Day 275: Beautiful Day!

Ha! I had to laugh when I re-read yesterday's post just now. The part about today being an off day. Whoops. Forgot that was my plan.

It's a beautiful sunny day, and my friend T was keen to get out on her bike too, so we met and went for the first outdoor bike ride of the season. And the first bike ride ever on my new bike, with clip-in pedals, and crazy gears, and skinny tires. It was so fun. The time whisked by. I couldn't believe when I got home -- just in time, as it turned out -- an hour and a half later. My daughter was ready to run out the door to soccer. We did not ride fast, for the most part, and stayed safe, crossing the streets carefully, going on sidewalks occasionally where there was no bike lane, or it felt iffy. We went 17km. Not a huge distance, but it felt so easy and light. Riding that bike is very different from riding my mountain bike, especially when one considers that my mountain bike is usually hauling a stroller plus two kids. Now that's a work-out. This is more like flight. Or fun.

I'm still nervous about going FAST. It scares me. But I could feel myself becoming more comfortable on the bike, even over the course of this short ride. I hope cycling becomes another element to keeping myself fit and fast, and able to keep running ... forever.

What else? Well, now I'm going to rest. Tomorrow is the 10k run, and I've picked up my race pack, and I'm set to go. I also got some different laces for my shoes, for the transitions in the duathlon/tri; and I got a tri-shirt that I can swim in, as well as bike and run in. I think I'm set for equipment now. This has not been an inexpensive enterprise, that's for sure, even with borrowing a wetsuit.

Oh, I was going to add that I did fall over once on my first bike ride today. I couldn't get one foot out of the clip, and lost my balance, and went down in a heap, attached to my bike. I hopped right back up again. Embarrassing, but painless, since I was at a stand-still and in grass. But still, embarrassing. Hopefully I've gotten the falling out of my system ...

Day 274: Aches

I have a new bicycle.

I agonized, and met my husband for lunch, and we made a pro and con list, and decided to buy new. Finding used would be possible, but could have cost a lot in terms of time. So we paid for time, essentially. I will tell more about the bike once I've had a chance to get out on it and really ride. So far, the weather has been ugly: rainy, windy, stormy.

I've had a normal training week, but will be taking tomorrow as my off day. I've had some calf and hamstring pain (always on the left leg; it must be my weak one), and I wanted to rest my leg from the running in advance of Sunday's 10k. But I still went to yoga yesterday, and got up to swim this morning. The swimming is getting exhilarating. It takes much less time to get into a rhythm than it used to, and by the end, today, I felt part-fish, at one with the water. You know when you're watching real swimmers swim, and they look like they hardly need to breathe? That's what I felt like. Not that I hardly needed to breathe, but that the breath came in and out so naturally, despite the membrane of water; I wasn't thinking about it, not at all. That freed me to think a bit more about my kick, which I sense is my weakest propeller right now. I am working to keep a very even and balanced kick going. And I've discovered this tuck, or pelvic tilt (it requires strong abs), that gives me a more aerodynamic feeling in the water, and lowers my head a degree too. Anyway, it was just really a happy place for me this morning: the water. Yes, the water.

I'll even forgive it for being chlorinated and giving me 1980s rocker hair. Yeesh. I'm going for a cut tonight (not short, however, just to trim the frazzled ends). I've noticed that a lot of regular swimmers keep their hair short. This is probably because the chlorine has fried it. (And, yes, I do wear a cap, but it feels too porous. I might need to get a silicone cap instead). Oddly, when I asked myself whether I would give up swimming to keep my hair nice, I realized the answer was no way! Who cares about the hair? Well, once upon a time, I really cared, I really did. Maybe this is one of the pleasures of aging.

Day 272: Cold Feet

I'm really agonizing over this bike decision. It seems so self-indulgent and wasteful to buy a brand new bike that I will use only for pleasure. It's not a very practical purchase, since it's quite expensive, and I can't imagine using it to ride around town for errands and leave locked up somewhere. I've had two expensive bike strollers stolen (one of which was locked up), and I don't relish the thought of investing in another expensive bike-related item that could just get stolen. Thoughts?

On the other hand, I do plan to ride this bike for training purposes, not just for racing. And I don't have a bike that I can currently use right now. My mountain bike is old, and isn't actually mine (ie. the fit is not great). Even with new tires, which we've gotten put on, it's a clunker. I use it only to pull the stroller around town. It will basically be hooked to the stroller all summer (if I were handier, I could probably get it unhooked and hooked up more easily, and then I would use it for short trips on my own). 

I'm looking into used options. Without luck so far.

But I do need a bike, and I do need to get riding on a bike outside, and soon. Today it is going to rain and rain and rain, so I don't need that bike today. But what about tomorrow?

I also need: shoes, shorts, and a repair kit.

Day 271: New Writing Gig

Okay, folks, here's some news: I will be blogging twice weekly at Chatelaine.com about this triathlon project. Read my first post!

In other news, I just did a spin class followed by a short run. I did not run all the way home. My calf was bothering me and I didn't want to pull something or injure myself, so when my spin friends passed by, I grabbed a lift. But I made it almost 3k and at a pretty good clip.

Now for a shower.

Day 270: Post-Holiday

I ate a lot of paska this weekend. Paska is a white-flour, doughy, sweet Easter bread covered in icing and sprinkles (Russian Mennonite).

