The Calm Before the Storm

Diggeo / Pixabay

While my work life is currently insane (departmental workload increased, then 1/3 of the people who do what I do left the department), fitness wise, things seem pretty calm.  I’m not currently freaking out about my training for an upcoming race or working on a huge packing list or reading race reports for a new-to-me race.

A year or so ago, I decided to go for quality rather than quantity in my racing.  While going for quantity was fun and I enjoyed racking up the states in my quest towards a half marathon in each state (I’m currently at 9, so I didn’t get very far), I realized that I wasn’t enjoying myself.  I wasn’t enjoying the training because I was just getting it done so that I could get through the next race.  And my race times were definitely suffering.

So now, I really aim for quality.  And that doesn’t necessarily mean that I’m aiming to only run fast.  But I want to have a goal for each race.  Sure, for the Donna half, my only goal was to have fun, but I also wanted to be well enough trained that I could have fun and not be suffering by the end.  I’m doing races because I want to.

In the case of triathlons, for this year, I’m only doing three.  THREE!  That seems crazy to me, and I’m not doing races that I love.  But that’s because this year’s goal is to get to and through the 70.3.  And to do that, my training has to be really laser focused.  I have two olympic distance races to help me prep, but really, I just want to hit that 70.3 and be as ready as I can.

No racing means fewer taper and recovery weeks, which is sad, but that’s exactly why I need to be doing fewer races.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying my training is easy right now.  It’s focused and driven, but I’m not ramping up quickly.  I’m just working to build.  I’ve got a comfortable routine.  Yes, it feels like some days I go to work, come home, workout, shove food in my face, and go to bed, but that’s more the fault of work than anything else.

I’m sure I will be regretting saying this as the season goes on and my workouts get even longer and more intense, so right now, it’s just the calm before the storm.

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