Not really training for anything

It seems very odd for me to not really be training for anything in particular. Oh believe me, I have made my race calendar in my head and it is going to keep me busy. But right now I am just enjoying running.

I haven't enjoyed just running in a long time. It is not a chore (well most days aren't) to get up and get out the door. I am running 4 weekdays and am going to get my long run in on Saturday. I am still swimming and biking but not really focusing on anything. Just enjoying multi-sport fitness.

My goal is to learn to run by myself and if I find someone to hang with me for the long runs, that will be great, but if not, I can do it. I think there is a new lesson to be learned by me in this and it might be to find some inner peace with running. Be one with running.

We shall see how this works but so far so good.

An Apple A Day will not keep the Dr. Away

Well at least not for me. It seems I will be seeing a pulmonary Dr. for the rest of my life. How did this happen and why me is all I keep asking myself. I have never smoked in my entire 40 years of life. I have not always been active but shouldn't the last 4 years of hard training have been enough to make up for it? Shouldn't all the people I know be looking at me saying "Damn if she can, I can"? Yes I think all of those things apply. Well they don't.

As reported in my last update, I had a medical issue at the end of the race. I am an asthmatic and the granddaughter of COPD genes! Well guess who was the lucky one? That would be me. Yeap, my lungs suck. They don't move air the way yours do. Yeah you sitting on the couch eating ice cream, potato chips and french fries and you breath just fine.

As I am sure you can tell already, I am angry, I am mad and now I am reassured that I was not switched at birth, which I had always believed. But they cannot deny me now. I got their lungs! The anger comes from not doing anything to cause it and actually working hard to stay healthy. Unlike the rest of my family.

I will not stop any of this madness, I will just have to be careful. Run with an inhaler, a phone and yes I guess an I.D. bracelet. I was asked to run in moderation and watch the conditions. Which I will watch the conditions but I will not back off, I will just up the life insurance and make sure I always have clean running shorts on just in case!

Race that never was and the Race that I am glad is over

As you all know I was training for the Flying Pig Marathon for the Spring. I would love to say that I went, had a great time and I kicked major ass at it. I don't get to say any of that. I get to tell you that the best of plans sometimes get foiled. The best of plans get interrupted. I think my life is like one of those shows where they come on and say "We interrupt this program for a special announcement". I don't like the announcement coming, but oh well. It is what it is and I move on.

So with that said, Flying Pig never happened and for that matter not alot of anything happened. Training fell by the wayside and I didn't really get much done.

But I still had White Lake to worry about. As we all know that was the one I was worried about anyway. Running is second nature to me now. Not 26.2 miles but running is easy. Triathlons on the other hand, push me to my limits. Physically and mentally. Mentally probably more than anything. That was why I signed on for this multi sport madness, wasn't it?

White Lake Sprint II weekend is quickly approaching and panic sets it. I have to get in the pool to see if I can still swim, I need to get my bike from the shop, I need to ride a bike, any bike will do so Friday before a race I go to spin class. Not sure if that helped or hurt, but I did it. We are there, we have our nice accommodations (not Langston's) and we are having fun. Jill completes her first half ironman distance on Saturday. I cry when she crosses the finish line like any good friend would do. I eat a great meal and go to bed early. Not too early since my start time isn't until 8:56. Really, I won't be finished until lunch time. Just kidding. But everyone else will be finishing and I will be all by myself on the bike and run course. I wasn't but that is what I was thinking. I was on the second loop of the bike by myself for a bit. There were actually several out there and I got to pass them. YAY for the small things. Saturday afternoon I started having major anxiety over the swim. The wind had picked up and the water was getting choppy. That is never a good sign for the girl who is already worried. Sunday morning arrives I get my new wetsuit as my Mother's Day gift and I proceed to get ready. I go get my timing chip, I get my numbers (personally not happy about the Master's age group) and off we are. Like a huge baby, I get nervous about the swim and I what, yes, I cry! I don't want to swim. I want to turn around and back out. But I also hate quitting. So what is it, suck it up and swim or quit and feel horrible forever? OK I get in the water. I warm up a little and I feel better. I met several people that think they swim worse than me. Ha Ha, that is the funniest thing I have heard all morning but I will give it to them. Then they call it, 3 minutes to the Novice group goes off. I learned last year to not swim in my age group. Horn blows, swimming I begin. I am feeling pretty good at first then I realize how choppy the water really is as it slaps me in the face at every time I go to breathe. Swim takes a little longer than I would of liked....but when I got out of the water, I wasn't last and I didn't quit. I wanted to several times. Time to ride my bike 14 miles. Head wind the whole time. I have a good bike time for someone who hasn't ridden a bike other than spin class in 6 months. Bike is racked and time to run. I love running. I feel good! I have an excellent run time. Going back in from the run was hard, everyone was leaving and here I am just coming in. It really shouldn't matter should it? I finished and I finished better than I did last year. Which means I did better somewhere in one or all those of sports (SWIMMING). There is alot that went on after the finish for me but it would take two days to explain. Short of it, I experienced a medical issue and ended up in the medical tent. Glad that is over.

I say this for the second year, I hate that place and I will never do it again. I will be back next year White Lake, I also refuse to let you get the best of me and I am going to master swimming some how if it kills me!