A Summer To Tri...And Tri Again...
One of my goals this summer was to complete an Olympic Distance triathlon. Which I will not be competing in anytime soon. However, if you do not meet a goal, it does not mean you have to throw it out and start over. It gives you a good reason to try again someday.
It was not one of these "get gung ho about training for something and then lose motivation only to be found not exercising and eating junk." I have been in that situation many times over the years...I was there last summer after my sprint triathlon. It is hard to bounce back from that. But that isn't me right now.
I spent twenty nine nights this summer sleeping in other places. Compiled together, a whole month of my summer was not spent in my hometown. Training elsewhere is not always easy. When traveling with the family, it requires getting up earlier, using hotel treadmills, running in unfamiliar places, taking time away from the family, and feeling burdened by a strict training schedule. It is doable if I am traveling alone. On our DC/NYC and Michigan trip, the pros of taking a break from training outweighed the cons. Especially because we were active with hiking, swimming, and LOTS of walking.
The times I was home, I was doing five or six intense workouts a week. Even though I did not meet my end of the summer goal of completing in an Olympic Distance triathlon, I did meet some other goals.
Not competing might be a mixed blessing. I planned on doing a triathlon near the Columbia River Gorge which is very sadly is on fire right now and proving to be both widespread and devastating. The I 84 Interstate has been shut down and the fire jumped to the Washington side of the gorge. Obviously this is greatly affecting the air quality. We have had unhealthy air the past two days with smoke so thick you can barely see the sun. It feels like dusk at three in the afternoon. So it could have proved difficult to try and get to the Gorge area this weekend. Plus we had planned on hiking in the gorge...sadly the hikes I was looking at are all closed due to fires.
Right now I am focusing on my running with possibly doing a half marathon this fall or winter. Then we will see after that. I would love to do a triathlon next spring, but I might stick with long distance running for awhile...it is hard for me to juggle both!
I find it very helpful to document my workouts and I will probably revert back to my former running blog (which goes all the way back to 2010!) 19 Miles and Counting for the time being. That may change depending on races or other fitness goals I set later on.
It was not one of these "get gung ho about training for something and then lose motivation only to be found not exercising and eating junk." I have been in that situation many times over the years...I was there last summer after my sprint triathlon. It is hard to bounce back from that. But that isn't me right now.
I spent twenty nine nights this summer sleeping in other places. Compiled together, a whole month of my summer was not spent in my hometown. Training elsewhere is not always easy. When traveling with the family, it requires getting up earlier, using hotel treadmills, running in unfamiliar places, taking time away from the family, and feeling burdened by a strict training schedule. It is doable if I am traveling alone. On our DC/NYC and Michigan trip, the pros of taking a break from training outweighed the cons. Especially because we were active with hiking, swimming, and LOTS of walking.
The times I was home, I was doing five or six intense workouts a week. Even though I did not meet my end of the summer goal of completing in an Olympic Distance triathlon, I did meet some other goals.
- I swam about twice a week...mostly in the outdoor pool which is more refreshing than the indoor pool with our beautiful sunny weather. I worked hard on improving my stroke and increasing my speed. I also spent countless hours playing with the kids in the pool.
- I did three bike rides around twenty seven miles each with our local bicycle club. I thoroughly enjoyed each one and hope to do some more rides with them in the future.
- I stuck with around 4-7 mile runs and had very little knee pain. I also finally talked to my doctor about my previous IT band issues and can easily get a referral to a physical therapist if it acts up again.
- I did seven hikes this summer most of which were family friendly but still decent workouts. Two of these were in Arizona with Rob. One hike was with the oldest along the southern coast, one with my son to Jawbone Flats, and three with the family (Shellburg Falls, Croisan Creek, and Drift Creek Falls). I was hoping to do a more intense mountain hike with friends but we dealt with scorching record high temperatures and ongoing wildfires.
- Even with travel and eating at multiple restaurants, I did not resort to my old ways of drinking excessive amounts of pop. I still drink lots of ice water throughout the day. Eating healthier is SO much easier at home. It is doable to revert back to it returning home if good eating habits have been previously established.
- I went to my power lifting class somewhat regularly when I was home and also tried a new workout class of similar intensity I hope to go to this fall. Yes that is me in the hot pink shirt. I made it on my gym's Facebook page.
Not competing might be a mixed blessing. I planned on doing a triathlon near the Columbia River Gorge which is very sadly is on fire right now and proving to be both widespread and devastating. The I 84 Interstate has been shut down and the fire jumped to the Washington side of the gorge. Obviously this is greatly affecting the air quality. We have had unhealthy air the past two days with smoke so thick you can barely see the sun. It feels like dusk at three in the afternoon. So it could have proved difficult to try and get to the Gorge area this weekend. Plus we had planned on hiking in the gorge...sadly the hikes I was looking at are all closed due to fires.
Right now I am focusing on my running with possibly doing a half marathon this fall or winter. Then we will see after that. I would love to do a triathlon next spring, but I might stick with long distance running for awhile...it is hard for me to juggle both!
I find it very helpful to document my workouts and I will probably revert back to my former running blog (which goes all the way back to 2010!) 19 Miles and Counting for the time being. That may change depending on races or other fitness goals I set later on.
Comments
Post a Comment