Perspective

Sunday was tough...very tough. The workout was great but because I did not have my sunday training partner (celia) I was in a mental battle the whole workout. Karel was off in Deland for the weekend (which he placed 10th in the road race and 9th in the crit..so proud of him!) and it was just me for the weekend training. To make myself go to bed early on sat evening in order to get up at my usual time of 6am (sleeping in) for the weekend was the first battle. Then, once I finished my coffee and oatmeal on sunday morning, I had to convince myself that I was ready to stay motivated for the bike-run-bike brick that i do on sundays. Of course, my focus is on the long run but it is so easy to get the two bike workouts in (spinning the legs) when I normally bike to and from Celia's house. The run is just something we both enjoy and we talk the entire time. Just a great way to do a 2 hour run! So I decided to bike my run course to keep me entertained and to pay attention to mile markers so that I knew my pace for the run. On the weekends I am not too concerned with my running speed. Since the workout on saturday is a short run after a long bike and sunday is a long run, I more concerned about my endurance and stamina..and having fun. I ended up doing 15 miles for my long run and it felt great to be out there. I thought a lot about Kona and I enjoyed being outside and seeing so many active people (walkers, cyclists, runners, roller bladders). I was tempted to make my smoothie immediately after the run but I knew I would pay for it with aches and pains if I didn't spin out my legs after the run. Another 50 minute bike ride (super slow) and enjoyed my time outside before I called it a weekend. A total of 11 hours, 120 cycling miles and 25 miles of running this past weekend (fri sat and sun workouts). That was a big workout weekend and I am already enjoying a semi-down week. Resting the body a little this week and reducing the volume is always needed after a tough weekend. With monday completely off, I was anxious to get in the pool at 5:30am this morning. I told matt to push me hard with more yards so I guess I got what I wanted with a 4200 yard workout (total of 3100 yrds main set!) this morning. Afterwards I joined my friends Tony, Gayanne and Diana for a treadmill run. We all do our own thing, but the company is great especially when it is my interval day. 7.5 miles and the main set was 8 x 3 min w/ 1 min recovery (rest). Descending 1-4 (9mph, 9.1, 9.2, and 9.4), 5-8 (same speed as before). HR was up there but I felt smooth. Felt really strong on the treadmill and I know I need to keep working on my speed and the treadmill is where I feel I get the most speedwork done.
I'm really getting serious for Kona and with Clearwater a month later, i want to get my body in the best shape i can for both races. My goal is an optimistic 10:30 for Kona and I am going to do whatever it takes to have a great race out there. I'm pushing my body to a healthy limit this summer and doing all I can to stay injury free, have fun with my training and stay involved with the tri-community. Speaking of helping out with tri-stuff, I just finished putting together a USAT champions weekend conference for the end of July in Clermont...if you want more details, please email marni@usat-florida.com ....whewww, that was a great relief yesterday when I got the eblast out in the public.
I have three specific goals with my training right now
1) swimming - become more efficient in the water. I want to hold 1:20 for the swim but i want it to be comfortable and effortless...I have a long ways to go for that. If I want to expend little energy during the 2.4 miles, I know I need to keep working on my speed in the pool. Sets on 1:20 right now aren't going to cut it..need to keep stepping it up!
2) cycling - just keep working on it!!! I'm riding with guys (Gearlink) more often so that helps. I just try to draft off them and not get dropped. I do feel like I am getting stronger and I can hang on longer before I do get dropped. All that cycling has really helped my power and since i bought my road bike in the spring, I can tell a big difference with my power. I was riding my road bike a lot but now i am riding seduza more often. I have a long ways to go with my cycling since that is my weakest. Karel helps me out a lot as my inspiration..so I will never be as fast as him but it is amazing to watch him race.
3) running - get faster! I love running and I get in this zone when I run. It's hard to explain, but I just ignore my body and I just go. I love that feeling of zoning out but it only comes when I run long (more than 90 minutes). Therefore, I need to keep stepping up the speed work during the weeks since the weekends are long, slightly aerobic but intense.
I want to bring up something which is not tri-related. I have been watching the news a lot and checking out news-based websites and I am not sure if it is my age (as I grow up) and that I am finally paying attention to what is going on in the world, but I've been noticing that there are a lot of people passing away, getting murdered, suicides and just horrible things going on right now. I was very sad to hear about the tri coach in California who just passed away a couple nights ago (I think he suffered a heart attack but I'm not sure). It might just be me, but it seems like there are a lot of scary things happening in the world. I am very thankful for having wonderful people in my life, many supportive people and many inspirational people. I have a lot of love for life, my family and for my friends and I try to show it everyday.Everyone knows my love for animals, my sport and education and for helping people but I feel it is important that we live each day to its fullest for you never know what tomorrow will bring. And if you are having a "bad" day, remember that there is always tomorrow and your "bad" day may be another person's semi-good day.
Keeping smiling! :)