A Warrior Weekend to get my @$$ into gear

My goal race this year was the Eagleman Half Ironman Distance (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride, 13.1 run) which was back in June. During much of the training for that, I was trying to balance social time with non tri-friends along with getting in long distance training. That often meant being out late at night, and then meeting up with tri friends after a couple of hours sleep to do some hung over training. I don't regret any of it since I enjoy being a night owl as well as training... but once the race was done, my focus became enjoying the off season.

And enjoy I did! I had a 2+ week vacation to Colombia, made new friends, went out dancing a lot, etc etc. Work also picked up the pace and I got to travel to Peru as well. All of this meant that I stopped working out. With the exception of a hand full of runs, swims, and biking in Deep Creek Lake on 4th of July, I didn't do much. I kept making grand plans to start tomorrow, but like a bad dieter or a smoker trying to quit, tomorrow never came. 

Medellin                              Cuzco                         Going out 

But this past weekend was my deadline - I was going to start working out again! And it was the perfect excuse because it was a weekend trip with tri friends. On Saturday, I woke up in Dewey Beach and joined Sandy for the first part of her run (since she is training for MCM). As we had done in the Spring for our Awesome Cherry Blossom Adventure, I decided to take my camera along to take fun pictures along the way. We started with our jumping pictures. Then went on our way and I went out about 2.5 miles with Sandy with a few picture stops. For having barely run, I felt strong, but have no data since my garmin watch was left behind. I turned back and did about 1-1.5 miles and was starting to feel out of breath, so I went to the beach and tried to run there, but mostly did sprints and then walked. But it was a beautiful day and I enjoyed being out and at least getting my body moving again (beyond the booty shaking I've been doing while dancing). 

Then Sunday we drove to Quarryville, PA for the Warrior Dash, a 5k race with about a dozen obstacles and tons of mud and some fire. Amanda, Sandy, Lindsey and I said the goal was to finish it together, so that's what we did. It wasn't as tough as I expected and the obstacles were fun and none were too hard or impossible. But we did get muddy. Very, very muddy.

The adrenaline from the fun race and endorphins from working out again kept me going through the week. Monday, I met up with Andy for a swim... but gah, even though swimming is suppose to be my strong suit, Andy was kicking my butt in the water and I was really feeling exhausted with a side of bruised ego since he's gotten faster since the last time we swam. Oh well, that tells me I need to swim more. But at least I can kick faster than him!

Tuesday, I ran 3.3 miles. I did the first 2 in under 20 minutes and felt very strong. I was focusing on improving my form and felt good. Then reality set in that I am out of shape, and the next 1.3 were mixed in with some walking, but still did that in 14 minutes. Then I went to the gym and did some strength training.

Wednesday, I went to a spin class at WSC, and my heart was pumping hard, but I focused on keeping a high cadence on all the "hill climbs". 

So the long weekend really did help get my @$$ in gear again. I took Thursday as a rest day and have to see if I swim or not on Friday. If not, then this weekend I am up for a swim and probably a run, and I think a long hike on Sunday.