Recovery Week part 3, day 1

Today marks the first day of my third recovery week! I would like to take a moment to reflect on what this means to me.

This means that I have completed 11 weeks of formal training. I have, with few exceptions, taken hours out of each week and dedicated them to one thing - me. These hours have resulted in stronger muscles, faster speeds, better recovery and a sense of well-being previously unattainable. During these hours I have remained focused on my body, my mind and my workout. I set out each day with a purpose, I am thoughtful about each workout and what it has meant for me to finish it. But the one thing that I have achieved, which is immeasurably more valuable than even the physical benefits, is that I have made a habit of putting myself first. I have effortfully and thoughtfully placed myself on my own calendar and have made a habit of being on my own team, cheering myself on, being important to me. I make good decisions about my daily life based on the fact that I have certain needs that deserve to be met.

I have not done this alone. Without the guidance of my best friend and (informal) coach whose dedication to me bolstered my confidence and whose dedication to himself provided a guide to follow, I would have been lost and would have given up on those days when I was overwhelmed by the task ahead of me. I continue to be inspired by the example he provides. I draw further inspiration from the workouts that he plans for me. Because of the support that I feel daily from him, I am able to fly further and try harder and achieve more than I could on my own.

AND I am half way to my goal - in twelve more weeks I will be suiting up in Washington, DC to run my first Olympic distance triathlon. But I feel that this process is infinitely more about the journey and all of the things that I have learned, all of the personal growth and all of my experiences along the way. I have already planned to be in the New York City Triathlon next year so that I continue to be motivated to be more.


But I digress, today I woke up much earlier than I would have liked and reluctantly gazed into my calendar app to discover what my morning swim would consist of. Fortunately, I was rewarded for my curiosity with an easy swim: 100m of drills followed by an 800m main set at race pace and a 100m mixed cool down. Ah... A sigh of relief.

I clocked the main set at 17:35. I feel this was reasonable, considering that I really didn't go "hard" at any point. This leaves my average lap at a comfortable 1:06. I know I can go faster, but I didn't feel that today was the appropriate day to do so.

Early this evening I rode my bike around the island for a while. I rode across the park and down the east side of Manhattan and then back up the west side. Brilliant me, I wore my heart rate monitor, but neglected to bring along my watch (duh), so I only have my data from the Cateye, no map or heart rate or speed data. The Cat says I rode just over 16.75 miles in just under an hour and fifteen minutes. Average pace was 13.6mph and max pace was 21.2. Leisurely enough. Want to look in to saddles over the coming weeks.

Here's to a great recovery week. I intend to sleep a lot.