Never Too Late

It is never too late to be what you might have been~George Eliot

I hired a running coach on Friday - Jason from Strength Running. I decided to hire a running coach because I have goals that I want to achieve and I'm not getting any younger. Sigh.

So, I'm 42 and I've only been running for a little less than 2 years. I wish I had started running years ago, decades ago. Then maybe I wouldn't have become like this:
That was me on my 40th birthday, 300+ lbs. I don't even have a full body picture because I avoided cameras like the plague. At least, cameras pointed at me. But that's where I was 2 1/2 years ago. And I keep wondering what might have been if I'd become a runner or cyclist when I was in my teens or early 20s. Would I have gotten so big?

But that was then, this is now. I can't change the past, I can only look forward. I have the quote from George Eliot on my Road ID so I will remember that I can still be what I want to be. It's not too late. I guess it's never too late until you're dead. Which is hopefully a long way off for me!

So I hired a coach because I want to go faster and farther next year than I've ever done before. And I want to do it the right way. I want to get strong and do the kinds of workouts that will build me into a better runner. It isn't so much that I need to go faster, but that it will certainly help me get more training in and still let me ride as much as I have been or would like to.

This is my first week working the plan that Jason sent over. It isn't too different from what I've been doing except for the hill repeats he has planned for tomorrow. What is different though is the warm-ups and cool downs that he has me doing. I'm feeling body parts that I have not been working before. My outer thighs are like "what?" And I was feeling my lower abs when I got out of bed this morning! And I thought I had been working them. Um, guess not.

I'm excited! I can't wait to see what we can do together.

My workouts for the week:
Monday - 22 mile bike commute (rode to Borders after work)
Tuesday - 6 miles w/4 @ tempo (9:22,9:15,9:22,9:13)
Wednesday - 19 mile bike commute (rode to Bath & Body after work).

I've been gettins some extra workout with Christmas prep what with the added mileage and the loaded panniers with the presents I've been buying. That will certainly help with next week's Christmas festivities!