Here goes nothing

 

 

 

Oh hey there!

I’m home-ish so of course it’s back to regular posting for me. I missed you guys like crazy and I definitely missed having a place to check in and get feedback and all that good stuff daily. Who knew I loved blogging quite so much?

I’ll give more updates on my trip when I’m not in pre-race mode (doesn’t every triathlete spend their race day morning blogging? I think it’s a normal pre-race activity and worth getting up a few minutes earlier). To be honest, I don’t have a pre-race routine. Today my goal is to keep my breakfast down–I’m going to spare you the gory details of my GI experiences for the last 48 hours but it’s enough to say that I think I got a dose of some kind of bug or ate something that didn’t agree with me because it’s not been pretty. Or maybe I’m dehydrated, or maybe all the “weird” food that I’ve been eating, or all the excitement, or who knows…but the result is that my tummy has been sorting itself out for a few days!

That being said, I’m going to look at today as a chance to see lots of friends and to get a good workout with a bunch of new training partners ;) . I’ll definitely be listening to my body and pushing myself accordingly.

…oh wait, that’s what all my races are like. Anyways, this is a 400m swim, 18km bike ride, and 4km run and I am starting to get excited now that I THINK this bland breakfast is going to sit. My stomach was growling when I woke up (no surprise there), so I am going with it.

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Some of my friends are also racing this race — so good luck to them! Like I said, mine is short and sweet. It’s a gorgeous day today so I’m hoping that the water feels nice and toasty so I don’t have to squeeze into my wetsuit. Truth be told, I don’t think it will zipper. I had an “OMG I LOOK LIKE A SAUSAGE” moment when I put on my tri shorts yesterday. I feel bloated after my trip and a bit confused because of all the food struggles I had for the last two week, but as I start to calm down from it all I’m realizing that I learned a lot and probably needed to struggle through this to get to where I’m going. How’s that for an unexpected lesson, yet again? It kind of reminds me of this post on health bent about finding motivation in frustration, which I know I’ve linked to before but like I said, it’s a reminder! :) I came back to some reasons for why I gave up ED in the first place, some quotes about trusting your process, some friends and family members who gave me some good encouragement last night, and just being gentle with myself and I feel like I’m in a much better mood today.

I’m stifling any sausage thoughts (get your mind out of the gutter, you sickos!) and replacing them with some catchy songs that I heard way too much on our road trip:

Anyways, at the expense of running late and not getting the best spot in transition area (this is a joke, PS), I’m gonna wrap this up and talk to y’all later…wish me luck!

What I’m looking forward to most today = sleeping in my own bed tonight! Hallelujah–I like me some travelling but being gone for over 10 days is a long time!

 

It’s about time

Nah, I’m not talking about my race time from tonight’s Go the Distance race, but I do feel pretty content with my 41:36 8km time. I also feel good knowing that the money raised from the event went to such a good cause. I saw quite a few familiar faces at the race, including one friend who raised over $1000 for Hope’s Garden. AMAZING! She ROCKS.

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They sent home the age group winners (2nd and 3rd too) with gift cards for Runner’s Choice (a running store here in London) so I have $10 to buy…something. Suggestions? I felt pretty sick during the race. My stomach is off and I found the chest cold I thought was pretty much gone. Things were clicking and snapping and hurting so you better believe I have a date with my foam roller and I think I need to rededicate not just to doing those awesome strength workouts I’m so fired up about (I started a box of WODs and ripped out routines from magazines and posted a teaser about bootcamp on Facebook today) but also to stretching, foam rolling, wearing my compression socks, and doing the little muscle work that I know is important for injury prevention. Promise!

I’m not sure what was up with my stomach. Nerves? I found myself nibbling all kinds of things this afternoon–I’m definitely one of those stress eaters. I did a pretty good job of fuelling today though, I’d say. I went to yoga this morning. I blogged. I sort of cleaned. My mom came for a quick visit and ran some errands and read some magazines with me (I’m a sucker for this month’s fitness mags since they’ve all got Olympic specials in them!). I sat around. :)

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Now I am so glad to be done for the day. I’m pooped and my stomach feels off! Must be a combination of a busy week, weird eats, the race, and everything catching up to me but I just want to foam roll and face plant into bed. Laundry can wait. Dishes can wait. Sleep is essential! I just had some chocolate (dark–bring on those antioxidants) so cravings are satisfied. I am thinking cough syrup and bedtime are in order. Not going to get sucked into Facebook, into another Jillian Michaels podcast (I think I’ve heard 5 today–catching up on old ones!), or into reading blogs (sorry guys). I am hoping to go home for a bike ride in the morning tomorrow and then come back for some fun with friends in London tomorrow. Somewhere in the next 4 days I’ve got a lot of studying to do…gonna worry about that later! :) I’m preoccupied with how excited I am for finishing the tasks on my summer bucket list, having time to read non-school things at my leisure, for the opening of the outdoor pool (sweet one piece tan, let’s go), and for starting bootcamp<–especially this, but I guess if you’re going to be distracted it might as well be distracted by awesome.

How do you unwind after a long week?
Have you ever raced an 8k? What’d you think of the distance? - For me, I prefer 10k because it’s a bit more comfortable. Or maybe just familiar and I wasn’t sure how hard to push, or maybe it was the cold, or maybe I’m over thinking this! I had a good run and I was on the edge of my comfort zone and those kinds of workouts are important so I’m going to call it all a success. :D
What are you doing this weekend?