When did running and I unfriend each other?

So my legs were a bit more tired than I thought they would be after this weekend's long ride at Skyline and long run on the hills of Arlington.  During the warmup at bootcamp Monday morning, I was already flagging (and tried desperately not to show it!) and during my swim workout after bootcamp, I could feel how tight my back was with each flipturn.  I'm making an effort to take recovery seriously.  This means that I haven't biked to work once this week because my legs have felt kind of like lead blocks.  Last year I made the mistake of jumping back into bike commuting way too soon after Ironman (not that biking Skyline is as bad as Ironman on your body) and I just remember being miserable.  Anyway.  Ironman training, in all of its glory, has really arrived.  And you know what the scary thought is - it's going to be over in a blink of an eye.  Just over two months from now, I'll be up at Lake Placid getting ready to race.  Two months is nothing.  Taper is going to be here before I know it.  The next 6 weeks will have the bulk of the long workouts and then... ease into race mode.  I already have a weekend of training planned for Memorial Day weekend that I CANNOT wait for.  A 5K swim, no wetsuit (hate the wetsuit bite), and then I'll be living on my bike with a bunch of other fun girls as we tackle Skyline.  I'm ready for Memorial Day weekend to be here, and not just because it's a 3-day weekend.

So I've been thinking about my running lately.  And how I'm not exactly jumping off the bike in a triathlon completely eager to get going on the run.  Sadly, my T2 time is typically slower than my T1 time (even though I'm not exactly wrestling with a wetsuit in T2) mainly because I'm in no hurry to run.  I remember my first half Ironman four years ago being a rude awakening to the fact that a half marathon in a triathlon feels substantially worse than an open half marathon.  I don't think I've ever quite gotten over that shock.  And I think I can count on one hand, using less than 5 fingers, the number of times I've felt really, really awesome on the run.  This is especially strange because I came from a running background.  But I simply am not in love with running after I've already swam and already biked.  I'm more in love with the idea of sitting down and enjoying a nice cold beverage and a Chipotle burrito instead.  I think my issue is more of a mental block than a fitness block.  I need to fall in love with the run leg of triathlon.  I would say I need to fall in love with it again, but I don't think I was ever in love with it in the first place.

So, blogosphere.  Any tips?

That Run was Harder than it Looked on Paper

So last night I was going to blog about my afternoon run but, as a result of said run, I was too darn tired. Have you ever had one of those workouts where you look at it on paper and think, "Oh, that's not going to be too bad at all." And have you ever had one of those workout where you are completely and utterly spent when you finish? Last night's one hour run with a bunch of 1/2 marathon pace intervals and 5K pace intervals was a combination of both of the above. I didn't have to talk my way through the workout to get myself to finish it - the thought that lots of other triathletes were out there working their tails off to get ready for the season was motivation enough - but by the last set of intervals, I was counting down the minutes until they were over. There was only a 15 second difference in my pace between the 1/2 marathon intervals and the 5K intervals, but those 15 seconds hurt. It also made me realize that going out just a little faster than your pace plan in a race - even just 15 seconds per mile - can spell doom. Repeat after me: I will not go out too fast in a race, I will not go out too fast in a race.

Speaking of races - I have my first race of the year in TWO WEEKS! I'll be running around DC at the Rock and Roll Half Marathon to celebrate Saint Patrick's Day on March 17th. This is a far cry from how we used to celebrate St. Patrick's Day at Saint Mike's back in college (green beer, green bagels, and a potato cannon at 6am - any takers?)

PS - I swam in my new lane again this morning and didn't get dropped or lapped. Thanks for being kind to me, new lanemates!

I went running!!!

I laced up my running shoes this afternoon for the first time in, ohhhh, about 4 weeks! I haven't run a step since Watermans the second weekend of October. I just hadn't felt like it. But my run today was glorious. GLORIOUS. I can't believe I voluntarily went without running for so long. I think I needed the break though; otherwise, I don't think I would've enjoyed today's run as much as I did. I don't know exactly how far I went or how long I ran for, but I enjoyed every minute of it. I'm already looking forward to my weekend run, an encouraging sign. Between getting on the trainer last night and going for a run tonight, it almost looks like I am training again. I'm not going to get serious about anything until after January 1st; I have no desire to have super-structured, goal oriented training during the holiday season. Trying to train for a marathon last year during Christmas was a disaster; I spent Christmas morning staring out my window, eating butter rolls in bed, and wishing I didn't have a two hour run on my schedule. I'm not subjecting myself to that this year - no winter marathon. Maayyyybbeee I will do a half marathon in March. Maybe. I know it seems like I lack motivation right now. And maybe I do. But that's all part of the off-season. I don't want to burn up my stash of motivation before 2012 even starts. So that's why I'm not stressing about missed workouts. I'm eating entire bars of Cadbury chocolate before dinner. And I'm not scheduling any big races until the spring.