Wednesday, September 16, 2009

The Brain is Ready for the Ride

My brain is ready to get back on the bandwagon!  It is funny, I used to feel that if I wasn’t continually training for something I was sure I would fall back into my couch potato ways.  These past few weeks I had no worry that would happen, I just knew I needed a couple of weeks to take things easy.  I would know when I was ready to get back at it.  So far this week I have gotten in some great workouts!  On Tuesday morning I was at the pool and I knocked out 2000m.  I felt fluid and efficient in the water.  My new pink amphibian camo print bathing suit might have had something to do with it.  Or maybe not.  Regardless, it felt good being in the water.

In the evening I went out to Cochrane to ride with my team…for the first time in over a month!  I was a bit late getting there so almost everyone had taken off.  I rode with my teammate Paddy and we just took it easy and chatted the entire way out.  Riding at this time of year is fantastic since it is so social and we just ride with no workouts to think about.  Sadly the shorter evenings are very apparent so despite what happens with the weather our weeknight ride opportunities are quickly dwindling.  Sigh…  I refuse to think about the trainer yet!

Today I got out there for some speed work over lunch.  I had a 50 minute workout on tap with 10 x 1:00 hard/1:00 easy in the middle.  I had a meeting that ran from 9:30 until almost 11:00 so I really didn’t have a great snack.  The hard parts went okay but I really needed to take it easy on the easy parts.  In theory I wasn’t supposed to walk…but I just wasn’t able to stick to that plan.  After the speed work I was ZONKED with a capital Z.  I’m either going to have to make a concerted effort to knock the workout out earlier in the day if I know it is going to be warm, or I really need to make sure I have a good snack to fuel me as I felt like I was playing catch up on nutrition after that run.

And in other news I’ve committed to a few races.  Two are local 10Ks here in October – one for Thanksgiving on the 11th and the other one is the Halloween Howl on the 24th.  Should be fun!  Plus registration opened up for the Great White North half Iron distance triathlon on July 4th.  This was my first half Iron this year and I loved the race.  It works well timing wise as a “see where things are at” before Ironman, plus the majority of my team is racing so it is sure to be a fun event.

Another early swim is on tap for tomorrow, so time for bed!  Hope everyone is having a great week so far!!

12 comments:

Melanie Tait said...

Well done on your speed work and for your great attitude to training.

Can you please put your brain in touch with my brain?

Oz Runner said...

glad you're getting some nice workouts in...i love the weather this time of year for running/riding, but hate it that daylight grows shorter and shorter....like the new blog header...

Wes said...

This year, I am planning on training through the winter :-) No rest for the wicked ;-)

Mel-2nd Chances said...

i noticed the shorter days this week too as we came back from our ride on Tuesday... but I'm with ya, no trainer yet!! Glad you gave yourself the break, and get back into the groove on your own terms :)

Julie said...

I do love riding with other people -- here in the Crownsest Pass, no one knows what triathlon is, and nobody really cares. It is always such a treat the odd time I've driven up to Calgary to ride with buds! :) :)

Marlene said...

Sounds like a little no-pressure training was just what you needed. It's always refreshing to get back at it after a break.

I've really been noticing the shorter (and cooler) evenings. Hopefully you won't have to bring it inside too soon!

Lindsay said...

i'm so not looking forward to earlier sunsets... :-/ i'm starting to think maybe i should just quit training :) too hot in the summer, too dark in the winter. doesn't that sound wimpy! haha.

sounds like your week is going well and hooray for a few races on the schedule!

NJ said...

Love the new suit! New things can help with motivation - even if only for a short while.

I love autumn, but the shorter days are a bit depressing knowing what comes next! Enjoy what you have left!

Judi said...

love that new blog picture!

ShirleyPerly said...

Such a cute bathing suit! My old ones were getting a little stretched out so I noticed that wearing a new one did seem to make me faster and smoother in the water too.

Welcome back to training!

Charisa said...

Taking things easy is always good. You are an athlete - you won't fall back into couch potato :)

Alexandra said...

The social, no pressure work outs are great! They fly by!

I'm still waiting for that feeling to get back to running. It's been months for me and not weeks since running. I'm planning on the 5km run for the cure, maybe a few other fun short ones will do it for me.

It sounds like you are back into a nice routine of getting all your workouts in.