Twenty Weeks

My fellow Louisville triathlete, Jenny underlined the passage of time when she iterated that we had ONLY twenty weeks left till race day. Gulp. Twenty weeks sounds so much shorter than five months! And, actually, that was last week. Now, we have only nineteen weeks.

Training has been going okay. The mild winter has afforded the opportunity to get outside on the bike several times. Last Saturday, I got in a 41-mile ride on a beautiful sunny day with temps in the upper 40's. Criminy, the weatherman just announced that it will be in the 70's on Monday. Good grief. I would be totally enjoying this wonderful weather, if I wasn't terrified that the trend will continue through the summer.

Going back to the training topic, I decided to rejoin the Reds. I missed the gals a lot, and felt a little isolated. So far, I can't say that it's felt that much different so far, except for I now get a lot more email. The training schedule has a bit more volume, which mentally makes me feel better, though I wonder a little if I'm better off physically.

We had a group swimming lesson on Sunday, where the coach managed to find everything wrong with my form, as usual <sigh> I am never going to be a fast swimmer. And, according to her, it's doubtful I'll ever be a good swimmer, either. I guess when I look back from where I started, I am just grateful to survive the swim.

My bike rides, while I've felt pretty good, I am astoundingly slow. It's hard to believe that I've been spinning pretty intensely 2-3 times a week since November, by my average speed on those rides! I keep reminding myself that I am stronger, even if it doesn't appear that way right now. That's my story.

Tonight, I've been fighting the guilt of taking the evening off. My mood has been low, and I have been tired, stiff and sore. I had two big weeks back to back with only one day off. I am not a spring chicken any more, and it's been hard to know what the balance is between tearing down/rebuilding or tearing down/wearing down. Regardless, I didn't do anything tonight, so what's done is done. I have to fight to remember not to compare my training volume with someone else's. If I was totally slacking off, that would be one thing, but just because I got in ten hours this week and someone else does twelve doesn't mean that her training is ultimately any more effective than mine. I read somewhere that allowing someone else to impact the way your feel about yourself or your enjoyment of the sport is immature. (I think that came from Active.com). It's a good thought.