Taking a giant leap........

My trip to Disney is already a week old. I survived running back to back races. I turned myself inside out for the 10k PR. The next day was the half marathon. I knew walking to the starting line that another hard effort or PR was not in play. My legs felt some serious fatigue, especially from running down the overpasses.

When the gun went off, I took it easy and decided to use the first 3 miles to warm up and get a rhythm going. I opted to not look at my watch for splits. I used the clocks at every mile to do some quick math and get a rough idea what my pace was. By the time mile 4 rolled around, I felt a little more comfortable running. I was zipping along until mile 10. Then my legs started getting tighter from the effort the day before. I had to walk a couple of times so I could stretch my legs.  Starting to run after a break was excruciating. Each time I swore I would stop taking the stretch breaks.

By the time mile 12 rolled around, I told myself that this was it. The last mile of running and all I had to do was to keep one foot moving in front of the other.  I could see the finish in the distance. When I finally crossed the line, I was so happy that the running was done. My quads were like rocks. I collected my medals and put on some warmer clothes.  I walked back to my hotel to shower and change. It was nice to achieve this task of a back to back run and pull off a hard 10k the day before.

On my flight home, I realized something had changed. I was now able to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. Yes, that sounds weird. But if I wanted to achieve bigger goals, I needed to race on that edge. I had to be uncomfortable when racing and not let up.  I was texting back and forth with Sinead after my races and she commented:

"Getting stronger every time you dig deep"

I gave those words some serious thought on my flight home. I have to continue embracing being uncomfortable if I want to get better, faster, stronger..........

I had two bike workouts scheduled after my short recovery from the races. For my workout Saturday, Danielle gave me a choice of two bike workouts based on how I felt. I felt a little cocky and opted for the harder one. I looked up my power numbers from the last time I attempted it and decided to try and put out higher numbers. The workout was called "9 Hammers" and that's exactly how you feel during and after the workout. I turned myself inside-out and outside-in while riding. I worked so hard during the VO2 sections that the Threshold seemed 'easy'.  When the workout was done, I was in a sweaty, crumpled heap sitting next to the bike trying to take my shoes off.  When I stood up, my legs felt like jell-o and my arms were rubbery too. The workout was a success. Or was it? I uploaded my power numbers from the workout and compared them to the prior workout.  All 9 Hammers were higher than the previous 9. Yes, it was a success!!  The fatigue in my legs was totally worth the effort.  Once again, I was able to stay in the 'uncomfortable' zone and not back off.  These are definitely things to build on!