So Far an Amazing Week!

Yesterday I ran a full 22k, 1k more than the 1/2 Marathon. But I did it! So now I know that I can for sure. Now admittedly it was not a fast 22k but it took me 2hr and 25 min. However, I still have 2 months to improve on this time and this is the first time (in many years anyway) that I have completed this distance. I was quite pleased with myself for running for over 2 hrs and I even chose a new running route. (I'm not always very adventuresome.)

Then this morning I had a most excellent swim session with Hyack Master Swim Club. I got some stroke correction which I think will help with the reoccurring shoulder impingement that I get. I just felt so great, I felt strong and capable of finishing the drills. I still wasn't really that fast but I guess it's somewhat relative to who you are swimming with because one fellow kept telling me and another women how we were just smoking ahead. Anyway I really enjoyed my swim this morning and I still managed to get out for a quick bike ride this afternoon.

When I was leaving for my bike ride, my ex husband arrived to pick up my two oldest kids and he looked quite bemused at the sight of me in full bike workout gear. He wondered what I was doing although I've mentioned to him before my intention to race in a Triathlon. And you would think that me pushing my bike made it kind of obvious. But what I found even funnier is that when I told him I was going for a bike ride he looked almost horrified and wondered why the heck I might want to do that. As I pushed off and pedaled away I noticed that he was climbing back into his truck with his jumbo pack of Mike and Ikes. It's funny when we were married it infuriated me that he could stuff his face with fast food and sweets and pop and he was always so skinny but I would of course gain weight even eating a half of what he did. Well it's caught up with him now. He is starting to get a gut that rivals some of my past pregnancies.

I don't need to go into a huge ex-bashing session (even if he deserves it.) but it's scary because he's not the only one. So many of my friends and colleagues see their fitness levels drop lower and lower and their weight creep higher and higher and at some point they just give up they think that there is no hope, so why bother. It's true I will never look like an 18 year old and I am not always happy about my post-pregnancy body despite my fitness level but I know that I am working toward the most healthy me possible.

Some slight changes to pace...and figure.

Back to training after a few days off. I actually felt pretty good. I did an excellent run yesterday. Granted it was only a 45 min run but I felt like I could have gone longer but wanted to keep it short since I still seem very tired from my illness. I also kept a faster pace. I allready have been concentrating on maintaining a higher cadence on my bike and I think it's time to make at least one of my runs pace focused.



In the last year and a half of training I have always found it more difficult to increase my pace in any of my sports. At times I think it's my mind even more than my body. When I keep to a lower pace, lower heart reat ect I don't worry about wether I can finish my run, bike, swim. I know that I could keep on goin just like the energizer bunny. I don't even know why it's bugging me lately that I am so slow because I've honestly kept that out of my mind. I don't know if it's because I'm around more athletes lately and I'm a bit of a competitive personality or what.



The weather is definately begining to turn. It's colder, wetter and I had to pull out my longer run tights and long sleeve tops. It's so weird when the season changes and you put on clothes that you haven't worn in awhile. I was slightly pleased with the image that greeted me in the mirror. I seemed a little less bumpy, a little more trimmed down around the middle and overall a little more muscular. Boy I like that when I feel pleased about my figure and can focus on the assets instead of the liabilities. I actually noticed a strange thing about my favourite jeans too. In the thighs they are a bit looser but my butt....my word...I think it's bigger, not wider or anything just more muscular. I'm not sure how I feel about that. A muscular butt that rounds out instead of a flabby wide ass....well stated that way I'll take the muscular butt. I thought most of the major changes to my body were mostly over and only incremental changes were going to take place but obviously there is still room for further improvement. Cool. I suppose there's an upside to having allowed myself to get so out of shape, there's lots of opportunitty to experience positive change! Yeah me.