Flowing Forward...

Well, it is March 2014.  I head to Timex Camp this week in Florida and my race season starts in about 1 month.  Last September when I finished up my season in Tempe with a 3rd place finish... I was quite grumpy.  I was in 1st place until I hit the run.  My awesome Physical Therapist, Bill at Specialized Physical Therapy received a text from me basically venting about how painful my hamstring was on the bike and how it had no juice for the run.  This is the same song and dance I have been doing since my injury in 2009. I went into deep thinking mode in the next two weeks trying to figure out what my body needs, what I need, what my hamstring needs and had much discussions about a new plan for treatment and training. Honestly, I felt like I had to give one big hard go at it to see if I could turn this sinking ship around after 4.5 years. One thing I did know, is it had been very difficult to follow a training schedule recently.  With the ages of my girls, 18, 16, 13; I need to be able to be there when they need me and sometimes, this really disrupts the training plan. At the end of the two weeks, I had come to some decisions and changes I was going to make. I was not sure if they were the right ones and it was a bit scary moving forward with them.  I decided to take time off from structured coaching and training.  I wanted to just go with the flow of my life, fit in what I could and go hard when I felt like it. This definitely helped me to begin enjoying my training more and it started to seem like fun again and not work.  I have put a huge emphasis on strength, weekly dry needling and workout sessions are back to the gym for more classes with friends.

December rolled around and it was time to start thinking about a little structure again. I began writing my own training plan. This was pretty easy for the first 6 weeks. I decided at that point I was going to continue to move into 2014 with this plan of self coaching.

Here I am about 6 weeks later. Self coaching is not something I recommend to most and the majority of reputable coaches understand the challenges that come from this method as well. I do have a wealth of experience to draw from with 7 years of coaching under my belt but I do lack that outside perspective. Since I have seen such progress in my run, I decided to see if I can manage it and continue to improve.

The first 3 week build was a mess!  I really had a hard time dialing in when I could go hard and when I needed to go easy.  I am grateful for a few friends that helped me sort through the plan and be a sounding board for me. Like most, I just "want" to be able to do more.  I am a different athlete than I was a few years ago.  Age 41 knocked my socks off with the hours I can train and the significantly more hours I need to recover. I have excepted it now and it is much easier to do this when I am seeing run paces from 2009 beginning to return. (insert a big wahoo right here!)  The last 3 week build was a huge success and I am very pleased with the way things are going.  My bike and swim have stagnated but as I tell my athletes, "this is typical when you are seeing significant improvements in another discipline".

I am really excited about the progress I have made.  The hamstring is still painful, but its easier to deal with a painful hammy going fast than a painful hammy going slow! =)

Moving into 2014, I am beyond blessed by Sponsors. Timex Multisport Team, PowerBar Team Elite and Zoot.  I have a few more announcements coming shortly so stay tuned! Enjoy your training =)