Two friends who have trained for half-marathons have recommended signing up for a running club's clinics, and simply following their lead. One friend mentioned that the hill and interval training sessions are quite short, if intense, often no more than half an hour. I am currently running for an hour no matter what I'm doing, and I'm beginning to question whether my joints can take it; and whether perhaps this is an inefficient method of training. Perhaps I should be doing more sprints, less distance. I am seriously considering signing up for their marathon clinic this winter/spring. I would like to run in the Ottawa marathon, which takes place late in May.
I've also decided to schedule in a second yoga class every week, as a way of maintaining and improving flexibility; but the hot yoga I practice is also good for strengthening muscles, and building stamina. At one class a week, I'm just doing maintenance; with two classes, I may see improvement.
The indoor pool is under construction, and there are no longer morning and evening lane swims at the outdoor pool, due to lack of light (boy is it ever dark at 6am these days!). I have signed up for swim lessons which will start in October, but meanwhile, I am not swimming laps. I would like to add one early morning swim into my week once the indoor pool opens again.
So ... two yoga classes, two swims, perhaps two runs? I haven't figured out how to fit cycling into the equation. The distances and speeds necessary to train seem daunting. And I haven't fixed my bike yet, though I have had it checked for size, and it is close to being a good fit--just needs a bit of tinkering, and a new pair of tires put on. I did notice that there's a women-only triathlon in a nearby city next summer. I plan to look into that one.
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I woke at 3:30 this morning and told my husband to turn off his alarm. I'd been planning to start this week with an early morning yoga class, since I can't get out this evening due to his soccer game. But at 3:30am, all I could think about was getting more sleep--one extra hour. I said, just turn it off and if my body decides it wants to go, I'll go. In other words, if my interior alarm clock goes off, I'll listen. Wouldn't you know, out of a deep sleep I felt my eyes opening, almost against my will, and I thought to myself, please please please don't let the clock say 5:50. But it did. My body had woken--to the very minute--at the time I'd planned to rise for class. I hesitated for half a minute, then thought about how good I'd feel stretching out my body. So I got up, and did class. Early morning classes aren't ideal because I am always in a rush to leave at the end, knowing what awaits me at home; I was distracted by the slog ahead.
And it was chaos to get everyone out the door on time. There were tears, last minute admonishments--where's your water bottle! don't forget your sunhat!--and then my youngest daughter's bus never arrived at its stop, so instead of seeing her off, waving goodbye, and coming home to a quiet house, we had to run home (we have to walk a block and a half to get to her stop), and I DROVE her to school, which is totally against my principles.
Small potatoes. The house is now quiet. And it is time for me to get to work.
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One more thing. With all this extra activity and training and early mornings, on the days when I don't rise early, I feel almost as if I were on holiday, and it makes even the most demanding day appear that much easier. It's all relative.
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