I’ve fallen in love with triathlon training.
Absolutely head over heels, googly eyed, drawing hearts all over the margin of my notebook, in love.
I wake up with enthusiasm and an eagerness to train.
It’s totally refreshing, and a welcomed change after a long winter of working out just to work out. Any day of the week I wake up with a whole selection of training options.
Let’s say the sun is shining and I have a podcast I’m dying to listen to, then I hop on my bike and log some miles. Or my legs are sore from yesterday’s run full of hills, so I make my way to the pool. Or I can’t imagine doing one more second of cardio, so I change the pace with a lifting session.
Now of course I am following a training program, but it’s flexible. I aim to run 3 – 4 times a week, swim 2 – 3 times a week, and bike … well to be honest I just bike a lot.
My point is I can’t stop gushing over how much fun it is to be training for an event that has multiple elements.
It’s a drastic change from last summer’s marathon training. I spent 5 – 6 days a week “eating miles for breakfast.” Every morning I laced up for run after run… and if you ask anyone who was close to me then I really struggled to get through my training.
The mental battle of marathon – ing is no joke.
Now I am by no means saying triathlon training is easy.
Brick workouts are EXHAUSTING…
Brick Workout – combining two elements of the triathlon into one workout, one right after the other. For example, completing a bike ride and immediately parking your bike to run.
And interwinding sprint triathlon training with half marathon training can be tricky. I have increasing long runs each week to prepare me for a 13.1 mile foot race, while simultaneously focusing on having the fastest 3.3 mile run possible on the last leg of the tri.
And attempting to get the hang of sighting while swimming laps in a pool feels … awkward. The River Rat Triathlon’s swim portion is in open water. You can’t just look at the lines at the bottom of the pool to keep you on course because… well the water in the River isn’t clear. Hence, why I have to practice looking up above the water.
Sighting – lifting one’s head above water during the open-water swim portion of a triathlon to stay on course.
Let’s not forget my ever – growing appetite from all the training.
With that said, I don’t mind. Not one bit. Even with its challenges and difficulties, triathlon training has evoked nothing but positive feedback from this girl. And I feel myself getting stronger, faster, and more confident each week.
As for this coming week of training, I’m interested to see how it goes. The hubby and I will be traveling, and therefore I won’t have easy access to my bike or a pool lane.
I will focus on running for most of the week… and have plans to run part of the Boston Marathon course during our stop in Boston. Eeeeeekkk!!
Can’t wait to share photos from our travels late next week. Until then, happy training 🙂
My Heart and Hamstrings 