Ugh. I am all over the place. Literally. Between spraining my ankle and then heading out on vacation it’s as if training for Ironman Arizona hasn’t even started. But that is not the only thing falling behind. Blogging is lagging by a week, and the book I am supposedly writing this summer? It still in “supposedly.”
I am dropping a lot of balls right now. I talked to Joey from my Wolfpack team, and in his usual calm manner he explained I still had time. This month was about building fitness and my base for Arizona is better than what I started out with last year for Ironman Florida. Joey told me to do whatever I could; and that meant a lot of swimming. I took advantage of the lake where my kids go to summer camp, and got some long swims in.
We then headed to New Jersey to see my husband’s family. Joey told me that while traveling, to remain as active as possible. And I’ve tried. I am able to attend the local YMCA so I can swim and bike there. Running is still on hold for a few more days. By the time I get home on July 12th I will hopefully be running normally and can buckle down to get this show on the road.
It just is what it is. I haven’t run a mile in two weeks, and I still have one more week to go. I’ve gained weight and I am behind on almost everything. However, I have been taking advantage of being with my kids who are on summer vacation. A month into summer, the boys are finally relaxed. Our schedule and routine is flexible, everyone is happy most of the time, and I realize what a stressed out, hectic life, we lead. They have activities, races, school, homework, friends and playdates. I have writing, blogging, training, activities, races, and homework.
This time together makes me realize that though my goals are important, they are not more important than my kids. I can work to reach them, I should work to reach them, to the extent that I can while still being present for my boys.
And so I made a commitment to them and to myself that this Ironman journey will be balanced. Training must get done, but it might be at the expense of a home cooked meal, a delayed blog post, or a playmate we can’t make. It will not be at the expense of trying to maintain this healthy, happy, atmosphere we are now living in.
I guess this honeymoon with my kids also prevents me from getting too cranky that training isn’t going the way I want. I AM doing what I can, and that will just have to be enough for now. Here were weeks 4 & 5:
Monday: REST DAY. Travel day back to Miami from road trip up the Florida coast.
Tuesday: SWIM: Two loops of the lake (each loop is a mile.) My ankle felt sore after the swim.
Wednesday: SWIM: Two loops of the lake, but this time I did one loop using a pull buoy so I wouldn’t flex my ankle too much.
Thursday: SWIM: last big open water swim so I did three loops (3 miles) of the lake two of them with a pull buoy.
Friday: BIKE: First time out on the bike since sprained ankle. 3h30’ of hot, humid, and happy miles.
Saturday: REST DAY: Travel day to the northeast
Sunday: BIKE: Made it to the YMCA for a spin class but it had been cancelled. Jumped on a Spinner bike with a cool looking monitor, and stayed there for an hour. Turned out to be a great workout!
Monday: BIKE: Got my butt up for a 5:30am spin class as we were heading on a road trip to Washington DC.
Tuesday & Wednesday: If being a tourist is a workout, I had a heck of one. Otherwise, two traveling rest days.
Thursday: SWIM. Totally surprised myself by saying “I’ll go swim at the YMCA when we get home from the five hour drive back from DC.” The YMCA will be closed for the holiday so I won’t be able to swim or bike, and I still can’t run.
It is what it is, and it will be okay. How was your training this week?
