A blog about ultrarunning, Ironman and hiking 4,000 footers
I love it when a plan comes together.
Training this week just got a bit crazy and I’m walking a little funny.
Stats as of today for the week:
Things are the way they should be.
82 days until Ironman Coeur d’Alene.
It is 5:30am and it light outside. I love spring. I’m so excited to take the dogs on the trail and go for a run this morning; even after a few hard days of training I’m excited to run!
The last two days were amazing and hard – it’s back to endurance training. I guess I need to call it that because I’m simultaneously training for Ironman and a 50 Miler. I’ve never successfully done this so it’s going to be interesting.
Swim: I still can’t get a “convenient” lane at the pool. I sign up, I’m waitlisted. When a session opens it’s usually 45 minutes before and I miss the email. Or I sign up and get a lane and I have a meeting or something that prevents me from getting there. Then I deregister. Come On!
Bike: The weather is perfect for biking now. I biked on Tuesday and Wednesday. It’s hard not being in bike shape. As I rode I thought about how much I truly love biking. I love it more than any other sport. I refuse to bike indoors during the cold months because I truly believe it will make me hate biking. Like all the years before, I suck at biking for the first week or so then get stronger and stronger. This spring I will be equally tri-biking and mountain biking. We will see if it makes a difference.
Run: I didn’t run much these last two days because the bike kicked my arse. My legs were. fatigued and my back sore. I ran after the first bike ride because I really needed to run. But alas, three miles doesn’t really cut it. It’s okay: I’m back on track and will run this morning.
Weights/Core: Back to the gym for Week 2. I really like the circuit workout I do. All of a sudden I look up and an hour has gone by. I love sweating and just feeling strong. And wearing a mask while working out isn’t that big of a deal.
Everything is Good. Hard. Fun. Difficult. Complicated. This outdoor life is good. The training life is good.
Training has been lackluster these last two weeks. My last blog post about training was so hopeful and promising, Clean Slate. However, since that post everything got a bit crazy. I’m now two weeks behind and have lost quite a bit of fitness.
Nevertheless, I will persist.
This week is looking up:
And, I got into a swim lane for tonight. Things are looking up.
My race schedule up until June, as it stands right now looks like this:
Also on a positive note: out of the blue, my friend Vickie from the Leadville training group texted me. She is running the Vermont 100 this year (if it happens) and her training isn’t going as planned either. She gave me hope. We have been in this place before and have still accomplished our goals.
I think we just know that regardless, we are lifers. Lifers in the sense that if we don’t finish a 100 miler, or 50 miler, we will next year. But we are going to try our damndest to fit everything into our lives. We do it because it just makes sense to us. We cannot not do it. So thanks for the text Vickie.
Now that I have finished my 4,000 in a year now it’s time to
I’ve been following the 100 mile training plan so far. My watch tells me my training status is Productive – so that makes me happy.
Swimming has been difficult since the lanes at the Y fill up by 5:05 a.m. Biking is difficult because it’s cold however mountain biking is still possible.
I mountain biked at Bear Brook this past weekend and since I was hiking every weekend my biking legs were a little ….. Under trained, let’s say. Sonja and Jay are so fun to bike with.
I’m considering a fat bike but haven’t looked into if I actually can find one. That could be fun.
However, I’m pretty psyched to ski. Gunstock is making snow this week and we are hopeful for a December 4 opening day. This is going to be so fun.
These are the skis I’m considering. Aren’t they pretty and their name: Joy.
Everyone should have Joy in their life.
Last year in November I hit 2,000 miles from running and hiking. At the beginning of this year my goal was to run/hike 4,000 miles.
On Monday I hit 1,000 miles. While I’m glad I got at least 1,000 in I am so far from my goal. But alas, I’m on a roll and I’m going to try for another 500 miles by the end of the year.
On Saturday registration opens for Ironman Coeur d’Alene in June. Mark is already in the race as a rollover from a canceled race. Just knowing that I am signing up and will be racing next June motivates me to run. I tried to swim yesterday but all the lap swimming spots at the Y were completely filled. I feel like training and racing are back on now. I’m not quite sure how I feel about flying right now but June is a long ways away.
And.
I’m still registered for Ironman Mont Tremblant in August so two Ironmans in a year, baby! Now that is motivation to swim, bike and run.
2021 is going to be epic.