I also ran 10+k on Saturday morning. That was not a long slow run at all! But I woke up late, and felt rushed, and wanted to be done in an hour and not to carry along anything extra--no liquid, no food. It was a beautiful morning for a run. I actually got too hot and had to take off my jacket. I went fast rather than slow, and was home in under an hour. My goal for the 10k on Sunday is 55 minutes, or less. I'm hoping less, but after my run this morning, I know that might be over-reaching. Fifty minutes would be my absolute ideal goal, and I'm not sure my body is there yet. Will it ever get there? What does it take? ie. what does it take to run a half or a full marathon at a 5-minute race pace? I'm so not there yet. Sigh. I guess that's another level of fitness; I just don't know how to get there.

I also went a yoga class on Friday, and then took yesterday off. To eat the paska.

This morning, I was in the pool as usual and swam for 50 minutes. I did not go fast, but it was pleasant and smooth and mind-lulling. Then I went directly for a run at the track upstairs and pounded my way through 5k at a 5-minute pace. I wished I could go faster, but that was my edge, and even that was a struggle. My goal is to get faster, and to get faster I have to run faster. Duh. Sounds easy. I'm not sure how to build endurance at a higher speed, but I do have to remind myself that training runs are not the same as race pace runs. I can't "leave it all at the track" when I have to go home and look after four kids all day. (Kids have a holiday today; husband does not).

I came home and got a nap in before my husband left for work.

I did not buy a bike this weekend, but I did try a few out, and I think I know my bike. I just have to go and get it. Maybe today. If not, then tomorrow. But soon.

Tomorrow is my last spin class, so I need to be riding real wheels outside. On the road. Fast. Yikes. My helmet is many years old. I wonder whether I should buy a new one. This one has never been in an accident, but ... opinions?

I may run home after spin class tomorrow, to test out running after biking. It's about 5.5k, and most of it is downhill. Yes. I will plan for that.

:::

Last week: three runs, one spin, two swims, three yoga classes. (Runs were 6k, 7.5k, and 10k).

This week: four runs (including 10k race), one spin, one bike ride, two swims, three yoga classes. (No long slow runs planned, due to the race on Sunday).

Day 267: Holiday

It's a holiday and my husband is home. We even slept in this morning. Of course, my alarm went off at the usual time (5:14am) because I'd forgotten to turn it off, but I had no trouble crawling back into bed and falling asleep again.

It's been a long week, despite being a short week. I've strugged mentally (and physically) to keep up with my routine. But I've stuck with it. The swim yesterday was dreamlike. The kundalini class last night, our last of this session, and my last until my children are done with their soccer season, was not rippling with energy. But I was content with my level of commitment. I was careful to modify whenever it felt like my shoulder muscle was in pain--ie. not good pain, but bad pain. It's important to know the difference. And I ended the class feeling satisfied, a little bit high, and smiling.

Today, I would like to get to a yoga class to stretch, but have to hurry. And also have to rely on the goodwill of my husband who has already spent the morning with the kids to give me extra writing time (today is usually a writing day, so I was upset by the prospect of missing it; holidays so often fall on Mondays and Fridays, which are my two regular and full writing days; and I resent it, and get stressed about missing that time to work. You have to understand that "work", ie. writing, for me is not like work. It's like breathing.)

Husband's looking a little frazzled. Kind of how I look after a day alone with the kids.

::::

I've just done something spontaneous. I've signed up for a duathlon. It's a 4k run, 30k bike ride, 4k run, and it's happening next month, almost in my own neighbourhood. It will motivate me to a) get a road-worthy bicycle, and b) get out on the road and practice. And it will give me a chance to test my endurance and fitness in advance of the triathlon, while leaving out the scariest portion of the race (to me): the swim. In fact, it will be a longer race than the triathlon. But I am terrified, actually. The road riding part is scary. I don't want to crash.

Here's hoping I can find a bike tomorrow. That's my goal for this weekend.

Day 266: Epic Nap

Tired. Tired. Tired. I hope it's not burn-out. I think I'm fighting a virus, and have been all week. This morning, I got up and went swimming, swam for a happy hour, showered, came home, and went back to bed. No one in the house was awake yet. I told my husband to put a movie on for the little ones if I wasn't awake by the time the big ones left for school (and I gave him a few other essential instructions, the details of the day ahead that I keep in my brain on behalf of the whole family). And then I collapsed into a deep and epic nap. I slept for nearly two hours. I had a sense of what was going on around me, but nothing disturbed my sleep.

I'm awake now, and preparing for the day ahead, which is busy. I'm wondering: is this schedule in the least bit practical? I could probably complete the triathlon tomorrow with the training I've done. So what more do I need to do? Extra conditioning? I'd like to aim for a marathon, too, and there is the big trail race in the fall, but in the meantime, in the absence of an impossible goal, I'm not sure what to do with myself. Slow down a bit? Do I just need a few days of rest and I'll see clearly again?

Hm, did I just type: "in the absence of an impossible goal, I'm not sure what to do with myself"???? I wonder why I aim for the impossible. Maybe I need the challenge of a goal beyond my current capacity to complete. Or maybe I'm too tired for reflection and not thinking clearly.

Off to continue my day ...

ps Had a lovely early morning run yesterday, the usual 7.5k, and though my calf felt stiff at the beginning, it seemed to have loosened up as I went. But my shoulder is absolutely getting worse. Chiro appointment at noon today.