Couch to ATHLETE!

I have control issues from time to time. I discovered this on the trail as my pace group mates were not following the rules of the trail. I should mention, I like to follow the rules for the most part. I do make some distinctions between rules and the spirit of the rules but when it comes to the trail, rules are rules. They are there for a reason; our safety! Running groups can be extremely rewarding but sometimes equally frustrating. Read this blog post about the different types of runners to understand what I mean by a running group (or what this blogger calls club runners. Just a quick disclaimer, I do love the Angry Jogger but proceed with caution if you are sensitive to language... I've been reading the Angry Jogger's blog for awhile and often find myself laughing  out loud while, in some cases, feeling slightly uncomfortable about the topic). Back to trying to make a point... When running in groups you have to make some concessions and accept where you fit in and ...

I have completed a full week of my half iron training. I swear, when I cross the finish line of this event I'm getting a crazy tattoo to commemorate all the effort that has been put into it! After one week I have logged almost 70 miles of activity. The truth of the matter is that in just one day in June I will have covered a similar distance. Did you get that? In ONE day over 70 miles. On the music front I have been kind of obsessed with the Lumineers lately and especially obsessed with the song Stubborn Love. The song Stubborn Love has been especially enlightening because the chorus repeats over and over again to keep your head up, keep your love. Now, I realize this is supposed to be some strange love song but I've turned it into some strange training song instead! Training and the friends that come along with it emulate an unconditional love... You keep your commitments to your training and your training buddies/friends regardless of the situation which allows you to k...

I consider myself a fairly well rounded person. I work hard at most things I do with the exception of cleaning. I mentioned in my post last week that I truly enjoy bringing friends along for the ride when I embark on new athletic adventures. This helps me maintain balance; I get friend time and workout time all wrapped up into one. They also remind me to come up for air if I start getting in over my head. A few weeks ago I was on the phone with one of my friends talking about how I got her into running. She ran a 5k with me and then another and then a 10 miler and then a half marathon. We still run together to this day! We started talking about foiled plans in 2012 to do a triathlon relay together, along with another friend of ours... Unfortunately, one of the players in the relay team is unavailable this year but we were still talking about wanting to make this relay happen. As this conversation was progressing, another friend was listening and swiftly announced that she would ...

Training starts on Monday for the biggest event I have ever committed to/registered for up to this point. To say I am excited is an understatement. I don't know why I am excited about the training other than it will be a true test of my will. As I have stated on my blog before, I have a history of not training properly for sprint distance triathlons. To relate this to life, not training properly is equivalent to the frustration you may feel when you have a friend who never follows through. Basically your training is your friend.  You are expecting certain results from that friendship but you only get our of it, what you put into it. Someone once said to me that I am only responsible for the 50% of the 100% of a relationship. I thought about this for some time and started considering the friendships where I simply did not get the results I was expecting. For instance, we have all had that one friend that consistently responds to everything except for when you are trying to g...

I haven't been this sore in a long time. I ran six miles yesterday but I also ran six miles on Wednesday. I wasn't sore on Thursday but damn my body is feeling it today. I blame it on the strength training Friday. On top of it my PF has flared up on the opposite foot that sidelined me in the fall. I have been stretching the heck out of my foot and calf hoping for relief. I promised myself when I went through Physical Therapy that I would religiously do my exercises FOREVER!!! Well, forever slowly turned into when I feel like it; that does not produce results.  Yesterday I got my common sense back and I committed to daily PF exercises for one week. Did them yesterday and already did them today. Everything can be done for a week! For example, this week I decided to quit ingesting aspartame. Why is this a big deal? Well I had an extreme addiction to Diet Coke! I honestly had myself convinced that I only drank a couple of Diet Cokes a day, but have come to realize I was...