Lost Season

To start off, this is going to be a lengthy post. It has been quite awhile since my last post and suffered from quite the writers' block in determining what topics to talk about. I have many drafts started, but no tantalizing content within each post. I had topics of motivation, the off season, new goals, finding a pace, and how time is cruel and it punishes. Maybe those topics will all find themselves again being written further after this writers' block comes to an end. Not to mention; being injured put my head in a spin and felt that I could not write about what I was missing so dearly.

Last season started off rough. I had a hard time finding motivation and the will to stay in a routine. Although, at the beginning of the year I had some drastic changes in my lifestyle. My work schedule moved to deep, dirty nights; which lead to a difficulty in finding the perfect time to workout and have a successful workout. Many times I found myself drained from work or not sleeping well; to then have poor workouts and low effort and little gains. While I was adjusting to the night schedule, I had many life occurrences that lead to even more difficulty in finding routine. New puppy. Weddings. Travel. Sick family members. And the list could continue. 

After life calmed down, I was able to find a routine again and found myself back in the grove of training. I was aiming to train more in running, which was my weakest discipline. I had a hard time of finding the pleasure of running and making running more than punishment. So, I devoted much of my time to finding a groove with my running and finding the point that it was no longer painful and found it to be more exciting to complete a workout. My swimming got put on the back burner, but it has and always will be my strongest discipline. Swimming is my happy place. The bike found itself happy in the middle and found each ride getting longer and faster. 

As training fell into a perfect rhythm and running was becoming less daunting; I went on a 16 day vacation to Italy. Let's just say, I tried to run and ended up getting caught up in delicious food and bountiful amounts of wine. Training took a sudden stop. Vacation was great and getting back into the routine again took twice the work. I found the rhythm again and shortly after being home, it was time for my first ever half marathon. My friend Tiffany decided last minute to run with me and signed up at race day. 

Race Day. Slacker Marathon. Starting at Loveland Ski Area and down the mountain to Georgetown. I had heard so many great things about this race before race day and how gorgeous and fun it is to run. My legs felt good and my mind was in a great place. It was a little brisk at the start line but it felt great and Tiffany and I were ready to run. We walked from the bottom parking lot, up to the start line that followed the beginning of the race and the trail portion of the race. It was a perfect day for running. It also turned out being the day I broke my foot and was out for the season (read my post on Broken). 

I didn't go into a depression, but there was a lot of crying from missing an entire season that I had so many goals and fun races; that I had been looking forward to completing. The following weekend after this half marathon, I was supposed to go to New York for the Lifetime New York Triathlon. I had heard, so many great things about this race and running through Central Park sounded like a dream. Not to mention, just being in the Big Apple and the chance to see family that I had not seen for a long time. After New York, was the Tri for the Cure that my mom had been training for and that we were going to do together as buddies. The beauty of the mountains and Steamboat Springs were calling after Tri for the Cure for a lovely mountain race with my bestie Alex. To top off the season, was Santa Cruz 70.3 with my tri buddy Alex. Good bye epic season. 

So now what do I do in the mean time and how do I get back to where I was? I looked to inspiration from athletes that I follow and those that have been injured before. Many times though I found those athletes, stating how they kept their heads up and leaned on family and friends. But there was the missing topic of what do you do to stay fit and strong? Many of these athletes were able to still bike, or walk; maybe not swim but at least move around with their legs. But, for me, I could not walk, I could not bike and swimming only involved pulling with my arms and a cast that weighed me down and made me slow. I did some swimming but it was never enough. In the end, I didn’t do too much in the way for training or keeping fit.

Now, I find myself at the beginning of a new season and back training. I found through my injury, a renewed passion and a greater determination in my workouts. Through my network of triathlete friends; I found a coach to help me navigate coming back from injury, a new low level of fitness I had never experienced and help to build my mental fitness back. Although, I lost my first official season of being a triathlete; I am now even more motivated to do more, learn more, be better and have fun! It is still one baby step at a time and little victories; but with my first running race coming up next month, I look forward to seeing how the foot does and having fun in the adventure of triathlons.