Playing Catch Up...

I haven't written in a few days since my sister Trinette was in town for the weekend! Friday I managed to get in a 60 minute run and it was about 7.25 miles so I was pleased with that. Then...the weekend hit and if my coach is reading this she will probably kill me.....but, I didn't do my long ride on Saturday---it was raining and I was just plain irritated at the thought of doing a long ride with my sister in town. So, I skipped the ride and subsequently the run as well on Sunday. HOWEVER, I rode on Monday for 2 hours and then hopped off the bike and did a short run and my legs felt good. Then, today I did my long run from Sunday. It was an interesting run for a few reasons.
*I used Dave's "Garmin" (a Garmin is a wrist top computer and will calculate your pace, distance and total time running)...very helpful when you don't know how far you are running.
*I learned how to truly "push" through a run when i'm feeling wiped out.

...I ran 17.40 miles in 2.5 hours...that works out to be about an 8:37 pace.......I was very excited about maintaining that pace for so long..however, I know in Ironman it won't be realistic to maintain that pace---but at least I heard Dave's voice in the back of my mind telling me that improving in running comes from really digging deep when you think you have nothing left. Today, at mile 15, I was spent....I looked down at the watch and my pace was going from 9:04 to 8:20 to 8:37, I was all over the place. So, I told myself to just keep on pushing. It's addicting to have the Garmin on, because i'm constantly looking at my pace to see how fast i'm going. But, it's good because I know i'm capable of maintaining a decent pace, so I can only hope I retain some of that for Ironman.

I realized today just how much of a mentally challenging race Ironman will be. Today I didn't have a 2.4 mile swim and a 112 mile bike ride before my run and i'm wiped out.....I only have a few weeks left here so i'm hoping whatever I do between now and my taper (when I start to cut back on training) serves me well.

Honestly, i'm close to being burnt out from training--I have really stuck to most of my training schedule and the workouts I have missed, I think will end up saving my energy and my knees in the long run. All the people i've talked to recently feel the same way I do, so I know i'm not alone. I feel like if I can get in some more solid long runs, i'll be truly ready. My swimming and cycling tends to be consistent.....and my cycling continues to improve. I only worry about my run because i'm not good at recognizing my pace and I tend to never be consistent.

I guess I should just worry about finishing right?? Well, I like to approach this with the mindset that I will finish and do each piece of the race the best I can. And the competitive side of me really wants to finish well...however unrealistic that sounds!

Off to bed! Thanks for reading!!