I love the sequence in Toy Story 3, where Buzz Lightyear has his “factory reset” button pressed in order to make him think he was a real space ranger again and turn against his friends. While his friends tried to get the real Buzz back they accidentally switched him into Spanish mode and the resulting sequence was halarious!
I have occasionally used a factory reset on my Garmin Forerunner to get it working correctly and the ability to restore any complex gadget to the state it was when it left the factory can be really useful.
I have pretty much decided that what I need in my running is a factory reset. For whatever reason, all my intensive activity during June and July has really sapped my fitness but the decision I have come to is to simply adapt and train sensibly based on where I am. This might sound obvious and of course I have always known this but it didn’t stop me from thinking that I was ready to do 200 miles in June (which I wasn’t) and that I could do ridiculous fell running exploits in the Alps without consequences (which there obviously are).
So what does a “factory reset” mean for me? Firstly, reset my training to something more sensible and secondly, have realistic expectations so I’m not beating myself up after each training run or race. After all, I’m injury free and can run; 2 blessings to start with!
Im signing-off July after running a total of 71 miles which ain’t bad and I had an amazing time in those mountains so I have no complaints. In August I have a 5 mile race (the Flat Cap 5 on Wednesday) which will be great fun and an allegedly dead flat 10K (Escrick) on the 21st. I’ve also signed up for the August 100 mile challenge with Awesome Running Events and I think that’s realistic given where I am. There is also the slight detail of the Great North Run in September but since I managed to train for the London marathon in a very similar time period from practically nothing then the GNR shouldn’t be a problem unless I set my sights on a PB (which I won’t).
So reset pressed, batteries charged and ready to run!
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here!” 2 Corinthians 5:17 NIVUK
http://bible.com/113/2co.5.17.nivuk
Marathon Mann 