The need for speed

Some that know me might call me a 'competitive' person. I like to think of myself as nice and relaxed and above the pettiness of cut-throat competition, but I know better. I, like most of us, like to win. Thus, I do triathlons to channel my inner competitive beast. I try to tell myself that I really compete with myself to better my own times but most of you know that's a crock - I want to win. Period.
Enter my frustration at not being faster. I am constantly complaining to my dear husband about not being faster at swimming, biking and running. My recent workouts have given me an insight into the WHY of me not being faster. I was biking w/ my dear beloved on Sunday & I clearly announced I would be taking it easy after a hard run that afternoon. As we started up Mill Mountain he started to get further and further ahead. I was cussing him in my head for dropping me. I was sure he was doing it on purpose. But in the end I rode faster and harder to try to keep up. So, I will attribute my lack of speed on the bike to my riding alone and at my own comfy pace too much.
The same day I went for a tempo run. After a 5 min. warm up I was to do a 5k at race pace. Ha! What I discovered was that I don't like it when it hurts that bad and tend to slow down when the hurt begins. Hmmm, maybe that's why my run sits in the same rut it has been in for the last year?!
As for the swim, I can't complain. I had a great swim last night & have my 3 x 300's down to 4:30 with :30 rest between. (Actually I got 5 done which is even better) But alas, being faster in the water without speed on the bike and run only means that you get passed on the bike and or run - which SUCKS.

What's next?

When you finish any big project you usually left with that WHAT'S NEXT? feeling. I am definitely having that after finishing the IM, especially because the race did not go as well as I had planned. I am guessing if that was my first IM I would have been THRILLED with my time and ability to push through, but it was not my first and alas, I am not thrilled. I hate to admit that because I did accomplish so much and this time the race was about things much more important than TIME. So, I have the mixed emotion of thrilled with all that I accomplished and less than happy with my performance.
So, what's next . . . I am heading to Charlotte (on a whim) to do the SHE ROX tri with Renee. I am really excited about the trip & looking forward to doing a race where I don't have any expectations for myself. If I do well that is great, if I don't - at least I'll be doing the race with a wonderful friend!! Beyond that I will focus on the Take Flight Tri in Oct. (and training for the Rambl'n Rose w/ Anna), then the Star City Half Marathon in Nov.
I submitted my application to Hammer Nutrition for sponsorship for next year. I would be SO excited to get chosen, although they stress again and again on their web site that most folks are not chosen b/c they get so many requests. I am hoping I am a good candidate b/c of my celiac and my 100% reliance on Hammer yummies in my training & racing. The race suits are pink (yay) and maybe it will help offset the costs of my Hammer habit! There are many addictions that are worse . . .

Field Day

Skipped swim workout to go work at Field Day at the kids' school:
-hot & sweaty
-sunburn
-missed my speed swim for the week
-legs are all itchy from the grass
-had to pick up about 200 wiffle balls (and anyone that knows me knows that I don't belong anywhere near a bat and ball!)

Seeing my daughter's look of surprise then a HUGE smile when she saw me there:
PRICELESS!!!

Weekly Miles

Well, the week is done and the miles turned out pretty good. Not as much swimming & running as I would like to be doing, but with 2 full days off here it is:
133 miles on the bike (2/3 on the trainer)
15.5 miles running (missed a big run this week)
2600 yards swimming (missed my long swim this week)

The best part was I was able to spend some family time & get all that done & didn't get sick! YAY!

Bike Commuting

Today I was a bike commuter! O-k, well I rode my bike to work for a few meetings then rode it home. My total count in 21 miles were 4 cars that chose not to stop at stop signs & instead almost ran me over, 1 'hey baby' from our local homeless man, 3 dogs that tried to eat me (o-k, really they just barked really loud & scared me to death) & 3 ambulances - wow they are loud when you are on your bike.
It's nice to be able to incorporate training into every day life but boy is it hazzardous!

