Because I'm Classy Like That

My first tri of the year is this weekend, so I thought it might be a good time to start swimming again.  I made plans to meet up with a tri friend at the local beach over lunch today.  It's pretty hot here today, so when I pulled up at the beach at 12:30, the parking lot was packed.  I felt a teensy bit awkward hiking across the parking lot in my fancy suit and high heeled shoes to the beach bathroom/changing house.

After a quick swim, I headed back into the changing house to get ready to go back to the office.  And quickly discovered that putting on nylons right after swimming while simultaneously trying to avoid touching bare skin to any floor/wall surface is a workout in and of itself.  I'm sure I got a few looks as I busted out of the changing house in my high heels and suit again.  I tried to ignore any people looking at me and made a beeline for my car.  After about five minutes of unsuccessfully punching in my unlock code, I realized I had made a beeline for someone else's car.  Had to go a little further down the parking lot to find my own car . . .

And now I'm back at the office, ready to get a few more hours of work in before golf time.  In summary: I apparently have a high threshold for public humiliation when it comes to getting my workouts in.  I'm not sure whether that is a good thing or a bad thing, but I'm going to go with it.

Ready (Maybe)

My training for the last year or so has been sort of non-training-ish.  I've been running (and biking and even sometimes swimming), but without following any sort of training plan.  And I haven't put in the training that I should for the races that I have done.  I think there's a couple of reasons for this - for one thing, for me running and racing goes through cycles.  I have periods where I feel very driven to train for specific goals.  But I can't do that all the time.  If I do, I end up getting obsessed with results.  And feel crushed if I don't get my expected results, which leads to running being something that makes me feel bad about myself.  Which is a little counterproductive.

The other reason for the non-training is because I have been trying to get pregnant for the past year.  When we first started trying, I assumed that I would get pregnant right away.  After all, I got pregnant with Sophie when we weren't trying and I was on the pill.  One year, two chemical pregnancies and a miscarriage later, joke's on me.  When I signed up for the Twin Cities Marathon last year, I assumed I would be pregnant and wouldn't end up running.  So I half-assed the training and had a crappy race.  When I signed up for the Wisconsin Marathon this spring - same thing.  Except then, two months before the marathon, I was pregnant.  I was still running and training for the marathon when the miscarriage started.  In my head, I thought a miscarriage would be a one day event.  In reality, between the spotting and what I consider "pre-mascarriage drama" and then the actual miscarriage, it was about three and a half weeks worth of suckiness.  By the time the whole miscarriage thing was done, it was too late for any "real" training for the marathon.  But I still ran and surprised myself with a half decent race. 

For my own sanity, I have to give up thinking about getting pregnant (easier said than done).  The desire to find something else to focus on has given me a hunger to throw myself into some solid training.  I have my sights set on two fall marathons - the Women Rock Minnesota marathon in September and the Whistlestop Marathon in October.  I think that if I put in a solid couple of months of training I can get a PR and go sub-4:30 at one of these races.

Last week, while I was resting my legs post-Grandma's (what is it about marathon recovery that makes you think about more marathons?), I made a little training plan to take me from now until September 1st (the Women Rock marathon).  I tried to keep it flexible to take into account summer schedule craziness.  I am excited to start checking off workouts.  After taking it pretty easy during the week last week, I had a couple of good workouts this weekend - a five mile run yesterday and a 40 mile bike today.  Tomorrow?   I've got speedwork on the calendar.  Now I've just got to try to remember where the track is . . .

Grandma's Marathon 2012

Last Saturday I ran my ninth marathon and my third Grandma's. I ran with a friend who was doing her second marathon (but it had been a very long time since the first). Our plan was to start slow and slow down, and we were in it to finish. We executed our plan and finished in about 5:27. It was a weird weather day - started out hot and humid (I was completely drenched in sweat after the first mile). At about the halfway point, it started clouding over and cooling down. We were cold the last few miles, and by the finish it was 54 degrees. We finished just in time to beat the rain, thankfully. I was glad it cooled down when it did - my stomach was just getting to the really angry, nauseous stage. Otherwise, I felt great. My back started to really tighten up the last 10 miles or so, but within several hours after the race it felt better. I've been spending the last few days recovering. I feel ready to get back into some hard workouts. Unfortunately, we're having some crazy weather this week so I might have to wait a few days. A little more recovery probably won't kill me! I'll be ready to really hit it hard this weekend when the weather (hopefully) cooperates.