Training makes you tired sometimes

I'm tired. Maybe it's because I've stayed up past my bedtime lately. Maybe it's because my dog snores, grunts, and groans in his sleep, waking me up. Or maybe.... it's the triathlon training. I think it's the triathlon training because I'm tired in a good way. Not in a "I'm-so-exhausted-from-no-sleep-my-eyes-hurt" kind of way, like how I was during the whole 2+ years of grad school. No, this is a "I-an-still-feel-my-workout, I'm-starving, and I'm-asleep-the-moment-my-head-hits-the-pillow" kind of tired. I like this kind of tired. I feel like I'm accomplishing something. And I think I actually am. I've had a few easy runs over the past week, easy as in Zone 1. I've always hated Zone 1 because I could never stay in Z1 while running. That has started to change, and I can run at a decent, easy clip in Z1 now. My pace in Zone 2 has also gotten faster. The training is working - I am running faster than I was two months ago at basically the same cardiovascular effort. I have my first race of 2010 in a week and a half - the Shamrock 1/2 marathon in Virginia Beach. The plan is to PR - and if I run the way Jen has told me to run, then I think I just might. Though she recommended me to run until I'm on the verge of losing my cookies, and that's a line I have yet to cross. Maybe that's the line I need to cross to have a breakthrough race. We shall see, I don't know if I'm brave enough to do that. We all know how much I hate the whole concept of losing cookies.

In other (belated) news - this month's Triathlete magazine (yeah, it came out like 3 weeks ago, I'm a little behind the curve) voted the Savageman Triathlon the Hardest Triathlon on Earth. They had a whole article on it and everything. And I would have to agree - it is the hardest race course I have ever raced on - as well as the coolest. But I've done it - and here's the photographic proof!