Push, Push, Pace!

"This is not a sprint, it's a marathon!" I think the last time I said this was back in October before going to a Cubs rooftop game where I knew I was going to be drinking all day. But my all-day drinking PR is anything less than a Boston qualifier, that's for sure. For some reason though, this saying popped into my head this past week as I was lifting....but no, I wasn't drinking while doing so, that would be pretty impressive though.

So I completed my first week of month two. It's safe to say it was a little difficult picking back up on my "regular" routine after a week of recovery. In which time I also did barely any lifting because being sick really just drained my body of energy, and I just did my best to complete my primary run-swim-bike workouts. But more than anything I love leg workout days. Well, in triathlon training everyday seems to be a leg workout day, but on Wednesdays I usually dedicate more time to extra lifting and go heavier. As I was getting through one of my last few sets on upside-down leg presses on the smith machine, the fatigue was really starting to set in. As I laid there on the ground I told myself I had one more circuit of calves & hip abductors before I could throw in the towel.

I know this feeling, this sensation, my internal push. Over the years it's gotten stronger and honestly a lot meaner. It's that voice in between my ears that tells me I'm not going fast enough, haven't done enough sets or that I need to make sure I am dead tired by the time I go to bed and that I need to wake up sore or it wasn't worth it. What a bitch!

But after a couple hours in the gym, for the second time that day, I let up on myself. It was much less about "doing enough" and more about convincing myself that I would be at it again tomorrow and not being able to walk or being too sore really wouldn't be productive for training. And that's been my most recent realization. For the past few months my workouts were mostly heavy lifting and running. I would go for as long and hard as I could, but triathlon training doesn't work like that. Don't get me wrong, I always want to put in my best efforts and go as hard as I can. BUT! What I'm coming to find is that it is MORE IMPORTANT NOT to push to the max....BUT RATHER to pace yourself so that you feel like you've worked hard, but will have enough energy to get up and do it all again tomorrow.

Words of wisdom from a triathlete in training. Pushing to keep pace.