Week three's theme seemed to be rain, rain, and more rain.
I would like to think I have the patience and thickness of skin to train in inclement weather, but this past week was a big challenge for me.
It was cold, wet and had some scattered thunderstorms. All very unusual things for California. We get rain, but it is often only for a few days and never really that hard. Throughout the week, we had very hard rain, high winds, fallen trees, hail, and low temperatures (for California).
As much as I would like to say I trained through it all, I didn't.
I was, however, able to get two good days of running and two solid days of cycling in. I did not swim at all given the weather and my lack of a stronger constitution.
The highlight of the week was riding 42 tough miles on Saturday, which included hill repeats out at Silver Creek in San Jose. It is a 6 mile loop that has a lengthy initial climb, a fast decent and turn around then a short intense climb and a longish descent back to the start.
My coach, Muddy Waters, organizes and oversees his group of athletes almost every Saturday. The ride consists of a 13 mile warm up on mostly flat roads then as many hill repeats as you can do before returning on the same road back (or lengthening it if your training schedule requires).
It was the first "real" ride of the year and I was cooked after only two loops. Muddy shut me down (thank you, Muddy) and told me to head home. The tough part is that the rest of the group completed either 3 or 4 repeats, but the reality is that I didn't have much left after two. I will be riding Silver Creek most weekends moving forward and plan to increase my count as the season unfolds.
Sunday's long run was a challenge, but I managed to run for 90 good minutes. Weather was cooperative and the
Los Gatos Creek Trail was busy with runners and walkers. It's a great path to run on and offers good climbing one way and a flatter run the other.
My legs were cooked from Saturday's hill repeats, but it was good to have two challenging days back to back.
There really is nothing like finishing my Sunday long run and having the rest of the day to relax and recover (most Sundays). Although my week's training was not as full as I would have liked, I did have quality workouts when I trained.
I try to keep weeks like this past one in perspective, but it is a fine line between being overly compulsive and guilt ridden and too disconnected to be focused enough. I teeter on both sides but try to keep a healthy perspective.
The old me would have chastised myself relentlessly for missing a workout, for not having the commitment to push through the bad weather, but I know that I have to forgive myself sometimes and to honor the other areas of my life that have great importance as well: family, work, my mental and emotional health among them.
I also know that, at times, I can be too easy on myself, that I can talk myself out of training with the idea that I can train the next day. It's something that I have to continually manage and also to remember that, really, there is no tomorrow. Nothing is really guaranteed.
This is the great thing about sport and especially triathlons. When treated with respect and sensitivity, the challenge really has to do with balance, life management and constant inner dialogue about healthy choices and, I think most importantly, forgiveness and treating yourself with kindness. It's also about the hard work, the elevated heart rate, and the feeling of sore muscles.
Nothing is like it. Nothing.
PS Update on my weight and body composition: There really is not change as of yet. I am hovering at 197 lbs and 33% body fat. I have been eating very well and really focusing on portion sizes. I feel a great difference overall. My commitment to "push away" from the table has been very empowering. My long term weight goals will begin to show themselves as my training increases. The small changes I have made in my choices have been tremendous and has created a new awareness of control that I had forgotten about. I am feeling good about that.
