Tryptophan Dreams

It's been a long time since I wrote anything.

I had decided that after Honu in June, I would take a break from structured training to rest, refresh, and revisit the parts of my life that had been significantly neglected during the 2017-2018 season of two full Ironmans and three 70.3s. I wanted to spend more time with my husband, more time writing (clearly not this blog, haha!), more time with my dogs, and more time doing Hawaii things like going to the beach and hiking.

I have done these things with mixed success. I've found that after spending 18-23 hours a week training outdoors in the sun and heat for the past year, the beach and hiking sound less appealing than I had anticipated. I've done some, but certainly not as much as I had imagined. Still, I have spent quite a bit more time at home, in my yard and walking around my beautiful surroundings, and for that I am grateful. I have gotten much more time with my husband, and not only during 7-hour bike rides! We've spent quite a bit of time working on our house, relaxing together, and, to combine with one of the other goals, we've been spending a lot more time walking and playing with our dogs! The dogs have definitely been better-behaved now that we've been able to train them a little more and be with them more often. I also started training them to run with me, which is an interesting process that mostly involves me getting pulled along for the first mile as they sprint at break-neck speed, then enjoying one mile of perfect tempo, then me pulling them along for subsequent miles as they get tired. It has also made them freakishly strong, something I should have thought through before embarking upon this little endeavor, as now I can barely control them when I have to handle both of them at once. The writing has been a mixed bag... I can't say that I've gotten a lot done, but I did come up with and start a big writing project that I am very excited about.

Anyway, back to triathlon.

I had planned to begin training the last week of August for the Honolulu Marathon, which is December 9th. I did one week of light training (read: a couple short runs), and then we had some very bizarre and stressful circumstances come up that forced us to be away from our house for the next month and that wreaked havoc on my system. Once we finally got home and got things mostly back to normal, I decided that jumping into marathon training was just asking to get sick or injured, and that for now, that goal needs to put on hold. In its place, I am focusing on something fun and (with any luck, since entries fill up within 15 minutes of when registration opens) I'll be doing the Tryptophan Triathlon on Thanksgiving -- a 1/3 mile swim, 15-mile bike, and 2-mile run. This allows my training to be short sessions that still allow time for other things, and that don't seem overwhelming as my body reawakens and gets back into the swing of things.

At first, I was horrified at my condition. A 20-minute run felt difficult, and my legs were exhausted after a 30-minute ride. What I'm discovering, however, is that my body seems to have been in some sort of deep recovery hibernation, because after the first week I feel it "opening up" and while I've definitely lost some endurance, it seems like my speed is surprisingly stable. This week my run pace was back down into the low nine minute miles, and I actually found myself running at 8:35 pace by accident a couple of times. I can't hold that pace for more than a couple of 10-minute intervals, but it's still very encouraging when I think about how I felt last week.

This week's training plan -- yay for getting to go watch KONA!

Swimming has felt good -- really good! Not in that I'm fast, but it feels relaxing and calming and I'm enjoying my 20-30 minute sessions instead of hour-long sessions. The bike also feels good. I've missed it! I've missed the feeling, the wind on my face, the speed, and the challenge. My lady bits, on the other hand, have not missed it and are less than thrilled that I'm riding again. It's both a fun time to get started again and a terrible time to get started again because all of the Kona athletes who are here. It's energizing to see them but embarrassing to have them see me! Oh well, what can you do?
These short training sessions are reminding me of how *fun* triathlon can be. Don't get me wrong here, I LOVE Ironman. It's my passion -- the day of my first Ironman was better than my wedding day (don't worry, my husband already knows and agrees!) and nothing has ever given me the kind of fulfillment and sense of accomplishment that Ironman does, but even though I enjoy it deeply, I can't quite describe it as "fun." Sprint training is FUN. Right now my long run is 35 minutes and my tempo run is 25 minutes, and my long bike is 1:30. I can hop on the trainer, do my cycling technique sets and drills in 30 minutes, go to the pool and swim for 25 minutes, and still have time before work! It's amazing! And, because the durations are short, I can push the intensity more than with long aerobic sessions. It's very satisfying.

So here's to a season of triathlon fun and hopefully a Thanksgiving Day adventure!