The Beauty of HTFU

Today was one of those days where I had to rely on my mind rather than my legs. Since I've been sick the past few days, I decided not to race the Branson 70.3 this weekend. That was a tough decision because my friend Heath Pennell was racing and I was really looking forward to hanging out with him and Jenn. But I'm happy with my decision. I could have raced, sure, but no way would I have posted a decent time and after Louisville I just couldn't have another bad day. Plus I know from experience that if I race when I am sick, I get really REALLY worse for the next few days/weeks, and with tons of assignments due this week no way can I afford that. So instead of racing, I decided to take a few days easy and get back to training today.

Friday was an easy 2.5hr ride, and Saturday was a 12-mile tempo run and a swim. Normally I would be going nuts wanting to do more, but those workouts just zapped all my energy. I spent most of the weekend sleeping :P

Anyway, today I had a longish brick workout and a swim on schedule. 4hr ride, 2hr run and a 5K swim. Since I still felt a bit weak I was kind of nervous starting out, especially because I didn't get started 'till late morning 'cause of church. The ride actually went quite well. I explored some new roads, and got some interval training in when a German Shepherd decided he liked my calves. Yi! At least I was on my bike and not running... I rode around Ransom Canyon and Buffalo Springs Lake on my way back, and just looking at the sparkling water and the walls of the canyon made me smile. So beautiful! The prairie dogs were out too. I love those cute little guys :)

The hard part was the run. I was bonking pretty bad during the last 15 miles of the bike 'cause I ran out of water and forgot to bring fuel with me (typical, unfortunately). And of course I forgot to bring money. So when I got off the bike I was out of energy and my legs were toast. You know the feeling - when you're not quite up to speed, you're just missing that *spark* and everything seems much harder than usual. I downed some Poweraid (still trying to get used to that stuff) and hauled my sorry butt out to the car for the drive to the trails @BSLT. Still feeling awful, I called my boyfriend hoping for some motivation, but he was still at work. Up to me! It's hard to describe exactly what I was feeling...just low motivation, nausea, achy muscles, pounding head; small things but combined they were taking their toll.

But it's times like these that you find out who you really are. There is definitely something to be said for being smart and resting when you need to, but other times you have to get out there no matter how you feel and prove to yourself that you CAN do this, thank you very much. That way when you're racing and everything seems to be going wrong, you can look back on times like these and know that you are strong enough to make it through.

So I started to run, and the first few miles were as awful as I thought they would be. But then I remembered a lecture that I've given myself more than a few times: that no matter how bad something may seem, there is beauty in it. I started to lose myself in the run, just enjoying the big blue sky, the beautiful scenery, the rocky, hilly trails...before I knew it I was having the time of my life! I could still feel the pain in my legs, my pounding head, the chills and slight nausea, but they just didn't matter anymore. I even was able to pick up the pace a bit. This run was not nearly as pretty as my tempo workout of the day before, but it was beautiful in its own way. I ended up running 16 miles, which is more than I thought I had in me today.

I was one happy girl jumping into the pool after that run :) Didn't have a great swim but that's okay 'cause the focus was on the bike/run.

In the end, I had a great mental workout. I'm not sure how much benefit my legs got out of it, but that part doesn't matter. One can never have enough lessons on mental toughness; in a race the mind works harder than the body I think. The only way to teach yourself to be strong is to BE strong. And that can be a lot of fun! Just look on the bright side, and never forget that there is ALWAYS a bright side. Smiling makes everything better.

In case you're wondering, I am going to take an easy day tomorrow to recover from whatever damage I did to myself today. Longish swim and an hour spin on my bike. I don't mind easy days when they're directly following tougher days.

So that's that! Now it's time to get back to the books...and the coffee, unfortunately. I've tried to switch to tea but sooo not working. If you have any tips for staying alert without ingesting copious amounts of caffeine, let me know! And yes, I am sleeping as much as I can ;)