Friday, May 19, 2006

Triathlon Update

I haven't done an update for the triathlon recently, so I thought that I'd let everyone in on my what's been happening.

My training has been going pretty well lately. I've changed my schedule a bit to help get my body used to the high intensity of the tri. Instead of doing one workout a day, six days a week, I'm now doing two sessions a day, three days a week. This way, I'm still getting in two training sessions for each sport every week. Originally I was going to try to do all three in one day, but time just doesn't allow for that! So, Mondays I swim in the morning and bike at night. Wednesdays I bike and run at night. Fridays (or Saturday mornings) I swim in the morning and then run at night. I'm hoping that this will help me get those extra miles in and help me to continue to get farther in the training.

The fundraising is going ok. I just got another big donation, so that helped a lot. I still have a few people who I know will donate, so I'm feeling pretty confident in that aspect.

Because this is my blog and I try to be very honest on my blog, I must admit that I've been doubting myself lately with the triathlon. I'm having quite a week, and until this morning I was seriously considering changing my commitment from the Olympic Distance (1-mile swim, 25-mile bike, 6-mile run) to the Short Distance (.4 mile swim, 15-mile bike, 3-mile run). My training is not as far along as I'd like it to be, and I had an overwhelming feeling of dread. And, the thought of all of those people who donated to the cause made me feel ever more anxiety. If I decided to do the Short Distance, would people feel slighted because I didn't do what I said I would do? Would they feel like they got taken? On the other hand, would those same people rather that I a) try for the Olympic Distance and fail, or b) go for the Short Distance and finish triumphantly.

So, as I often do in my times of need, I called upon my most brutally honest, gives-you-the-whole-truth-and-nothing-but-the-truth friend Erin. I had emailed and asked for her opinion on the matter. She was someone who donated generously to the cause, and I knew that she would give me the most straight answer. She also trained for and completed the Chicago marathon two years ago, so she can feel my pain when it comes to training. She helped me to remember that I set out on this journey with a great goal, and that's the goal that I should still be reaching for. I do have two more months to train. And, there will be weeks when I feel like everything is going against me. And, my traning really is going well and I'm kicking a lot of ass at it. And finally, I told people that I am going to complete the olympic Distance, so I better do it, damn it!!

So with that little pep talk/kick start this morning, and remembering that although I was feeling nervous this week, my training sessions went really well, I feel back on track and ready to go yet again. I have just under two months until the big day, and I know that I can do this!

4 comments:

Christi said...

There came a point in my training for the marathon where I actually called up Erin and said "I'm not doing this anymore". I didn't feel properly trained and I knew that I'd never be able to run a full 26.2 miles w/o the proper training.

In the weeks before the marathon I still went about my current training plan but still didn't feel ready to run the marathon. But then race day came, and suddenly 5 hours later I had crossed the finish line. It's amazing what you can do if you truly put your mind to it.

You have two GOOD months left in training. You've come this far already, don't sell yourself short now!! You can TOTALLY do this Amanda. Just focus and do it.

Anonymous said...

Yup, I know you can do it. You're doing great so far, keep it up.

As for what Christi said, she went to London for two months and hardly trained at all, with the marathon only a month away! I never in a bajillion years thought she'd finish but she did - because on race day, your body will amaze you with what it can withstand.

You will do it, you will finish, and you will be SO PROUD. =)

Anonymous said...

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Anonymous said...

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