Unrecognizable

The first time I do something I've never done before, it's a fluke. One off.

The second time I do the same thing

The third time I do something

When I repeat the same behavior, under fatigue....

Back in May or June, Liz and I were talking about run cadence. To put this in perspective, I was a plodder. My cadence would average about 160. The goal cadence is 180.

I knew how important it was. I was frustrated beyond belief. I didn't want to talk about it anymore. There were NO drills that could help me.

One day, Liz asked me exactly what the issue was.

I told her, "I'm unable to do it. I don't mean I have a mental block. I mean, I am physically unable to hold a fast cadence for more than a few seconds."

I thought she was going to tell me that I just wasn't working hard enough.

Instead, she said to me, "I think you have weakened muscles. That's why you can't do it. You've done nothing wrong. It's the result of having babies. Once those muscles are stretched out, they don't go back on their own. Other muscles become overactive to make up for the loss. We have to work on those muscles to get them to engage again. Most women don't".

She gave my a list of exercises to do 3-4 times a week.

I knew she was on to something when I couldn't even do several of the exercises.

During this same time, I had been working with my massage therapist. He had been working with me on running posture & working out some ridiculously tight areas. He gave me a list of stretches to do...with instructions to do them every day....just do what you can for 15 minutes a day.

For months, I've done the work.

I went back to my massage therapist. "We're making progress. That's good. Don't get frustrated. This can take a long time to fix".

I religiously did my Liz exercises. I continued stretching.

Then, one day when I was running, I noticed that I no longer had soreness in my butt when I ran.

It seemed like it just happened out of nowhere.

We continued with cadence drills. Nothing was changing.

BUT, exercises that I couldn't do at the start, I was now able to do.

Exercises that I was doing before with a band, I was now doing with a stronger band.

My cadence wasn't changing but I noticed significantly less fatigue when I ran.

Then, this week happened.

Out of nowhere, I ran and held 180+ cadence, without fatigue, without even thinking about it. The previous week, I was at 160-165.

Ok. I don't know where that came from.

It happened a second time.

Then, a third time.

The true test was today. My legs are crazy sore (very fatigued). I didn't set any expectations. I didn't label myself as good or bad. I went out there and ran.

Sore and tired, and I ran with a cadence of 180+.

SIX MONTHS after first starting to really address the issue. SIX MONTHS without seeing a direct change.

Throughout the whole process, I stayed focused. There were times when I thought I'd never make any progress.

Getting good at one sport takes a really long time. It can take years to become a top 10 age group swimmer. It can take years to go from a 1.86  w/kg on the bike to 3.4%.

When you're putting 3 sports together PLUS transitions PLUS nutrition? Well, getting good at triathlon take a really long time, a really long time.

Good things come to those who work for it.

One day, you'll wake up, and you won't even recognize yourself anymore.

Gettin' cut, gettin' butt

I took the month of October off. Lemme splain what that means and what it doesn't mean.

Taking the month off from training means Coach Liz and I said our emotional good-byes (not really). For the month, I did whatever I wanted to without being analyzed; without having to hit any zones; without hitting any paces.

Liz gave me guidelines "take AT LEAST X days off from running".

You don't have to tell me twice.

And, "Don't do any exercise longer than X"

Alrighty.

And, "HAVE FUN".

DONE and DONE.

It doesn't mean sitting on my ass doing nothing. 

The first week of Oct got a little crazy. I was on vacation. Since my race was 9/30, immediately after Mr. Tea and I went into FULL ON CRAZY MODE.

We ate dessert at every meal and sometimes FOR a meal. I knew we sunk to a new low, when I was under the covers, in bed, eating ice cream.

THAT'S how you do time off.

When we returned from vacation, I'd had about as much sugar as I could handle. I couldn't even think about having anymore junk.

I got right back into my normal eating habits.

Then, the end of the month rolled around.

It was my birthday.

And the peoples rejoiced.

My birthday weekend started on Friday. By Sunday night, I was exhausted. I couldn't laugh any more. I couldn't eat any more food. I was done.

I was ready to start training again. I was ready to start eating right again. 

That's how I know I've gotten enough rest (physical and mental).....when I'm excited about training again.

Liz and I started up again on Nov 1st.

WELCOME TO the "GETTIN' CUT, GETTIN' BUTT" portion of my training.

Liz and I walked through the next few months of training.

I believe I'm heading into a breakthrough year in 2018.

I sat down to jot down a few goals. Then, I wrote down my plan to get there.

I decided to lean down a bit. Lose some fat. During Oct, I started hitting the weights hard. I made a couple of other changes as well. I went back to my notes from when I worked with Dina. I decided that I could switch some things up and have a big impact on my body fat.

These changes had an immediate impact on my body composition. So much so that Mr. Tea even commented on it. I noticed my clothes were fitting looser and my ROKA swimsuits (which run ridiculously small) were no longer allowing butt chub to hang out.

I hopped on the bike and did an FTP test. My test blew away all other tests and was even stronger than back in 2015 when I lost over 26lbs.

I'm heading into a really great year, I tell you.

Given that we have a looooong race early in 2018, Liz thought it was best that we don't do a single sport focus. I have goals for this race. I shared them with Liz, and she said, "very doable".

I know that just because a goal is "doable" doesn't mean it will be easy. I told her what I felt my challenges would be with the race and where I would excel. She told me a few things that I'll need to be aware of for this particular race.

We have a plan. I wrote down what paces I need to train to in order to reach my goals. There are going to be times when I know that I'm going to doubt myself, like when fatigue sets in.

Here we go again. I'll be stepping on the emotional roller coaster in about a month. Are you ready for the ride?

Because, you about to see something you ain't NEVER seen before!

My Spirit Animal