Category Archives: Fitness

July Mileage Report and Life Updates

How have we already made it to August? The other day, my boss commented “Well, we’re into month four of quarantining,” and we had to remind her that August was the beginning of the fifth full month, not counting that we were home for part of March.

I’ve resigned myself to not racing this year, and really think early next year is going to end up being questionable as well. I’m currently registered for the Walt Disney World Marathon on my 40th birthday, but I really doubt it’s going to happen – and even if it does, if we’ll feel safe going and running. I don’t know how I feel about being in crowds.

This month, we did road trip out to visit my family in Illinois. It was really great to get out of the house and go elsewhere, though the process of traveling was definitely stressful, having to worry about when and where we stopped, etc. It was still worth it, of course, though now that COVID-19 cases are on the rise throughout the midwest, I’m not sure I’d be ready to do it again soon.

Bike – 91 Miles
Run – 26 Miles

Definitely a lighter month again. I’m recommitting to running by adding in some virtual racing. I’m planning on doing the Wonder Woman 10K, and I also registered for the Army Ten Miler. That’s my traditional fall race, and they’ve gone virtual this year. One interesting thing they’re doing is requiring people to use their specific app to record their time, rather than just submitting a finish time. Clearly, this is being done to prevent cheating, and it will be interesting to try it out. I’m sure my time will be terrible, since I’m planning to run on a local trail that crosses some roads and thus involves stoplights.

I’m also fairly certain I will be running the Space Coast half virtually. We still have our trip to Florida booked, but I’m just not sure it’s going to happen. Maybe I will be pleasantly surprised, but I’m not getting my hopes up. Just being realistic and looking forward to racing with my friends in 2021!

2020 Mileage
Swim – 4.6 Miles
Bike – 630 Miles
Run – 236 Miles

June Recap – Kind of a Big Month

June! We’ve made it through half of the year. And half of that has been spent at home. It feels like forever ago that we were traveling. Now it’s a big deal if we get to go to the grocery store.

So we decided to make June one to remember and got married!

I put a ring on it.

Eric and I had plans for a small family wedding, but as COVID-19 hit and we could see those plans potentially changing, we realized we should take this as an opportunity. When we were initially planning our wedding dates, I thought it would be meaningful to get married on June 12, Loving Day. But Loving Day 2020 was coming too soon and we didn’t want to wait til 2021 to get married, so it seemed unlikely to happen.

And of course, with all the terrible things happening around the world, we also wanted to try to find the joy. So we worked with a local officiant and got married on June 12, just the two of us. And it was perfect.

And then people kept asking us where we were going on our honeymoon, and the answer was To Our House because there is no vacationing going on right now. We could have gone camping, I suppose, but it’s hot outside.

We’ll definitely have a good story for what we did during the Great Pandemic of 2020.

When it comes to training, it’s same old same old. Races continue to get cancelled, which I expected. I technically still have one triathlon on the schedule and if it doesn’t get cancelled, I don’t expect to be racing it. I haven’t been swimming since March. Pools have opened back up, and you can make a reservation for a lap lane (if you can get one), but I’m just not sure that it’s really safe. Or worth the stress. The pools I have access to are all indoors, which makes it more concerning. I will likely join a friend at a local open water swim spot later this month, but outdoors is a lot easier – plus if it looks bad, we bail. Much more annoying when you’ve paid for a pool spot.

Biking is still all indoors, and running is half indoors, half outdoors. I managed to pull something and thankfully, my PT has opened back up and I’ve been able to get some dry needling done. It’s definitely what my body needed after three months off from PT. I’m going to have to figure out a reasonable schedule for visits. Every week really isn’t necessary at this point (though I’d love to be able to swing that). Maybe every 2-3 weeks for a tune-up would work.

So it was definitely a lighter month.

June Miles
Swim – 0
Bike – 124 Miles
Run – 16 Miles

2020 Miles
Swim – 4.6 Miles
Bike – 539 Miles
Run – 210 Miles

May Mileage Recap

I said this month that I would work on additional posts so that the blog didn’t just become mileage recaps and I did not do that.

In many ways, it feels like May flew by, mostly because I think that there was a lot of just staring at the news in horror. I’m still trying to formulate words about what has been going on in the news lately, but I also read something recently that said that white people should sit back and listen and absorb and not try to create content, and that seems very wise. I have created a huge reading list for myself and will be sharing that in some form.

As to training, my races continue to get cancelled. Right now, I still have a triathlon on the schedule for September, though if the pools don’t open, I’m not sure I’m going to feel comfortable racing, because even if I can get to an open water swim every weekend (unlikely), I just don’t think that’s enough to be safely trained for the swim. I’ll go into a race under-trained on the bike or run, but especially with my arm/shoulder/collarbone injury last year, I don’t think it’s safe to go into open water under-trained.

Plus I’m not sure about swimming with a bunch of other people who are under-trained.

I’m pretty pleased with my other workouts in May though. I’ve been trying to do dry land swim work every day, alternating upper body and core/lower body. Conveniently, a number of the workouts are the same ones I should be doing for my PT, so not only is it helping keep my strength up, it’s also continuing my recovery.

