I used to be able to do week-by-week recaps for my events. Now I suppose monthly recaps will have to do!
Depending on the regularity at which you talk to me, visit my blog, or how much I decide to share with you at any given time, you may know that I’ve been toying with the idea of heading back into triathlons again. I loaded a few training plans into my calendar, enough to get me to the start line of Ironman Boulder. Although I’m still unsure if I want to do that specific event — Cozumel, Copenhagen, and Barcelona still call me — I’ve been essentially putting myself to the test, figuring out if I indeed want it or if it was just a nagging thought. From time to time I get those, especially with my bipolar disorder (which gets exacerbated with my ADHD), so I always find that it’s best to prove to myself that I indeed actually want to do something as taxing and onerous as this. (For instance, I had to prove to myself that I wanted to go to grad school the first time by reading *all* of the books on marketing at the library. Yeah…)
Anywho, my first month, as defined as July 4th to 31st:
-138.8 total miles
-56.7 miles running (13.1 of them being the RNR Chicago)
-71.5 miles cycling (all indoors)
-3.67 miles swimming
-6.93 miles rowing (for days I couldn’t make it to the pool)
-Missed two swims and cut one run a few miles short
All in all, not too bad I suppose. I got some new tubes on my bike last month but haven’t really taken my bikes outside. I’ve made excuses, like “well, the trail is pretty busy during rush hour” (well, it is, because of bike commuters!), and then mid-day it’s “well it’s really hot and I’ll get sunburned” or “well, there’s a thunderstorm advisory and I don’t want to die.” I was going to go on a quick morning ride this morning but I got sucked into a fruitless internet discussion about women in cycling. My energy would’ve been better spent…you guessed it…cycling. Oh well. My day is fairly open, and if I can coerce myself to get on my bike for a lunchtime ride when the trail is clear and the weather is nice, I can re-learn how to use my gears again. I’m tired of pumping my tires and then going nowhere!
One of my goals for the end of summer was to find a short, local triathlon. Alas, the summer is quickly coming to a close. I’ve looked for something that would work with my schedule it is proving to be a challenge. School starts in a few weeks. There’s a sprint tri this coming weekend in Vail, but I’ve done zero outdoor riding, so it’s practically out of the question. The next one I could do is the 26th but it’s sandwiched between two shows (Depeche Mode and TJ Miller), and I have friends coming into town. The week after that we’re heading out to Virginia Beach. The week after that, I do have something on the calendar mysteriously called ‘Desert’s Edge Sprint/Oly Tri’…Hmm…That’ll probably be only only choice if I want to do it this fall before my slew of fall half marathons begin in rapid succession.
What I should do is actually rewrite my end of summer goal as “ride my road bike outside.” That would most likely be more productive and then be conducive to registering for a sprint. Or maybe just taking my bike outside into the hallway. Or wearing my cycling kit around the house. Kaizen – small steps, right?
Overall, things are going okay. Things at work have been looking up considerably. I’ve been looking forward to getting back into the classroom. I wish I spent more time this summer reading, but I’ve been focusing a lot on my training, traveling, and work. At this point my only reading is done through Blinkist and through audiobooks/podcasts. I suppose that it’s still been a fairly productive summer, all things considered.
Lesson of the month:
Amara in Training 