Life is smooth sailing after Tri For a Cure. (I had to.)
My parents bought a beautiful vintage 22 foot O’Day sailboat and taking her out in Casco Bay is such a pleasure.
I’ve been spending time in Maine with family and just enjoying the beautiful phase after a race where you have all this added athletic ability but a reprieve in pressure to train.
I wake up in the morning and look at our schedule and think “should I run, bike, swim or recover today?”
This morning I went for a 7 mile run because I miss being capable of running long distances and am starting to consider my training plan for the Chilly Half Marathon in November.
Yesterday I went for a 10 mile bike ride to relax before lunch.
Tomorrow I’ll probably swim if I can get a babysitter.
I love the post-race phase, and I’m thrilled that (so far) I’m not signed up for another event until October. I like the feeling that I’m in “bonus” zone, where I’m just having fun and maintaining a base level of activity. If I feel like biking two days in a row, I do it. If I want to run intervals and let some steam loose, I do that.
That said… Chilly is on my mind again. It’s been a couple years since I earned my PR in the half. I’m not saying I have the time to get back there between now and November, but I’d like to get back into running and have a better season than I did last year.
Races keep me consistent. I love living an active lifestyle, but even with a race on the calendar I have weeks where I miss 3 days in a row. Without that motivator, well… I’m just one of those people who does better having something to work towards.
Yup, me too. I do much, much better when I have a race coming up and a training plan to follow.
I’m the exact same way. I have a half marathon on my calendar right now, but thinking of maybe adding another one (or maybe a different race altogether).