Early to Rise

I love my weekends. I love them! The sleeping in, the quiet morning, the lingering cup of joe, having my boys beside me - just relaxing and considering the possibilities…. Even with a relatively rigorous running and x-training schedule I’ve managed to keep my weekends relatively peaceful and sleep centered. This weekend, however, we set our alarms for a very early Saturday morning wake-up to watch my brother participate in a triathlon, something he particularly loves doing. It’s the first time we’ve had the chance to see him in one, and it was wonderful. The weather cooperated, the whole family came out in force, and Eric did better than he anticipated. It certainly raised my desire to finally tackle that beast (best left to another year).

The dawn waking Saturday hijinks made the idea of an early rise on Sunday entirely unappealing. I really wanted one nice long morning rest - but I knew in order to get my 22 mile run in with our current heat and humidity that I had to be out the door early. I had NO desire to run. When the alarm rang I turned it off and just laid there talking myself out of the whole affair. I honestly don’t think I would’ve climbed out of bed if it weren’t for the smell of coffee (merci Conrad!). I felt exhausted, I didn’t have the proper fuel to take with me, and I didn’t really have time for breakfast if I expected to beat the heat. So as I was pulling on my shoes I made a pact with myself that I would just get to the 2nd water fountain in the park and try again Monday morning for 22. I had no real plan to seal the deal. And I think, for me anyhow, that’s when my best runs happen. Those times when I set out with no real expectations always end up being the runs I feel like I could go on forever. I went out the door and rolled through 22 miles with relative ease. It’s a great sign that my training is paying off in giant endurance dividends, and that despite my poor choice in nutrition for the morning I’m doing a good job taking care of my fuel tank in the long term. It’s exciting to see my body respond on little sleep and a stressful week - but I also know that it’s really important to rest and let my body repair. That balance is tricky, as I feel myself getting fitter I want to push a little more, test the boundary just a tad, but I’ve got 7 weeks until Chicago and 12 until the big event of 50 miles so I’m working on my patience and my restraint.

Miles Run: 62 + 1 hour swimming +1 hour biking +1.5 hour resistance/yoga