The Tether 9/8/19

"The distance between where you are and where you want to be should excite you, not scare you." - WHO SAID THAT????

Okay, yes, I, Coach MK, said that. I want to acknowledge the #fitprivilege embedded in that message, because everything is easy when you are fit ( even the hard things that scare you but you CAN do). It's one thing to sign up for a marathon when you are fit enough to train. It's another thing entirely to register for a marathon when you are quite certain that you are not in fact fit enough to train. This time, I fall firmly into that latter category. And I'm getting scared.

The New York City Marathon is 8 weeks away. My training should have started 12 weeks ago, but I wasn't okay. I was trying, I was training, I was doing all of the work, I did everything right, but I wasn't getting anywhere. My surgery was 10 weeks ago; my first run was 6 weeks ago. How in the WORLD will I be ready for A MARATHON, and not just A MARATHON but THE MARATHON, my favorite marathon, a marathon I ran twice with no expectations and pleasantly surprised myself both times?

When I look ahead and try to imagine if 8 weeks is enough to span the gap between where I am and where I want to be, I spin out. Who wouldn't? It's the wrong question. I have been in this game for 35 years, and I know it's the wrong question but still it flickers in my brain (this is why I have a coach; I cannot be objective about my own training).

So, I talk to Coach Tia. She isn't worried. I then look backwards, because everything looks amazing when bathed in the glow of hindsight (except Ready or Not, according to Coach Sarah!), and everything I've been building shifts into perspective.

Strava says I've been averaging 26.9 miles per week for the past 4 weeks. I hadn't noticed that. I'm 700 miles into the year; I hadn't realized THAT. Barring any more setbacks, mileage is only going to grow. I have 8 weeks to go, 8 weeks to grow, so I'm by no means behind today. I'm right where I need to be. It will hold. I have no idea what's going to happen, but knowing I'm right where I need to be is enough to shift from scared to excited about my 12-mile run tomorrow morning.

It can be impossible to focus on what you can do, when you aren't able to do what you want to do; when you aren't sure you will recover. That terrible space is where I lived from May '17 until July 23, 2019, the day I realized I finally felt whole again, when I was finally certain that YES, I will recover. That's where ReBuild was born, and now, bathed in the afterglow of hindsight, that 2-year period looks amazing. (That's #fitprivilege and I am very lucky).

ReBuild is my gift to every runner who has treated their doctor like a parole officer and rushed to get back to their training plan, their run club, their place on the roads, their running community. We will get through this, and every stage in your running life, together. It starts right here, in this newsletter, with a tether.

You are Coached. You are Loved. And you ARE #winningatlife

Coach MK
Weekly Content Roundup
We are 24 episodes into Running Life, the official podcast of The Fitness Protection Program, and we thought it was high time to start showcasing our programs as well as the badasses who thrive in them. This week, we break down ReBuild: Our Return to Running Program for Experienced Runners. Bring a tissue.

Not a podcast person? Cool. Notes are collected on the blog HERE. You'll also find links to free, downloadable PDF documents that can help you determine if ReBuild is a good fit for you.

Click below to read this week's Nuzzel outtakes, so much good stuff coming out as the big fall marathons approach!
Word of the Week
It's easy to go hard, it's hard to go smart. Sometimes it's easy to not run (when it's dark and cold and icy outside) and sometimes not running is the hardest choice we will ever make. We are badasses, we get things done. We don't shirk responsibilities...and sometimes those responsibilities get in the way of our running.

Everything is easy when you are fit. If your running has been derailed for 6 months or longer, most of your fitness, and all of the crucial adaptations that prep your body for running efficiently, may be gone. This means everything that once was easy is now HARD AF. You may feel like you are on the outside looking in, especially if you aren't able to keep up with your old running buddies. The irony is anything we do to get back more quickly just sets us back further from where we began.

Coach MK has been there, twice. ReBuild is her gift to anyone who needs the bare minimum during periods of Life-Ing like a Ros, and 'shouldn't exceed' guidelines for returning to fitness once those periods have passed.
#WINNINGATLIFE
This space is reserved for one of our runners who is #WINNINGATLIFE! This week...we have more than one! That's right, we want to highlight all of the ladies who gave testimonials in this week's Running Life Podcast about our ReBuild program.

Katie, Erin and Ann are running right through everything, from tough kids to tough injuries. We are in awe of their resilience, their strength, and their perseverance, and you will be, too once you hear this week's podcast. Becky and Megan's outlook are #goals, their testimonials affirmed our biggest hopes for ReBuild.

Honorable Mention is Kristy Harris. Kristy lives in England, where she heads up legal affairs for HARLEY DAVIDSON EUROPE. She's training for Disney, and we cannot get enough of her fabulous Instagram. Click her photo and see her Enso tattoo!

To be featured here as well as our Facebook and Instagram pages, use the tags #coachedandloved or #fitnessprotectionllc when you post photos on Instagram, telling the world what Fitness Protection means to you!