The Plan... Reinstated

Feeling some major relief today! You know that saying You Don't Know What You Got Til It's Gone? Ya, well I don't know that I knew how much I really wanted to race Honu until the probability was that I would not actually be racing… Maybe I take it for granted or whatever but yikes the last two weeks I've been in a bit of a haze like I have no GOAL… Trying to envision the month of May if I was not peaking for Honu… That's what I have done during 7 of the last 8 months of May… WHAT would I do with myself instead?? And while part of it is the actual race itself, most of it is the whole race weekend experience… I like that race because so many of my friends/athletes are there. I like that race because the morning before we show up at Hapuna beach feeling fit and spunky and we float around in gorgeous clear warm ocean with our friends looking for turtles (and we always find them)… 

Then when the race is over we drink beer right at the finish line and share war stories about how freaking HOT and WINDY it was… 

I could not think of a 'replacement' race that felt right in my heart, so when I saw a had a phone message from the Ironman Office this morning my heart skipped a beat… b/c surely if they were denying my request they would just send a faceless email, no? And sure enough, she said my email(s) were so genuine that they agreed to make a rare exception and allow me to race… My faith in Ironman has been restored!

So, 12 weeks til Honu! Let's start training! :)

Actually, it's going fairly well on the swim/bike front. Amazing how much differently I approach training sessions when someone else writes them for me. Last week I had my first legit bike training week in a long time (didn't skip *any* rides yay me!) and I just watched my HR/power ratio get better and better with every ride. Turns out, the more I ride, the stronger I get on the bike. File that under #Duh. Same rule applies to swimming… After 4 purposeful swim sessions last week, I actually surprised myself this morning with paces I was able to hold in the pool (this is extremely rare for me to actually be surprised)… but how great is that? Add a coach = immediately get faster. Well, it's really like Add a coach = immediately work harder, so I guess not really the same thing. But close enough!

In case you were curious, that whole do more get faster thing doesn't apply to running. It's my own fault really- part of the mess I created for myself before I hired Marilyn went something along the lines of run run run until your calf gets so pissed you can't walk. Whoops. It's been a couple years since my calf has been this pissed. I'm trying to be patient but water running is getting old. Anyway, I'm working on it and trying to get back to real running ASAP. Marilyn has been quite patient with all this and its refreshing to be guided by someone with that mindset… like these little hiccups are just part of it so we do what we need to do when they come along to maintain fitness and we will get back on it when we can… Keeping my chin up!