What an amazing second week of the Olympics!! Naturally, I geeked out on all of the running events, and watching the women’s marathon was my favorite 2:27 hours of 2021 so far. If you are unfamiliar with the bronze medal winner, American Molly Seidel, please read more about her story here, and a recap about her experience running the Olympic marathon here. She’s incredible.
Also, watching Athing Mu run the 800M Final, and anchor leg of the 4x 400M relay took my breath away. I’ve never witnessed a more gorgeous and biomechanically efficient runner. Wow.
As I mentioned in last week’s post, I am in the midst of my own running challenge, running 10 miles a day for 10 days. Today, Tuesday, August 10th, marks day #8, and to be honest, I feel pretty good so far.
Grabbing some shots after completing a 10x mile trail run last Sunday.
Some days I have broken up the mileage, and some days I’ve run all 10 miles in one shot. I’ve run on roads, trails, and on the treadmill (while wearing a mask, which is awful, but understandable, and uncompromising, because although oxygen deprived, the quick/tough/intense workouts treadmills provide are simply priceless). However, even though I am close to completing this recent challenge, I am not quite there yet, so I want to save the tasty juice and share the nitty-gritty of it all until after I cross the finish line. Therefore, all will be revealed next week.
Quality spin with Big Red last Thursday.
But I have been doing more than just been running.
Even though running is the gigantic bulging heart propped on my sleeve, riding Big Red is the rhythm that gives it a beat.
Nevertheless, my cycling faith is fickle.
I love riding bikes. I feel the strongest and most whole as a person and triathlete when I am at peak bike fitness, but that level is not sustainable year round. Rather it is important to soak up the suds of recovery for weeks after completing an Ironman training block (I know that I should know that), still accepting that reality doesn’t make the feeling of it unravelling less heartbreaking.
Thankfully, this run challenge is serving as a reset button after Ironman Coeur D’Alene by allowing me to indulge in a ton of running (although not as much as I wanted to, my wise coach did pump the brakes on my full-fledged idea, a good call because otherwise I might’ve run myself into the ground), and at the same time inviting bike training back in gingerly, with minimal stress, and a lot of fun.
Post-beautiful ride along the coast last Saturday with my friend and teammate, Jess Zaiss.
I look forward to sharing the details about this 10 miles for 10 days run challenge next week, but the song and video choice this week captures the theme, and my daily mood nicely.:)