Karen writes: Recovering and next thing
The run I had on the Sunday immediately after I got back from Australia was at the bottom of the enjoyment scale. I had great company, but it was 8 km of heavy legs and low motivation and I felt like I had an anchor dragging behind as I plodded along even slower than I usually do. It knocked my confidence, I forget that I was fit enough to run 50 km only days before, I only think about how hard running is and how tired my body feels and how I cant possibly be a runner. Yesterday on Sunday, a week later, was much better. Sometimes it just takes a while to click back in to feeling on top of things. I ran 14 km with the Te Puru runners, sluggishly for the first 10 km, but then my legs started feeling like they knew what they were doing again and I could have just kept going. I made the sensible but hard decision to go home though as I had deliberately not had breakfast, and had only a little supply of water.
Last week I also managed two short swims, these were 500 m and 1000 m in the Otara pool, a real achievement since it is well over a year since I did any swim training indoors. My default position for triathlon training is usually a weekly wetsuit sea swim from a month or two out from an event and it seems to work just enough to get me through the distances. This time some extra pool swimming makes sense as I have signed up for a short, women-only triathlon at Maraetai Beach which will require swimming without the comfort of a wetsuit. I loathe the pool, I am bored seeing the same thing, the smell invades my skin (it admittedly is not as bad as it used to be with new pool chemicals), the state of alertness to make sure I'm not bashing into someone in the lane, and the effort of getting changed into togs and out of them completely put me off. I guess at least there are no lurking piscine things with teeth in the pool, I have heard there were Orca off Maraetai Beach last week again. OK.
In the spirit of pretending to be a triathlete I also managed a 20 km bikeride. This required digging the red Scott out from under the kids bikes and various items of fishing gear, life-jackets etc. I had to empty the still attached bike bags of leftover rubbish and gels etc from Ironman way back in March and pump the tyres up. Then I got on the road and a few km later realised I hadn't put lube on the chain. On the bike it felt nice, this always happens, I dread getting back on wheels but when I get there I remember why I enjoy it. The road was quiet, I had no near misses, my legs felt good for the first 10 km out and not unexpectedly a bit tired on the ride home. Great, I reflected that I had successfully achieved 1/8th of the distance I need to get up to over the coming months.
So cross discipline training has officially started. Running season might be hard on the body but it is always laid back in terms of time, just 3-4 sessions of running, a session with cross training, and a bit of strength training, so it fits in pretty easily with life (total 4-6 hours/week). Triathlon season is 2-3 sessions of running, 2-3 sessions of cycle/spin, swimming, and strength training (total 6-12 hours/week). Funny how it too soon fits in pretty easily with life, its all about making and taking opportunities and being flexible, and certainly as the children get older and more supportive of what I am doing that makes a difference too. When I start with the triathlon training again my body also changes almost immediately, I might be run fit, but training in more than one discipline makes for more of a 'total body' fit.
And I've just confirmed my booking for the Whangarei Half Marathon in two weeks, the Hamilton Half Marathon two weeks after that. I see according to the Nike+ running website Kate is logging some miles while she is away, our next race together is in Hamilton, it should be a fun day trip. The tradition is usually stopping for a well earned pie somewhere along the Waikato river on the way back and I'm looking forward to it.
Last week I also managed two short swims, these were 500 m and 1000 m in the Otara pool, a real achievement since it is well over a year since I did any swim training indoors. My default position for triathlon training is usually a weekly wetsuit sea swim from a month or two out from an event and it seems to work just enough to get me through the distances. This time some extra pool swimming makes sense as I have signed up for a short, women-only triathlon at Maraetai Beach which will require swimming without the comfort of a wetsuit. I loathe the pool, I am bored seeing the same thing, the smell invades my skin (it admittedly is not as bad as it used to be with new pool chemicals), the state of alertness to make sure I'm not bashing into someone in the lane, and the effort of getting changed into togs and out of them completely put me off. I guess at least there are no lurking piscine things with teeth in the pool, I have heard there were Orca off Maraetai Beach last week again. OK.
In the spirit of pretending to be a triathlete I also managed a 20 km bikeride. This required digging the red Scott out from under the kids bikes and various items of fishing gear, life-jackets etc. I had to empty the still attached bike bags of leftover rubbish and gels etc from Ironman way back in March and pump the tyres up. Then I got on the road and a few km later realised I hadn't put lube on the chain. On the bike it felt nice, this always happens, I dread getting back on wheels but when I get there I remember why I enjoy it. The road was quiet, I had no near misses, my legs felt good for the first 10 km out and not unexpectedly a bit tired on the ride home. Great, I reflected that I had successfully achieved 1/8th of the distance I need to get up to over the coming months.
So cross discipline training has officially started. Running season might be hard on the body but it is always laid back in terms of time, just 3-4 sessions of running, a session with cross training, and a bit of strength training, so it fits in pretty easily with life (total 4-6 hours/week). Triathlon season is 2-3 sessions of running, 2-3 sessions of cycle/spin, swimming, and strength training (total 6-12 hours/week). Funny how it too soon fits in pretty easily with life, its all about making and taking opportunities and being flexible, and certainly as the children get older and more supportive of what I am doing that makes a difference too. When I start with the triathlon training again my body also changes almost immediately, I might be run fit, but training in more than one discipline makes for more of a 'total body' fit.
And I've just confirmed my booking for the Whangarei Half Marathon in two weeks, the Hamilton Half Marathon two weeks after that. I see according to the Nike+ running website Kate is logging some miles while she is away, our next race together is in Hamilton, it should be a fun day trip. The tradition is usually stopping for a well earned pie somewhere along the Waikato river on the way back and I'm looking forward to it.
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