Back to training - 18 miles

After almost 3 months off of training, I'm back on a new training plan for this 50k race in January. This weekend's long run - 18 miles. I was pretty scared driving over 520 today imagining running that far after not having run more than 11 miles since Ironman. It's more mental, but I also wasn't sure when it would start to hurt. On the trails, would it start to hurt at 13.1 miles? Maybe 15? No, the answer was 10 miles. It started to hurt at 10 miles. The trails seem to work my muscles a lot harder than roads do. I don't know if it's because there's more climbing and descending, or if it's because I have to push harder on the soft ground.

Has been helping inspire me every day, great book

Bridle trails, I love you. But I did not love the pouring rain for an hour today.

Nothing about training for endurance sports is easy. It's about embracing the pain and continuing to push forward. Luckily, I've trained my mind to enjoy it - to know that once it starts to hurt - that's when the real progress, work and improvement begins. I like the pain. I know it's strange, but it's how I know I'm getting better and stronger. I missed this feeling.

Happy Saturday. :-)

Comments

Being a spectator: Ironman 70.3 Lake Stevens and 10 year reunions

Lake Stevens is less than 40 minutes from downtown Seattle, so Isaac and I decided to go watch the Lake Stevens Ironman 70.3. We had assumed earlier in the year we couldn't race this half Ironman 3 weeks post Ironman Canada and didn't sign up. We saw some participants wearing their IM Canada 2015 Finisher hats and were a liiiiiittle jealous. Would have loved to participate, but who knows how that would have felt on my knee, which is still hurting on runs post race (but my brain was wishing I was out on the course the whole time!) The swim start was in waves, which I'm assuming was fantastic. Nice and calm, surrounded by your age group instead of 2,000 people! Swim start So foggy on the lake! Coming in from the swim T1 and T2 were in the same spot. This portion felt like a normal tri - you have your transitions preset and have to get your run gear wet while you strip out of your wetsuit! I really loved having gear bags and changing in tents in two separate tra...

2021/2022 - Pregnancy, baby, return to racing

WOW. So much has changed since I last posted in here. About two months after that last post I found out I was pregnant! I spent 2021 in various phases of life: First trimester I was super sick and actually unable to even get much movement in! I don't think I've ever worked out that little in my life! Every day just felt like a struggle to survive. Second and third trimesters I was able to swim, bike, run and lift. I was able to run up until a couple days before I gave birth! I mostly ran and lifted - I hated biking pregnant and wanted to limit my covid exposure so I didn't go to the pool super consistently until the very end of my pregnancy. I spent the rest of 2021 fumbling my way through learning how to be a mom and take care of a baby! It was months of living in a haze of no sleep, hormones and tears BUT with all of that in the rear view, it was an amazing time of growth and learning so much. I had 4 IM branded deferred races from 2020 that rolled to 2021, then to 2022....

2020

Since I usually use this blog for training and race reports, clearly haven't had much to update in 2020! This years' calendar was supposed to include: Victoria 70.3 CDA 70.3 Santa Rosa 140.6 WA 70.3 70.3 WORLDS in Taupo, NZ! Clearly, none of these were a reality this year. It's been a rollercoaster of a year but I think I've done a decent job with coping. I never stopped training, still keeping up an average of 12-15 hours a week. It's kept me sane despite everything going on in our country and our world. In the absence of racing I've picked up some new hobbies, one being gravel riding (thanks to Rosanne Kelley!!)! I am a SUPER newb but have had fun exploring some new places and learning some actual bike handling skills (which is for sure a weakness of mine). Otherwise, I feel pretty fortunate this year. I'm able to work remotely for my job and have a nice setup in the townhouse now. I miss my work friends SO much but we've found some ways to spend time...

Seattle Ironwoman

Search This Blog