Damsel Diaries 10 years ago Damsel Diaries // Instrument Training
Many of you might not know this but somewhere between college and career I came up with the marvelous idea that I would get my pilots license. Part due to the fact that I take a keen interest in anything my older brother, Justin, does and he had his pilot license. Another part due to me being terrified of flying post 911 and have a terrible lifelong battle with motion sickness to conquer.
Either way I found myself in the 15th hour of my private flying lessons and it was time to introduce basic instrument training into the course. Instrument training involves wearing “blinders” while you fly so all you can see are your instruments while flying. This trains pilots to trust their instruments when coming across poor visibility or, even worse, poor weather conditions.
I found myself flying on the outskirts of Chicago with a familiar knot in my stomach that was slowly rising into my throat. I was going to be sick. ‘Focus on your instruments,’ I coached myself. No matter how hard I tried, the bumps and clouds that Mother Nature were sending my way got the best of me and we were forced to land immediately so I could (how do I put this nicely?), be sick. After I settled that, the instructor and I went through a post flight check list of what went wrong.
Upon my return from Paris I found the weather conditions in Los Angeles to be pretty poor. On top of a few days of light showers and moments of heavy rain, I was battling a pretty bad case of jet lag but knew that if I had any chance of running this 1/2 marathon that this week would be vital to my training. After taking a month off, I feel like I am currently in a crash course of running. My plan was to run 3 miles, 5 miles, 3 miles and then 9 miles this weekend {wish me luck!}. On my first 3 mile run I took off like the wind, feeling “unstoppable” and was quickly stopped when the same feeling presented itself to me after mile 1: I was going to be sick.
As I sulked my way back home I went through a post run check list of what went wrong. Was it jet lag? Perhaps. Was I pushing it too hard? I looked down at my Nike + Running App and saw that I had run 1 mile in 7 minutes 13 seconds. Woah. I hadn’t glanced at my Nike + Running App during any of my runs to date. It’s always safely tucked away as I cruise, listening to music. Just as my instructor lectured me after my bout with motion sickness to trust the instruments, I began to lecture myself: You are not trusting your instruments!
My pace should be between 10-11 minute miles. After I came to the realization that it is best that I hold my phone, keeping an eye on the Nike + Running App, I have been able to keep an easy steady pace and run greater distances while feeling stronger.
No more emergency landings. No time for rookie mistakes. It’s time to power through to the finish.
*I write from my heart, not from my head, so please excuse any typos*
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