Passion, go here: Isabel Allende’s TED talk on Tales of Passion. It’s a beautiful TED talk. This is where the quote is from at the beginning of this post.