My run miles have really been down over the past few years, and I’d like to get that back up and am aiming to run 50 mile months. I know, some of you do that in a week or less, but for me, a 50 mile month is something I’m happy with.

May Miles
Swim – Nope
Bike – 143 miles
Run – 48 miles

As to what is coming next, the next thing on my schedule (aside from the September triathlon) is the Space Coast Half Marathon in November. I was really pleased to see that they’re doing an in person/virtual hybrid, and you don’t have to make that decision until a few weeks before the race. I’m hoping we’re able to travel by then, but if not, it’s nice to know that either way, I’ve got to put in 13.1 miles that weekend. Definitely helps with the training goal.

We also signed up for the Disney marathon in January, as it’s on my 40th birthday. Still not sure I want to run a marathon (and yes, I know that training for a marathon means I’m going to have to do more than 50 mile months), but it’s now on the schedule, and I hope it happens.

I feel like right now, my training schedule is one of the normal parts of my life (save for not being able to swim – though I couldn’t swim for a chunk of 2019 either). It’s definitely helping me break up my day. I finish my work day and I go for a run or a ride. It’s been a great way to clear my head.

2020 Miles
Swim – 4.6 miles
Bike – 415 miles
Run – 194 miles

April Mileage Recap

Well, I have to admit, it’s a bit sad that two posts in a row are monthly mileage recaps. But there’s not a lot of racing going on right now, so I haven’t had as much to write about. Still training though, and weirdly loving dryland swim workouts. Maybe because it’s a lot of the same stuff I’m doing for PT, and it feels extra productive to accomplish two things at once.

Last weekend was supposed to be my first triathlon of the year, and I’m pretty sure even without a global pandemic, I wouldn’t have been racing it. It was below freezing Saturday morning! In May! Definitely no open water swim for me, thank you very much. I suspect the swim would have been cancelled. So no real loss there.

In terms of training, things feel very unfocused, so I’m doing a ramp test this week to test my bike power, then I’ll work on increasing from there. I’ve not tested since before my crash last year, so who knows what’s going on.

I did suck it up and sign up for the 2021 Disney Marathon. It’s on my 40th birthday, so I’ve been saying for a while that I plan to do it. I’m not entirely sure I want to do it, but the money is in, so I’m stuck. I guess it really hasn’t sunk in because I’m completely unsure if the race will actually happen. There are all sorts of rumors about lower numbers and more spacing, but we’ll see what happens. I’m not terribly worried about it. There’s a lot going on that we just can’t control.

April Totals
Swim – Yeah right
Bike – 109 Miles
Run – 41 Miles

These numbers aren’t as bad as I thought they would be. I did a lot of walking as well this month, just wanting to get outside, and occasionally, a long walk (including one 11 mile walk) replaced a run. Since I’m not heavily training for anything, I’m not too worried about it. Just trying to stay active and stay sane.

I’m not sure that I see triathlon season happening this summer, at least not in this area. While some areas are starting to open up, things are definitely staying locked down here for the near future, and I think it’s going to take quite some time for the community pools to be open, which is where I swim. If I’ve not been in the water, I really shouldn’t be attempting an open water swim. And I’m okay with that. I could be wrong, and maybe my September races will happen. After the past two race seasons, I’m open to anything!

2020 Totals
Swim – 4.6 Miles
Bike – 272 Miles
Run – 146 Miles

March Mileage Recap (and more)

We’re 1/3 of the way through 2020, and let’s just say, I hope it’s all downhill from here. I don’t think anyone expected April to look like this, and it doesn’t seem like it’s changing anytime soon.

I hope everyone is continuing to socially distance. I’ve been doing a lot of indoor workouts, because my normal running routes are super crowded. On Friday-Sunday, one of the roads near my local trail is partially closed, which is great, but I have to go about a mile down the trail to get to the closed part. Still, it’s better than nothing, so I’m going to try to do my weekend running out there.

I’m definitely missing physical therapy. I can do all the stretching and self-work, but there is no replacement for manual therapy and dry needling. I’m definitely much more sore than normal, but I’m doing what I can. My PT office is offering virtual visits, but needles can’t be done virtually.

One advantage to being home is that I have more time to get in my workouts, which is pretty awesome. I’ve been doing a lot of dryland swim workouts (think a lot of strength work with cords) and I love it. It feels like such a great accomplishment. Sure, it’s not quite the same as swimming, but it’s definitely a good workout.

My mileage for March definitely picked up over February. That’s what happens when you’re finally not sick.

I’m doing my best to keep up with training. I know a lot of people are doing bigger step backs, but I personally need the push, or I’ll slack off. I don’t want my return to racing to be completely terrible (whenever that may happen).

March mileage
Swim: 1.8 miles (Yeah, that’s not going anywhere anytime soon.)
Bike: 73 miles
Run: 37 miles

2020 Totals
Swim: 4.6 miles
Bike: 163 miles
Run: 105 miles

Has anyone picked up any new hobbies during all of this? I tried baking bread and was moderately successful. Of course, now all I want to do is eat bread. This might not be the best hobby to pick up.