I was feeling better yesterday & this morning but after a really busy & long day I am wiped w/ another sore throat. Mono sucks.

Oh yeah, it wasn't the flu!

So it turns out not to have been the flu, but instead mono. Just as an FYI mono stinks. For the last few days I have been saying, "Gee, I just don't have that absolute run down feeling everyone describes, I just can't shake the fever." Ha, shook the fever - but a trip to the grocery store felt like a marathon to me. It's so hard to remember that taking it easy now will benefit me in the long run. All I seem to be thinking of is - when can I train again! It doesn't help that all day I am looking at training stuff - writing workouts for people, reading new training books, planning for my speaking gig @ East Coasters about you guessed it - TRAINING!
Trying to think positively and tell myself that all this rest will really get me ready to go, go, go soon. Mostly though I think that's crap and that I will be tired for months and training is going to be really hard to do. So much for positive thinking!

Getting off Track

UUUG - THE FLU!! The plague struck this week and I have been oh so sidelined! For two days the challenge was just standing up out of bed, that was a workout. I swear the halls at the doctor's office were longer than the marathon I ran! The nurse had to stop and wait for me! Once this stage wore off and the flood of mucus started in my head and chest I have now entered into the struggling to breathe phase. What a joy!
For the first time in a very, very long time I have not exercised all week. The dumb thing is I keep stressing that I'm going to loose all my fitness and get way off track on my IM training by taking a few days off. Some of it is that I usually train about 14 hours a week. Without that training I feel blah and a little out of control. So, add the blah and out of control to my general sick feeling and you can imagine that I have been a joy to be around this week!
(Mental note, do something very nice for my husband - soon!)
Here's hoping to get back on my bike this weekend and OUT OF THIS HOUSE!!

Lessons of a Long Trainer Ride

It's amazing what you will learn about yourself when you spend 3 hours on the indoor bike trainer! Here are the lessons I have learned from 2 weeks in a row of 3 hour (50+ miles) on my indoor trainer:
1. I am a much better leader than I am a follower. Last week I followed a Spinnervals video - it was hard & I didn't enjoy it that much. This week Nina, a training client came over to share my pain for most of the ride. I lead our workout instead of using the video. Maybe it was the company, but I enjoyed the ride much more & my avg. speed was 1 mph faster.
2. I want to train to qualify for Kona someday. I used to enjoy the fact that I was training to finish the Ironman & I didn't care about time, never had aspirations to qualify for Kona, just wanted to do it for the sake of doing it. Last week on the trainer I realized that I really, really, really want to push myself to the limits to see if I can do it one day. I have a long way to go & it might be several years before I'm ready to really pursue this one, but someday I want to find myself on the big island pedaling against the wind in the heat w/ the big dogs of the sport. Crap, how come I always have to raise the stakes on myself?
3. Pain is really only temporary. I find that if I can ride out the initial pain in the butt (literally) it subsides. What it really takes is focus to work beyond that pain. This is a skill I am still working on acquiring, but I'm getting better.
If this crappy Sunday weather continues I'm sure I'll have a lot more lessons from the trainer to come!!!

Moderation

I have so often heard the comment, "I could have done more" or "I still felt good so I added on ..." etc. There seems to be a perception that we must finish every workout absolutly unable to go on any further. Don't get me wrong, there are workouts than need to be like that. Speedwork is often like that.

I had my first speed run in a long time this past week. Marathon training & running w/ others have taken priority for the last couple of months. It was so nice to get out and work really hard. When I finished I was about done, but I still had enough for some power yoga and an evening swim but it felt good to be tired.

It must be something to do w/ our socieity that makes us all feel like we have to go, go, go every time & completely exhaust ourselves. Why not slow down and make some workouts about working on your endurance, or heaven forbid make some workouts just about enjoying the workout. We are all so focused on the end result sometimes we forget to enjoy the process that gets us there!! So slow down & enjoy the workout!