Weathering the Elements
Lately, I think it's pretty safe to say, that the Book of Barb has had a whole lotta nothing going on. The Book of Mike, on the other hand, is about to embark on a whole lotta crazy. But I'll let him touch base on all that awesomeness whenever he has a chance to catch his breath. :)
After Saturday morning's easy recovery run, I think it's safe to say that my legs have finally come back to me. I ran 5.5 miles (through air as thick as soup and howling winds) and all in all, it felt really good. Although I'm certainly not complaining about the elements. Tough elements make you a better athlete and the really challenging conditions build character. So who really cares if it's humid as hell and windy...(certainly not you). It's up to me to give myself a lil' dose of HTFU and it was my job to go out and get the run done...and that's exactly what I did. Who was it that said there's no such thing as bad weather, just soft people?
Ever since the Chicago marathon last year I've adopted the "You do it because that's just what you do" philosophy. Just because it's hot or humid or hilly or rainy or whatever the conditions give you on race day...doesn't mean you're not going to go out there and "git ir done." Because you are. Because that's what triathletes and marathon runners and every other athlete in between does. It's wired in our DNA. Sure, in cases like the 07 Chi Marathon, we make adjustments to our race plan as needed and do the best we can with what we're given. But for the most part, we train like we race and race like we train (at least we're supposed to), so training in tough elements only makes us that much tougher and that much more prepared for race day.
Afterall, the more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in war. Right?
Perhaps this is my way of telling myself to just suck it up since I hit my snooze button for an hour and a half this morning instead of getting up and schlepping myself to yoga in the middle of a window-shaking thunderstorm? I had an internal argument that rainy Monday mornings are meant for sleeping in before finally making the decision to shift my yoga session to later tonight. I was up cleaning pretty late last night, so it was probably the smart decision. Besides, me walking to yoga in the rain wouldn't necessarily make me tougher...just sopping wet. And could potentially induce a cold.
In addition to my recovery run this weekend I met up with Kara and Katie bright and early at the lake yesterday for a nice open water swim. It was the first time in a long time that I was able to focus on sighting. It felt good to be back in the water, although I did feel a bit sluggish and wondered how the heck I set a 1.2 mile swim PR just 2 short weeks ago.
Since Spirit of Racine I've been on the fence as to whether or not I'll actually do the Accenture Triathlon, but I'm still training as if I am. I imagine I'll have a decision made sometime over the next week or two. But right now the other plans we've got cooking would be SOOO much more fun. There may be a way to swing 'em both...but I can't guarentee my performance would be stellar. But I'm not really concerned since it's by no means an "A" race for me. Plus I already paid for the entry fee. It's a race I definitely want to do...and there are no guarantees that we'll still be living here next year...
...I suppose we shall see.
Not too much on tap for this week. Some yoga. Some more running. Possibly some swimming. And then a trip up to the IMoo course for some punishment by bike. While I have no intentions of riding the whole kit and caboodle, Mike does. And it's my job to make sure he doesn't get (too) lost. Plus the Olympics all kick off on Friday, and I'm a such a sucker for a few weeks of watching awesome and inspiring athletics.
All in all, it should be a good week, despite its rainy start. I've got my eyes set on Mid-October right now...when all the training and craziness will be over with for the season.
It can't seem to get here soon enough...
After Saturday morning's easy recovery run, I think it's safe to say that my legs have finally come back to me. I ran 5.5 miles (through air as thick as soup and howling winds) and all in all, it felt really good. Although I'm certainly not complaining about the elements. Tough elements make you a better athlete and the really challenging conditions build character. So who really cares if it's humid as hell and windy...(certainly not you). It's up to me to give myself a lil' dose of HTFU and it was my job to go out and get the run done...and that's exactly what I did. Who was it that said there's no such thing as bad weather, just soft people?
Ever since the Chicago marathon last year I've adopted the "You do it because that's just what you do" philosophy. Just because it's hot or humid or hilly or rainy or whatever the conditions give you on race day...doesn't mean you're not going to go out there and "git ir done." Because you are. Because that's what triathletes and marathon runners and every other athlete in between does. It's wired in our DNA. Sure, in cases like the 07 Chi Marathon, we make adjustments to our race plan as needed and do the best we can with what we're given. But for the most part, we train like we race and race like we train (at least we're supposed to), so training in tough elements only makes us that much tougher and that much more prepared for race day.
Afterall, the more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in war. Right?
Perhaps this is my way of telling myself to just suck it up since I hit my snooze button for an hour and a half this morning instead of getting up and schlepping myself to yoga in the middle of a window-shaking thunderstorm? I had an internal argument that rainy Monday mornings are meant for sleeping in before finally making the decision to shift my yoga session to later tonight. I was up cleaning pretty late last night, so it was probably the smart decision. Besides, me walking to yoga in the rain wouldn't necessarily make me tougher...just sopping wet. And could potentially induce a cold.
In addition to my recovery run this weekend I met up with Kara and Katie bright and early at the lake yesterday for a nice open water swim. It was the first time in a long time that I was able to focus on sighting. It felt good to be back in the water, although I did feel a bit sluggish and wondered how the heck I set a 1.2 mile swim PR just 2 short weeks ago.
Since Spirit of Racine I've been on the fence as to whether or not I'll actually do the Accenture Triathlon, but I'm still training as if I am. I imagine I'll have a decision made sometime over the next week or two. But right now the other plans we've got cooking would be SOOO much more fun. There may be a way to swing 'em both...but I can't guarentee my performance would be stellar. But I'm not really concerned since it's by no means an "A" race for me. Plus I already paid for the entry fee. It's a race I definitely want to do...and there are no guarantees that we'll still be living here next year...
...I suppose we shall see.
Not too much on tap for this week. Some yoga. Some more running. Possibly some swimming. And then a trip up to the IMoo course for some punishment by bike. While I have no intentions of riding the whole kit and caboodle, Mike does. And it's my job to make sure he doesn't get (too) lost. Plus the Olympics all kick off on Friday, and I'm a such a sucker for a few weeks of watching awesome and inspiring athletics.
All in all, it should be a good week, despite its rainy start. I've got my eyes set on Mid-October right now...when all the training and craziness will be over with for the season.
It can't seem to get here soon enough...
posted by Iron Jayhawk at 2:58 PM
4 Camper Comments:
Best of luck with the rest of your training. it sounds like you have a good philosophy to get yourself to race day.
"the more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in war." .... I like that! :)
Great philosophy!
Your strength is my source of inspiration.
I dunno . . . "git ir done" only goes so far. There were people who kept running the Chicago Marathon last year long after they should have been. But then I've been trying to convince myself for the past two days that giving up my 13 mile long run (stopped after 4) on Sunday was smart, not lazy.
I think it comes down to being intelligent about training. If it's hot and humid and you know that's how it's gonna be, gotta get the workout done early in the day. If it's raining in the morning, do the workout in the evening. Once the weather starts throwing tough conditions at us, flexibility is key.
But you're right in that sometimes you just gotta suck it up and do it, even if it's gonna hurt (that's the fun part!) :-)
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