Revolutions and Revelations

I was never a good diary keeper as a child (mainly due to the fact one of my siblings found mine, trumpeted it to the world and destroyed my trust) and seems I'm not such a good blogger as a grownup. A bit hit and miss.

Anyway, since the last entry I have started a twice a week spinning class, code named "Spycling" for short. Have missed several sessions between sucky sleep due to the good ole night schedule, and occasional other events the same nights. I am going to try to hit all the rest of the sessions without fail starting next week. My first session was anxiety provoking as it had been quite a long time since I had been on the trainer, in a room with other people. Entering the room with my bike, quite a few were already spinning anyway in warmup for the class. I promptly made a bonehead 'rookie' mistake by trying to set my bike up on the trainer BACKWARDS. Gawd, that's what I get for neglecting it for so long. dumb dumb. Once things were properly attached, the class went well and I was pleasantly surprised to find the cross training on the elliptical on the gym had helped. I even entertained some blurry thoughts of being able to power on the bike in my loosely planned tris/dus this year. Of course, endurance rather than power is my better skill so some work to do there.

My age seems to rear its ugly head in unpredictable enough intervals that I forget that it's not advisable to do 6 days in a row of fairly intense workouts then end them with a 10 mile hilly trail run. My right knee not so pleasantly reminded me this the next day when my knee was so stiff that I could not squat down for 4 days afterward. I'm not taking ageing gracefully. So, after taking 6 days off (dumb again) yesterday I hit the trails at Wyandotte County park again for a loop around the lake. Having entered a 2 loop (20.6 mile) race on Valentine's Day, I am beginning to get fearful of my ability to complete the race without DNFing. Yesterday was fairly comfortable, keeping a steady pace the whole way and powerwalking up the hills. Today my quads are feeling quite a bit like I remember them being after marathons in the past. Ahh, also a nice little blister on my left heel when I decided in my infinite wisdom to break in my new Vasque Velocity shoes with a 10 mile run. It will heal. The shoes felt great but I need to pack bandaids in my camelbak because I felt the hotspot coming on and did not have anything to put on it.

Noting the same training mistakes that I have made in the past combined with my somewhat hit and miss training plans, I have been entertaining the idea of a coach again. I hate setting up my own training plans, I detest it. OTOH, I still need to decide how much of my athletic endeavors I want to keep as "relaxed and fun" and how much I want to become competitive again. I DO love racing, that much is true. It is also true that I now enjoy athletic activity for the fun of it and the companionship. How to find a happy balance while staying healthy and happy?? That is my conundrum.

Until next time..