I am in week 3 of being officially coached for Ironman. I am so grateful for the accountability and the clear trajectory of my training. I have worked out harder in the last three weeks than in many years prior. I have been hungry a lot and exhausted even more frequently than is typical.

Last weekend my training for IM and for Angel Ride took me on a 52 mile trek around west-central MD and up Catoctin Mountain. It included a 6 mile climb (took me 48 min) followed by a 2 mile climb. Holy Quad pain batman! Afterward, I was tired, hungry, and feeling incredibly accomplished. However, two days later I tried to head out on the old faithful CT course and ended up collapsing into tears several times before going home after 14 miles. What can I learn from this? Eat more, hydrate more, and suck it up when it gets tough.

This week has included:
2800y swim (monday)
1hr ride on trainer (tuesday)
90 min run (wed)
4000y swim (thursday) (I admit it, I got bored so I only did 3000)
and still to come….50 mile ride + T run on Saturday and a 10k race on Sunday!!

This is just the beginning. I know that DCP (dear coach) will be kicking my rear even harder as the days progress and I embrace it with fear, anticipation, and a large supply of advil. I miss my DF, MM desperately. I was really hoping to do this training with her, but I am so happy that she is home with her family. Training alone a lot isn’t the most fun, but it is giving me time to my thoughts and preparing me for the lonelier miles of IM.

So 149 days to go until the BIG day. I have a feeling I shall channel a lot of Robert Frost along the way.

The woods (roads?) are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Peace.

Hey Readers O’ RunSingTeach,

I know I’ve been away a bit. I have had a lot swirling in my mind to share but have not find the motivation to click away. I’m thinking a lot about love, sleep, training, balance, God’s will, and the impending summer. Any thoughts on any of that?

Happy Spring Break. (more soon, i promise)

Ok, I’m going to try not to jinx it but I have two days in a row where I actually feel really good. Ok, really might be going to far. I feel good. I feel fat and slow, but I feel positive that I have completed two days without feeling like death. Keep your fingers crossed. Knock on wood and hope this keeps up.

🙂

i miss you my friend.
it has been far to long since we have shared a quiet hour or two.
you are waiting for me to return but my legs betray our friendship.
they are heavy. full of pain.

i can tell by feel that we have been apart awhile.
my body aches for you and its fullness reminds me we’ve been apart.
our time apart is changing me and I am not sure that I like the result.
i pray that i will regain the strength and time to be faithful to you.

i have tried to return to you lately but i find myself feeling inadequate to approach you.
as if you have been lost to me forever.
as if i have shamed you with my slow, lumbering, footsteps and the ungraceful bounce of my middle.
i miss you my friend.

will there come a time, when as God does, you will call me back?
where you will cry out, enough! come back!
i’m afraid that isn’t your way.
you simply wait upon me for my return.

thank you for being patient dear friend.
i long to return to our friendship based on strides and sweat.
i desperately wait for the day when i can lift one foot after the other and pick up where we have left off.
i will return friend, please do not give up on me.

We start every assembly at school with the proclamation, “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” It is Psalm 118:24. It just so happens that this is also the calendar thought of the day from Joel Osteen. His comment is not the usual paragraph of thoughts, he just simply adds-Every day is a gift from God.

It is this spirit of simplicity and gratitude that I often lack. I get caught up in all my issues that I forget to breathe and recognize that this day is a blessing. To wake up, breathe in free air, and do as I wish, when I wish. This is the day the LORD has made, I shall rejoice and be glad in it.

Today I rejoice for: health, friends, family, students, employment (twice over), a dog, freedom, a strong mind, a working car, comfortable shoes, apples, birthdays, the ever growing world of computer connectivity, political pundits, chlorinated pool water, my bike trainer, love, laughter, sun, hugs, and the peace that comes from only one place, the Lord.

How do you rejoice today?

In my daily scan of all things newsworthy, I came upon this lovely little piece by Marty Linsky in the Post. Mr. Linsky, of whom I happen to be a fan, suggests that had there been more women in positions of power that the wall street disaster might have had a softer blow, or even been avoided altogether. I basically want to reach across the interweb and give him a big ole’ hug for recognizing the power of women at the helm without sacrificing their best female traits.

“Women often embody a different leadership practice to the table, with a longer term perspective and a greater sensitivity to more enduring values.”

It is in this statement that I believe he is trying to identify a woman’s ability to see the big picture. It is this big picture, visionary approach that can guide an organization through an adaptive challenge. I appreciate Mr. Linsky’s understanding that women have an innate ability to lead effectively and have felt the underweight of being in a man’s world for far too long. Perhaps in the week-to-week crisis solution approach of President Obama, he will continue to keep his extensive panel of female advisers close to his ear. We will all benefit from their work.

It’s a snow day here in my town today. This is the view outside my apartment. You can’t see it in the picture, but the robust flakes are swirling down still on this frigid morning. It is the perfect day to say inside with a good book.  (I’m reading The Reader)

I didn’t want to go. It was cold, snowy, early, and I had spent the previous two days running around at state music conference so my legs were tired. (damn those heels).

But begrudgingly I showed up and toed the line. I had in my plan to stay just under comfortable. I didn’t plan for a PR, mostly a up-tempo long run. Alas, I did not accomplish either. From the first steps I knew that my legs weren’t interested in participating in the race. By the end of mile 1, my shins were screaming and I had pain in my right calf like I’d never before experienced. It was horrid. For the first time in a race I considered DNF’ing. But I told myself that my students knew I was racing and I couldn’t bear to tell them I quit and I know that Ironman is going to hurt way worse that this ever will.

So I plodded along watching people pass me left and right and feeling my time plummet. (Just keeping going, I said). I tried many times to make peace with the fact that this would just be a run.

I really did, in a lot of ways, make peace with running slow. It was this realization at how my running has and will continue to change. Not a resignation that I will always be slow, but a recognition that I’m slow right now.

The pain didn’t really subside, it just warmed up a little bit. I felt the pain in my mid foot that resulted from being a professionally dressed teacher on Saturday in my kick-ass heels. I slowed to a marathon and slower than marathon pace, which was disheartening. But managed to pick up the last five under 9 to finish under 2 (barely).

Today I feel pain in the body. I got what I deserved. I have not run enough or at the same level as when I ran with MM. I haven’t yet found the right niche for running without my zen sister. So today, on my snow day, I will consider sitting myself out in the snow to reduce the inflammation. And I will try to make peace with my lack of speed.

For now. I try not to dwell what I feel was failure and look upon God’s great creation covered in falling snow.