It's a good thing this swim challenge is going on right now to distract me from my hip misery. Right after I got done running I met Mark at the beach and we swam just a bit further than yesterday. No wind again so it was glassy smooth and while we were swimming back I had the thought that one of these days when our wind comes back we'll be out there truly battling the whole way. These last two days might have spoiled me and made me a bit soft because it was so nice and easy out there. A "cold front" is moving in right now and I think I heard that tomorrow is supposed to be wet and windy (50mph wind gusts??) so that would indeed make for some challenging ocean conditions. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to ocean swim or pool swim tomorrow, but there are 4 people right now in the swim game who are going for max points so if I skip a day getting in at least 5k, I'd give up my lead. So obviously I will not skip a day! It's just a matter of how challenging the ocean decides to be tomorrow? 4 miles in a small craft advisory would be pretty bad ass, but if I'm honest, I'd admit that I felt like a zombie for most of the day today after what was really quite an easy swim (even if it was long). So swimming long in super chop small craft advisory conditions- given my current state of cumulative fatigue- might really hurt me. We'll see. Mark asked me if I wanted to swim 10K one of the days and I told him no. If someone in the challenge throws down and does a 10k then I will respond and do one too... but I'd be happy to not have to go that far. Lol. I'm zombie tired at the moment.
I've been contacted 3x this week by athletes I used to coach asking about coming back to TeamBSC. That scenario always makes me feel really good, you know, like I'm doing something right with the people I work with. Whether they leave because they just want/need a break, or because they want to explore other paths with other coaches, I always understand the desire to do something different. That said, having an athlete return is confidence building for me. I don't know that they all have the same reasons, but I suspect that part of it for each of them is that they know how much I care about them as not only as athletes but as people. I pay attention and communicate as often as they like (because coaching is my full time job) which unfortunately I think is not as common as you'd think it should be given the partnership that is coach/athlete. And then of course they have success when we work together, which is the ultimate goal... Today I got a few emails from athletes that really made me smile- two emails with running race results. It feels awesome to have played a part in experiences like these... :)
~It was great!!! So much fun! My legs felt superfantastic too! It was like, hey wait this is a half marathon, on a trail? And I feel this good? And just cruising? Right then you realize the training is paying off and you're in the best shape you have ever been and its still 11 weeks til race day! I want to always feel like that in a half marathon!
~This was, for me, the best running race I believe I have ever done. I executed 110%. I don't think I could have run faster today. I am completely, 100% satisfied with the result!
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