Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Is it Petra? Or just some crazy woman chasing her tail?

No it's me.  Absolutely me.  I know!  You thought I'd disappeared into nothingness / blissful domesticity / fallen off a train / was now giving that irritating Tracy Anderson a run for her money.  All of the above, in good time, my people.  Well, maybe not the blissful domesticity.  But let's just summarise:

  • I have finished - FINISHED - my Advanced PT course at the YMCA in London which was wonderful and intense and challenging.  
  • I have stopped commuting up and down to London and landing myself on beloved friends for bed / food / general physical and emotional sustenance.  I think they are still my friends.  
  • I have unpacked my MOTHER of all bags which I dragged up and down to London every other week for the last time, inevitable without at least 3 essential items.  
Oh and I'm not giving up on blogging.  I'm not quite sure whether I should somehow chase a bigger readership (views?) and not quite sure how so we'll park that thought for a while.  I'm not quite sure how much to separate my future professional online presence from my blog (in your view, would it detract from your view of your personal trainer if she put her fears, worries and insecurities out there or would you relate to that?) But strangely enough, without blogging there was no blogworld accountability and without blogworld accountability my running dries up, as does my running mojo.  So for the few of you who are still reading this - I'm back.  

For the longest time it felt like my course was all-consuming.  When I was not in London, away from the family and my home, and studying etc, I was at home trying to pick up at least a few of my dropped balls and revising for all the various exams.  (In the past 3 months it has become apparent to me that I paid NO attention at all - EVER - in biology and science.  ALL the anatomy and physiology was ENTIRELY new to me).  There were some highlights - at the end of November long-time blog buddy and friend Susan honoured me with a visit all the way from Memphis: 

Us about to set out on a run that was YEARS in the making

And by 2 weeks ago, I was feeling sufficiently on top of things (or able to ignore sufficient pressing demands on me) to think about London.  April 2012, I've got a place, I've got to get my stuff together.  All this cross-training malarkey (on my course I found myself doing aerobics / plyometrics / bootcamp workouts etc) is good and well but to train for a marathon you have to go out and run.  And so 2 weeks ago I started on my 18 week up to 55M Pfitzinger plan.  Yes, tried and tested.  By me.  It seems to work, seems to push me.  And while I would like to think that one day I'll upgrade to higher mileage, given the sporadic nature of my running so far this season that would not be realistic.  So week 1 went great - much better than expected.  

Yep - I even went out in the dark, headlight and reflective gear on.  
Week 2, repeat of week 1 but now in London so on top of a full courseload and "social" commitments went not quite so well.  I slugged out an 8 miler with 4M at sub 8min/mile pace, stopping and starting, and I contemplated giving it up altogether, but didn't.  My 9 miler was uneventful, but slow.  And now, in week 2, I've lost my copy of Advanced Marathoning (doh) and I'm googling the schedule until I find it again.   Slick moves eh? 

And in further developments, I decided in November that I needed to broaden my sporting horizon.  Yes - triathlon.  And not just any triathlon - a goal is not a goal unless it is a great big hairy-assed one - I signed up for a half ironman.  I am well aware that this year's training attempts ended in tears (bronchitis) but am hoping that next summer things will be better.  One step I am putting in place now is high quality swim training.  Tadah - last night I had my first swim outing with the Lincoln Tri club.  Nice, welcoming people (much nicer than my local running group, remember that?) and as I totally accepted that I was going to be a beginner, it was good.  Great coach, very structured training that I think will work for me.  Lots of progressive drills - this appeals to my methodical germanic side.  So watch this space.  There may NEVER be a photo of me in a swimsuit (I am not Mary Ironmatron after all) but if I can just make it through the 1900m open water swim (holy cr*p!) and through that 52 mile bikeride (my bottom half aches just thinking of this) then the half marathon should be cinch.  

So I'm feeling guardedly optimistic about the future - there's just the small matter of me finding the cojones to actually start up my own PT business, is all.  I've got 28 runmiles, 30 bike miles and 45 minutes in the pool to look for them before Christmas.  

In the meantime, I'm going to be catching up with you all.  Talk soon!

7 comments:

Susan said...

When I grow up, I want to be you. :)

Jill said...

PETRA!! Oh how I have missed you and thought about you a zillion times in the past couple months. You are awesome, girl! There is nothing that you won't do once you have put your mind to it - love that about you! You are being so proactive in your life and I admire that strength in you (I sat on my fat butt eating crap for months feeling so sorry for myself....but I'm finally clawing my way out of the hole and you totally inspire me to do more. I applied to grad school and am going to hopefully take some classes this spring :)). I hope somewhere in your busy 2012 schedule you will book a flight to the US, particularly Colorado :), so we can once and for all MEET!
Email me when you get a chance! Glad to see you back in blogworld!
Merry Christmas to you and your beautiful family!! Love ya!

pensive pumpkin said...

OMIGOD YOU ARE ALIVE! I was so excited to see your comment on my blog. Missed your voice!

As to the professional/personal bits- I think combining them works perfectly. It would help people get to know who you are as a human being which would help them trust you more as a trainer. That's my not-so-humble two cents.

Welcome back, soon to be Ironwoman.

Cotter Crunch said...

oh happy day!! i love hearing from you Petra. Congrats on finishing the course! and congrats on Triathlon, i know you will love it.
hugs from NZ!

misszippy said...

Welcome back! You have been BUSY! But it sounds like good busy. And I'm excited to see how your new year pans out for you, running wise, personal trainer wise, etc. Good stuff!

lizzie lee said...

Congrats on finishing your advanced PT course... and on unpacking the MOAB (Mother of all bags).... Glad you are back, and glad you're not stopping blogging...!!!!

Emily said...

She's back! I would personally like to hear the real-deal side of your new career, but understand how that could conflict w/your client's view of you. I'm the same way with teaching yoga. Plus, it is kind of unethical to talk about client issues in public, which sucks. Not that I want to talk about people behind their backs, but sometimes it helps.

Yay for the half iron! You are going to rock it and you WILL post pics in a wetsuit, no?