Mishmash

That is where my brain was today while i ran. A little of this and a little of that. On most my long runs I am solo, actually i do most of my training alone and that is weird when i look at it in comparison to how my athletic life evolved. Cant play tennis alone can ya? And so much of tennis is social. I always played with people I genuinely liked, many of whom I am still friends with and could have easily stood at the net and talked for 60 minutes instead of playing ( and yes we did do that at times!) In the summer we often had practice matches where we would get 4 women and play about 90 minutes of singles then finish up with about 60 minutes of doubles. Then sometimes there was a cooler in the car of cold stuff. Yum. Not always beer, mind you.

My favorite was playing late afternoon doubles at the Clay courts. And then the happy hour bevies on the deck. Then ride my bike home:) ( I live about 1 mile from the club!)

So when i am grunting and huffing on a trainer ride, or swimming in the early hours solo or with a few peeps that say " You scare us when you come down those stairs to the pool deck holding that piece of paper," ( That paper is the printed workout from ZenSwimMaster Jen)

or like today, running on the lovely streets and trails of my little riverside home I am truly amazed that I like to get up every morning and do this. I do miss training with people, but in many ways this is a healthier and happier way for me to train and feel like it isnt all that my life is about.

Today for example...Run long. Ride short ( which means a short car drive into town where my trainer still sits, in CLUB JMW...stole that from ERich) and then moving more stuff from the condo. So call that strength training. And home to work a bit and get ready for some chili eating family members to come cheer for the Vikes. Now. Granted its Winter and you may say "um so that isnt that much going on." And really it isnt. But the way MN works is that come the first sign of spring ( and this weekends rain seems to make us think its April) we go FULL TILT till Labor day. Its like as soon as the weather is grill weather everything is done at 150%.

So hibernation, as in...." THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN IS ON!" and getting my Powertap to download and upload thru a Mac computer and the VMFUSION I have is saturday night fun for us. And sleeping in. I mean really. I kinda think that sleep is the magic bullet here. If you can afford to get 8-9-10 hours a night on the weekends who is going to argue. My body sure is happy and if i can start my run at 8:10am instead of 7am why not? And as much as i miss the social ness of spin class I can tell ya that I am surely content and getting my A$$ kicked my the aforementioned ZenMaster Coach of mine and i can start at any time in the am and not stress about getting a bike and what fan is going to be blowing on me. ( Not a fan, fan.)

*** I am reading Andre's book right now so the ZEN master is from that. Barbara Streisand called Andre a Zen master. Weird. Fascinating. But good book. I just LOVE LOVE LOVE Steffi Graf so i am glad Andre ditched Brook and figured it out.

See Mishmash.

But back to my run.

I was thinking that while i literally barely made it out the driveway bc it was so icey (we have a nice 90 degree turn with a nice down slope) and was thankful I can ski and run at the same time bc I nearly ended up in the neigbors snow bank, which is ice now, so that would have hurt...that it felt like a good run. Temps 32 on the nose, mist=ice falling, and as soon as i hit pavement I felt like i had some legs. This is the first run i have felt like that in a long time. Maybe it is that i know i am now on a rest week, or maybe I am amped up from a hard week and I will not be moving much monday. But i think it was mostly that I was running on road that was wet but i had some traction. I mean the kind where you decide to go faster and you, and you dont slide backwards and pull a hammie. Of course there were spots i had to walk, and spots i had to stop where the water has pooled and it was one big ice patch. I did my dance with the sand trucks, and they did their best to avoid me, much thanks goes to the city workers who i also danced around with on Xmas day when we had rain and sleet as well.

But as i started to feel effortless and like a runner I realized that one of my big goals for 2010 is to go under 5 hours in a 70.3 yet I had failed to really pick a race based only on this goal. Was that dumb? I mean in hindsight i think i should have picked a flat and "easier" race to meet this goal. The one's i picked are calenderwise tough: April? Hmm...that could be anything come April, and then June, but KS 70.3 where i know there are two transitions, which doesnt really mean they will be fast, and it is hilly. So I picked it up a bit while thinking this, and then shook my head at myself and said this:

"Julia, picking a course JUST for a time is not how you are going to be happy or fufilled. That is like deciding before a match that you want to beat this person in tenni and then trying to control everything you can to beat him or her. Just like in tennis, play your game, stay in the moment, execute from your strengths, minimize your weaknesses and if you feel good and have an edge take a few chances." If you break 5 in a race it will be because you did all of this same as when you win a match, all the sudden the final game is there and you know if you can hold your nerves together and keep playing to win, you will. But trust me, getting to that game where you are serving to win comes from doing your homework and not putting the wagon ( breaking 5) ahead of the horse ( training, smart racing, etc...)

So that may have lost you, but it sure helped me to know that if i dont break 5 next year maybe i will break it in 2011 or maybe there will just be other goals I meet and that will be ok, too.

So hope you are having a great weekend. And for all you peeps that cant run today I thought of you today. I really did. I said to myself, this fun is for Marit, Damie, Beth, Becca, and I am sure there are more of you but I am sad that so many of you are sidelined at the moment. Have faith, you will heal!

PS GO VIKES. Sorry all you SAINT's FANS, it's our turn. And really there are some NUTTY crazy MN Vikings fans that I do really think have some issues. one guy on the news last night had this grey wiry beard and he hasnt shaved since the Vikes were in the superbowl, um, like 20+ years ago? His poor wife looked a bit desperate for a win.