Yahoo! The Off Season and Other Stuff

It's really time for me to blog again!

Since the Ragnar Relay I've loved not training. What I loved most about it was the mental break. Having one less thing on my plate for awhile was good because training had become something I "had to do." The passion for it had waned.

During the break I made some decisions about 2010.

I'm going Short Course! All sprints and Olympic distance races!

The reasoning is two fold:

1) Training for Short Course will take significantly less time, which is essential for me in 2010. While I've learned tons about managing feelings of overwhelm that come from launching a new business, trying to be the best wife I can be, and living the rest of my life, honestly the thought of training for a Half Ironman next year made me go UGH and produced a feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach. I've learned to listen to those feelings. After all it was a flash of feeling, in the center of my gut, like a voice telling me what to do, in November, 2006 that spurred me to commit to Silverman. Three years later, HERE I AM! A changed person in every sense of the word. I listen to those gut feelings.

2) I seriously want to get faster. I TRULY DO. Coaching with Liz will get me there. I will continue to have to step outside my comfort zone. I didn't push as hard as I wanted to in training in 2009 and that sort of bugged me. It also showed in my Utah Half Iron race results and in a lot of my mental struggle during that race. Looking back I just see it as an opportunity to prove to myself how serious I am to raise my athleticism to the next level. I need to get comfortable being uncomfortable!!!

I'll post my race schedule soon in the sidebar. I feel the need for a new blog template soon too, and new pictures . . . . . :-)

For now, getting back into training has been good. But also rough. My run absolutely SUCKS. Liz told me yesterday that the run takes 4-6 weeks to come back so this makes sense. I had a GREAT swim workout the other day -- it surprised me how good I felt in the pool after six weeks away. And I've been riding the trainer doing high cadence drills, one legged drills, and other stuff. And of course strength work. That is the toughest for me to fit in because I treat it as an afterthought.

WRONG WAY TO LOOK AT IT! I just told Mike and Ann the other night at dinner (Mike came down here to race the Silverman Half -- he had a very strong race!) that I'm feeling too "soft" in the body lately. Ugh. It's true though. I sometimes miss the days where I lifted three times a week (of course during that phase of my life I did no cardio at all. I brazenly believed I didn't need to -- rofl).

SO . . . . DO THE STRENGTH WORKOUTS STEF. Duh. Nuff said.

Consistency is KEY for me this year. Part of not pushing myself enough in 2009 included letting myself rest too much. Truth be told I skipped too many workouts. Because pushing myself really HARD out there in the swim, the bike and the run scares me. It is SO uncomfortable. Training for Silverman, every workout was a risk. Every workout, especially toward the end, pushed me into someplace I had never been. I wanted Silverman so badly that I had to shove aside the fear and the discomfort and just GO.

After Silverman I've had to find new sources of motivation within me. And that's okay. That means I continue to change and grow.

So I plan to be back here more often blogging about my training and new goals. Welcome back ME!

OH and it was so much fun following my awesome blogger buds who did the Beach 2 Battleship!!!! I had signed up for that race and, while pulling out was the best decision for me, it was amazing watching them give their all out there: Calyx, Donna Shirley , and Kevin especially!!! I've been following these guys for at least two years now and always wait with bated breath for them to post. Great blogger friends to have!!!!!ENJOY YOUR OFF SEASON FOLKS. You earned it!