Lately

Finally have put together a few good days of workouts. It's been difficult to get motivated lately. I haven't been willing to commit to a race because I fear training in the summer heat, then I don't feel like doing anything because I don't have a race to train for. That cycle has dominated me since April and now I'm heavier, slower, and just overall less awesome than I once was. But, as the first line of this post suggests things are turning around. A while back I put together a plan to do a tri in December and another half-marathon in March. About 3 weeks ago I finally put my shoulder to the wheel and put a plan together that would get me ready for the tri in December. It's been humbling to start from "long runs" being 3 miles and struggling through it but it'll be worth it. Last week was the first solid feeling week. I feel like I'm starting to get back into the groove. I've learned a couple of things in the process as well.

1) I can't put in regular miles on the treadmill. Treadmills have their place in my world, but not as a central figure. I had been doing more than 90% of my miles on the gym treadmills and was wondering why my workouts were feeling so un-motivating. For the past 3 weeks it's been reversed where I'm doing more than 90% of my miles outside and I have felt so much better. Then on Monday I hit the treadmill again for a quick 2 miler and really struggled through it. For me the miles seem to be at least twice as difficult and 10 times more mind-numbing than any outdoor run. I do appreciate treadmills for the following scenarios: Occasional speedwork (probably only because a track is almost as mind-numbing as a treadmill), to avoid truly gross weather (which has been my excuse for the past few months when morning lows were in the low 90's), or keeping up during vacations (hotel treadmills can be a good option when you don't know where the heck you are going and want to avoid getting lost during a quick run in a strange town).

2) I'm no longer scared of triathlons. Not that I was ever really scared, but more of an uncomfortableness with the unkown. Last Saturday I had the chance to watch a reverse order sprint tri over the same coarse that I plan to do a regular order tri on in December. It was really inspiring and more importantly comforting to see the other "middle of the packers" out there. For some reason my mental picture of tri's was much more intimidating than what I saw on Saturday. It was good to see the lower end bikes in the transition area and people struggling through the swim like I'm sure I will be. In short, I'm getting more excited/committed to doing this tri in December.

Hopefully I will be a better blog poster as I train for my near term goals. It really helps me to digest what I'm thinking/feeling and helps me to more fully enjoy my running experience.