I am 38 days away from my race and I move between feelings of fear and excitement on a regular basis. Yesterday, excited, today scared. I know that I will be prepared physically, mentally is the question. Recently I spoke to my friend, who is also my coach, he said I need to mentally prepare for next week. It will be the first of 2 build weeks before a taper, then the race. Already this week I have experienced the most difficult workouts I've been given, so I have no idea what next week holds.
Sunday I rode my bike 2.5 hours, about 42 miles. Monday I had a workout that included mile repeats. The whole workout was a 2 mile warm up, sprint a mile, walk 5 min, sprint a mile, walk 5 min, sprint a mile, walk 5 min, jog a mile. Collapse. I was very pleased that I kept all under 7 minutes, with the first 2 closer to 6:30 than 7. I talked with a friend last night who A) is awesome B) has been at the sport longer than me C) regularly finds herself at the top of the race, not AG, podium & D) has workouts with 8, not 3 mile repeats. Tuesday I has a 4300 yd swim. Today I have a reward day, run 1.5 hours. That's it. No heart rate or zone training, just run. It will be near 70 in a few hours, and I plan to enjoy all 90 minutes with a smile. Tomorrow my swim will tear me up and that is the point. If I do it correctly, I'll not be able to finish. Friday I have a big ring bike workout on my trainer. Not exactly sure what that is, but I'm sure it's no ride in the park. Saturday is my day off, phew and then Sunday kicks off that build week. And just how will I kick it off? Brick style...a 2.45 hour bike ride with intervals, followed by an out and back, negative pace hour run.
How will/do I do it? I pray and meditate as I move, which helps, but lately it's been my boys. All of them. I love it when I get to ride with J. When I'm on the trainer and want to get off early, he pushes me to continue to the end and refills my water. Last week e did hill repeats with me. DandyDog helps pace me and knowing that c ran a 6:40ish mile in PE makes me run faster. This week we started going to the pool early to swim. The boys work out, then we have breakfast, I drop them off at school and return to do my workout. While other swimmers have their bags neatly hung, we have a messy pile. It's natural (see & see). It works. We work. Me and my boys make a great team and keep each other moving.
6:30 am e is doing a ladder workout, while c does 25's working on his stroke and breathing.
Goggles upside down is normal.
Soccer season is back in full swing. Tournaments on the calendar and practice under the lights.
I don't shop in little boutiques* and the most expensive outfit I'll purchase this year will be a kit. I wont get these until I wear out these and if I need these, I'll find something in my closet that works or on clearance here. I dream of a closet full of clothes from here and just inside the cabinet, where I keep worn out shoes which hold too many memories to toss, I have some inspiration from their first store campaign:
I do not often find myself at Starbucks, but the introduction of their Blonde roast captured my curiosity. A couple of weeks ago we went there instead of our usual & favorite coffee spot while the boys were at youth group. {youth group = coffee date} My order: medium Blonde, black, no room for cream & I felt funny with the words I used. Just something about ordering a blonde. And I really liked the cup.
Oh and guess who is one of the pros racing in 38 days? Yup, Lance Armstrong! I'll be sure to give him a smile when he passes me on the run and I'm still on the bike.
.
*Why don't I shop at boutiques? I don't really like to shop for clothing. But if I did, I'd choose boutiques. They are out of my budget. I live in NWA and well, even if I had a budget, let's face it they are not readily available.
0 comments:
Post a Comment