Fast forward to this year...I am again less than 1 week out from race day, and while I have definitely not been the nervous wreck I was during training last year, my concerns are definitely building. Here's the truth: I am under trained. I almost NEVER end up under trained before a race--I am vigilant about making and following training plans to make sure I'm race-ready. How did this happen?? Well, two reasons:
1. Poor planning of my race calendar: I ran the Chicago Spring Half on May 19th. When I was planning my races for 2013, I didn't see a problem at all with a half so close to a tri. I figured the tri training would keep me cross training, and that I'd do my long runs on Saturdays and bricks on Sundays. It seemed like such a great plan at a time...until I was waking up Sunday mornings sore and achy from pushing hard in a long run, and the thought of a 2 or 3 sport brick was just too awful to bear...Whoops.
#seemedlikeagoodideaatthetime... |
Sooo as you can imagine, I did not enter spring bike-ready. Plus, having spring come sooo late this year, I wasn't able to get my bike outside until pretty much May. AWFUL! The first ride I got out for was 12 miles, and I thought I was going to fall over and die during it. This did not bode well for tri training.
Since then, I've become way more comfortable on my bike--it comes back like riding a bike, right ;) However, I have seriously slacked on the 3-sport bricks. I've done plenty of swim-runs, and a few swim-bikes and bike-runs, but I have only done ONE 3-sport brick which was lacking in bike miles simply because the weather sucked so bad. Case in point my FROZEN ride the other day..
Great weather for running, Not so great for running with wet clothes and hair |
In other news, I am just a week or so away from starting marathon training!
I will be training with a group and following a plan based off of Hal Higdon's Novice Marathon plan with a few adjustments. Here's what my weeks will look like:
I am looking forward to doing lots of yoga this summer--I find it is an excellent compliment to running for me. I totally suck at doing strength training at home or at the gym, but yoga, especially fast paced and hot classes, have tons of core and leg strengthening exercises built in. Plus, it is way more fun and way less boring in my humble opinion. We'll see how training goes! I'm excited to get started, but terrified of getting injured this summer. I have had such a rocky history with injury in the past that I get totally paranoid before taking on any new racing endeavor. Don't worry, I will be training smart this summer and listening to my body!
What are you training for this summer?
This summer I'm going to be training for my 3rd half-marathon. I have done the Chicago half twice in past years but this year I am switching it up and trying a new course with a half in Naperville.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to hear about your tri. I might do one at the end of June and know I need to get some open water swimming in. I dread the whole wet suit thing again. Good luck!
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