Holy smokes! Where have I been, Blogland?
The last couple of weeks have been builds for MiamiMan twisted around workouts for the Philly 1/2 Marathon. Unfortunately, I have been more lax with my schedule than ever. I've missed runs, swims... motivation is a bit low as the result of a tri season that lasted a bit too long and from hitting a low spot in jobland.
LOOKING BACK
December 10th marks my 2-year anniversay of 'Couch to 5K program, Week 1, Day 1'. Two years of beloved running have passed so quickly. It's like I was another person back then. I hardly remember that lazy girl. I started riding my bike a bit and doing some swimming in February of 2008; so my 2-year 'triathlon' anniversary will have to wait about 3 or 4 more months.
The point of rehashing all of this is that it appears that the first few years of running/triathlon (for everyone) are saturated with constant training and racing. Everything is so new that breaks are really an afterthought. At the end of tri season 2008 (my first year of triathlon), I took NO break. Nothing really changed for me. I moved right from November's MiamiMan 2008, to February's Blogger Tri Camp and then right into the 2009 tri season. 'Maybe' I took a month off from swimming, but that would be it. I couldn't wait to start racing again and so I stacked my schedule EARLY!
Here I am, nearing the end of 2009... still with 2 large races to go (MiamiMan in less than 2 weeks and then the Philadelphia 1/2 Marathon). However, the 'newness' of triathlon has officially worn off and 2010 will be a very different looking year for me, schedule wise. Most definitely.
But, before moving into 2010, I've got to finish with 2009...
MiamiMan is going to be a very low key race for me. My only real goal is to not blow myself up on the bike this time around and be able to run the entire 6.6 miles! Since I can run my long training runs (which are up at 14 miles now) without walking and since I run 6 mile chunks all the time, not walking the run for an international distance race should 'hopefully' be a given this time around; but with triathlon, I never underestimate anything!!!
Philadelphia = excitement! The only issue that I'm having with Philadelphia is grasping what my pace should be. We are still in the midst of summer down here (today is another 90+ degree day) and morning temps don't dip below 70F. For example, it's 5:30AM right now and it's 77F out. With humidity, the 'real feel' is 84F. Philadelphia is currently 51F with a 'real feel' of 43F. It's like I'm on the moon or something! LOL! Obviously, this makes it a bit difficult to know what I'm capable of running at 40F (Philadelphia). I'm 'hoping' and 'praying' that we get a few good cold fronts before Philly, but since I live so deep into South FL, it's unlikely.
A QUICK LOOK AHEAD
Looking ahead to this week, I find myself more excited about training in general. Whenever my volume stays around 10 hrs. per week, I get excited; whenever workouts are shorter in length but with high intensity intervals thrown in, I get excited. This week is ALL about that! Lots of strides, negative splits, hard 5k paced efforts; fast swim sets and rides with intervals. YES!!!!
Although I'm trying not to think too much about 2010 yet, suffice it to say that I probably will not stray from sprint and oly distance races as far as triathlon goes. With running, I'm still contemplating doing my first marathon in February. I had taken it off the table for a while, but then got to thinking (thanks to a recent post of Coach Jen's) that just b/c I train for a marathon doesn't mean I'm automatically going to get sloooow in every other running distance. If I don't slog through mileage, then I shouldn't end up a slowbie.
I think the marathon is about my limit of tolerance mentally (time wise) for endurance events right now. Since we all know how important the mental aspect of all of this is, I think I could train well for a marathon and make it through to the finish line... maybe even without walking; although just like all triathlon distances, I respect all running distances as well. One little slip-up can mean having a great run or having a very sucky run.
Anyway, I have until October 31st to decide on 'which' distance I'll be doing at 26.2 with Donna: National Marathon to Fight Breast Cancer. The 1/2 marathon lends itself better in terms of specificity, since I've definitely discovered that prefer short course triathlon racing over the longer 1/2 iron distance (let's not even talk Iron distance); but on the other hand, I'm feeling the 'marathon burn'. After October 31st, registration price goes up for both events, so I must decide. Stay tuned!
SHOUT OUTS
(since I just don't get around Blogworld as much anymore)
Oh boy! Ironman Florida is approaching as quickly as MiamiMan! GO, BOB!!!! Go, DANNI!!!
Same weekend... Beach to Battleship... which is going to be smashed apart by KEVIN, SHIRLEY and IRONMISSY! GO! GO! GO!
Miss Molly is gearing up for IMAZ on Nov 22nd (Philly Day for me) and my bud (and soon-to-be MiamiMan visitor b/c she actually wants heat... silly girl) Rachelle will be tackling IMCOZ the following weekend! GO GIRLS!!! So close now!
8 comments:
Yeah, I haven't been posting much here in Blogland too. Busy busy busy! Good luck in your upcoming events...
(I too am secretly thinking about 2010 already!)
I have given new meaning to taper, so if the training miles aren't up, dont feel alone. Running has been reduced to zero due to groin and calf problems and work has affected the ability to swim (on the road). But you know... it's all good when you think of the alternatives.
Welcome back
(ps: you need to teach me how to do a link to another blog site... I'm too old and my 11 year old is too busy!)
Don't rule out that marathon. I have been following the Runners Magazine FIRST program (three runs a week an interval, a tempo and a long run with three cross training days) for my half coming up. I am trying to run sub 2. The first marathon I ran I just ran to finish (which I am told should be the #1 goal but I always seem to put a time goal on myself secretly) and the 2nd I ran with a IT Band injury (big mistake). Both were rewarding, but for training all I did was run, run, run...boring and asking for overuse injuries. I think they have a FIRST plan for marathons too, which would probably fit in with your tri training. Good luck in your upcoming races.
Congrats on 2 years! Can't wait to see what you do next year!
Yeah, what is up with this record heat we're having???
But I've had similar dilemmas about what my race pace should be when racing in 40-50 deg cooler weather. Now that I train with a HRM, it's pretty straightforward, keep it about the same HR range as I would racing in the hotter conditions. But if you don't know that, you can perhaps get an idea of your pace based on shorter distance races you may have done in hot conditions using Daniel's Running Calculator (http://www.runworks.com/calculator.html). Then plug in the numbers for different conditions (temperature, altitude, hills) to get an equivalent finish time in those conditions. For me running marathons, I've found it to be pretty accurate.
Thanks for the shout-out and look forward to hearing how your next two races go!
Love your blog, thanks! Don't run out the marathon - you can definitely do it with your strength! Good luck with your upcoming races. You're going to get to Philly after enduring the heat you've been training in, and just rock it with their cooler temps!
Hope everything is going well. You've been AWOL!
How are ya Sherry??
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