Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Blinders on....and other random thoughts

It's time to go again. And I'm ready. My body is healed and my head is back in the game. This is a new type of training block. I'm running solo......
For a long time, years actually, I have had close friends training for the same race with me. Mary and I have had the same race goals for 2 years now! Or is it 3?
We have parted ways for a while now, and it makes me sad. It's hard.
My other friends are working towards different things too. And you know, this is ok. It's fine! It's just different. I can't think about what they're doing...can't really worry about it at all. We can no longer compare how we're feeling and what comes next.
So, here I go. I have my blinders on and I am moving onward to my new A race for the 2009 season.

If you've been reading my blog, you might remember that the first 3/4 of our summer was WET! And quite cool too. It was a miserable June and July in terms of weather. Well Mother Nature is having fun with us this year. Today was 95 degrees in Paris, Maine!! It's been very very hot and humid since last Friday. You know, we'll take it. WE've been having fun in the sun all weekend. We spent Saturday and Sunday in a pool by the ocean. Perfect. No complaints. Yesterday I took the kids to the beach. Heaven. We all played in the water for hours. The ocean in Maine is rarely above 60....it was 69 yesterday. Good stuff!!

Ha..today was a reality check. I took my bike out at noon for a 2 hour ride. I am in big trouble out in those lava fields. My legs felt great. Strong. The fatigue is gone. At first I enjoyed the warmth. I cruised down the hill and instead of convincing myself to go back for a coat I enjoyed being 100% warm even on the descent. I rode along and hammered out some intervals. My HR was high!! A lot higher than normal. WAs it the heat? Or am I out of shape. The heat...it must be.
And then my eyes got sweaty. Sunscreen was dripping into them and making them sting. I actually stopped to take OFF my thin socks to give my feet more air! I was covered in sweaty grit. There was some wind, but it was not refreshing. It was like someone opened the oven and blew the air out on me. I was a melting sweaty mess. My head hurt. I just wanted to close my eyes. And that was just the bike!!! How am I going to run a marathon in this stuff? It was a reality check for sure.

Summer is almost over here..at least accoding to the school calendar. My kids start on August 26th. That is way too early. I still can't figure out why we need to start before labor day. In the next 7 days, my oldest turns 10 and my youngest starts Kindergarten. Time marches on.

5 comments:

Michelle Simmons said...

Soak up that heat training while you can!

I remember racing in Kona and wanting to rip my own skin off because I felt like it was completely suffocating me.

When your weather gets colder you might want to set your bike trainer up in a sauna at your health club and ride in there... with a hair dryer blowing in your face. That would be perfect training. ;)

Just kidding of course. You'll be just fine!

MaineSport said...

Gearing up again must be very difficult. I'm impressed.

Amanda said...

If anyone can get right back in there and go at it for another A IM, it's you. The heat will become easier. It's just bad at the beginning :)

GetBackJoJo said...

Oh! I'm sad we're not training for the same thing too! :( But it IS good for us. I think. And you're gonna be awesome!
The heat has been really fun--and hard, I agree. But good for Kona. Too bad it will get cool again in September. I think Michelle's idea of the sauna with a hot blow dryer in your face might be a good idea!!!

Michelle said...

All of your kids will be in school soon. That is a milestone!

I laughed when I read that you questioned if you were out of shape!! You just qualified for Kona!!

Still waiting for heat in WI and I doubt it will come. Fall looms quickly.