‘Personal best’ times provide rush, motivation
June 13th, 2008 by WesI never competed in “timed” sports like swimming or track, or even paddling, and I’ve only run a few casual 5Ks, so I haven’t had much exposure to training with set times as goals.
Swim practice, in particular, always looked to me like so much work and not so much fun. Especially compared to basketball practice, which I actually loved and looked forward to every day.
But a few years ago, one of my friends — a pretty good basketball player who probably could have played small college ball somewhere — told me he also swam in high school. I was suprised, not just because it seemed like kind of a strange sports combination, but also because I thought a basketball player would be bored by swim practice.
But he said he also coached a club swimming team for several years, and he told a story about this one relay team that was mediocre at the beginning of the season but ended up winning a championship by season’s end.
“When they touched the wall first,” he said, “that was one of the best moments I experienced in sports.”
Of course, they didn’t win that championship race by accident. It took hours and hours of practice in the pool. Which goes back to so much work that doesn’t look like much fun.
As mentioned in a previous main blog post, climbing the Koko Crater trail is a lot of work and doesn’t seem like much fun when you’re gasping for air and feeling the burn in your legs. The spectacular view at the top is a good reward, especially the first time, but when you’re doing it to get into shape, you start paying attention to your time from bottom to top to measure your progress.
The first time I went, I didn’t mark the exact time but it was a little more than an hour. The second time, 57 minutes, the third, 56 minutes, the fourth, about the same, 56 minutes.
Then last Friday, I kind of noticed the strides being just a little easier — though it still was not easy by any means. I didn’t look at the cell phone clock on the way up, as usual. I finally huffed and puffed my way to the top, then checked the time.
49 minutes!
It was a different kind of sports rush that I can’t really say I’ve had before. Different from winning a game, from hitting a home run over the fence, from swishing a 3-pointer, from making a nice catch or throwing someone out at the plate, from surfing a nice wave.
But looking at that clock and seeing that time definitely was a huge rush, and made me understand better why swimmers and track runners are willing to put in all those hours of grueling practice.
Now, for perspective, 49 minutes is actually pretty slow. I have two friends (female) who do it in half an hour or less, and I met a 58 year-old man (going on 59) who has done it in 16 minutes.
But 49 was my personal best, granted out of only five trips. It was seven minutes off my previous best, and gave me a new target to shoot for the next time, which was today (Thursday).
Went up with strides similar to last Friday, seemed like I was making decent time, the sun was going down so heat was not as much a factor.
Made one last push toward the top, trying not to stop for rest. Got to the summit, looked at the clock.
50 minutes.
Oh well. Back to the trail next time, back to try for that big rush one more time …
June 13th, 2008 at 8:00 am
I run 5ks and 10ks. Now my personal best is measured in terms of age group since I getting slower and slower. And after a while you get familiar with other runners of almost the same abilities and you tend to compete against their time at races. I’m the youngest in the 60-65 age group so do a lot better in terms of placing than last year when I was the oldest in the 55-59’s. It’s all about your commitment to train and tolerance of pain.
June 13th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
When I used to have a personal trainer, I remember he kept telling me (and this is, like, leg lifts, dumbbells [real dumb, when it comes to me, but, you KNOW, psssshhhh (sound of drumstick banging on cymbal)], ab’ machine AND au naturale, all kind hard-core stuffs) “‘nother record broken,” and, I thought he was doing it in the name of, you know, “thing to do to keep the client” kind stuffs.
But, see, when I finally bothered to look at the record keeping (that he HAD me hold on to between each every other day or so session), i looked at the “on paper” and connected it to the whole, “yeah, yeah, I WAS handling that ___ lb. weight, this writing ’tis not fiction at all), that’s when I realized a progression going on. THAT and my pantses started fitting better and my watch did, too.
Thing is, I started out with the whole, “gasp, I really don’t wanna do this, but, I’m past the 2-fity mark, and, well, I best do something about it.” I just did it to do it. I ate what the trainer told me and did the cardio and resistance training he did and . . . I dunno, seeing some of my pals doing the same thing and getting muscles but staying chunky, methoughts I’d end up the same way. But, no, I started noticing differences in meself in the mirror. Thing is . . . it was the exercising that was the reward for me. I didn’t care what I looked like.
Well, I don’t do much weight training now. I jog three times a week and am at a happy 1fi . . . OK, 160-on-the-latter numbers side. I can find clothes in sizes made available at ya’ll finer men’s stores (and online). I don’t drench my shirt anymore, walking a block like many years ago. And I don’t eat everything in sight because I know HOW to eat now (grazing, throughout the day’s worked for me for near 10 years already) and WHAT to eat, especially in terms of portions. You gotta love the work(out) first, then, everything else’ll follow.
June 16th, 2008 at 8:47 am
Great job Wes.
June 18th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
Thanks Harold. New PR Monday: 44 minutes!
But was too exhausted and out of breath to feel the rush …