. . . and Rest!
It’s been weird today - no races coming up in the next few weeks. Nothing to train for. Nothing to work for. Nothing to live for.
Er. . . hold on a minute. Let’s just rewind that.
Today is an official rest day. In fact, the whole week is pretty much in the diary as a week off - other than a couple of really, very short runs that don’t count. And maybe a total of 50 miles or so on the bike.
But that doesn’t mean I have to enjoy it. Like Melissa, I’ve been missing my bike - already. I’ve been watching people cycle past the house. When we drove to the shop today, I did my usual rubber-necking at cyclists. My road bike, Christine is stood next to me, looking all forlorn - she knows that the tri-bars are coming off, and she’s about to get moth-balled until the spring 
On the up side, I have two more goals to knock off this year. And frankly, they’re not going to do it all by themselves - it’s going to take some effort from me.
- The cycling 3000 miles is within sight. This weekend made it just over 2200 miles so far, and I’ve 16 weeks to complete the remaining 800. It’s starting to look like an easy target to hit . . . but that way lies complacency. My objective is to knuckle down and work hard at it for the next 6-8 weeks, aiming to end up with less than 30 miles a week required. That can be achieved with only two spin classes a week, putting the overall goal in the bag, whatever the weather.
- Running 10k in 40 minutes. Um. … I’m going to have to put some serious effort in here. The dreaded interval training. It’ll either kill me or make a man out of me - putting hair on my chest, giving me a deep voice, and a firm hand shake.
But before all that . . . a few days rest. A bit like the ’snooze’ button on the alarm clock.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
Not enjoying a rest day? Wow… I can only imagine… I hope I can experience that one day.
Gotta enjoy that rest. It’s more important than anything else. Seriously.
And then you’ve got to get those intervals in. Even if they’re impromptu. This morning’s run was meant to be real easy. And it started out that way, at a comfortable 10 minute pace. On the way back a guy passed me, so I gradually picked up the pace. Ended up finishing the last couple of miles at 6 minute pace. I was thrashed, but it felt great!
Congrats on your racing season. Knocked them all off. You’ll have to do the intervals to get the speed up. I know that about my ITT work for my cycling. All I can say is they’re MUCH easier with a friend.
Rest is good… I’ve had a nice couple days off since Friday…. I only have 4 days left before my Ironman… so the rest/taper feels good… my legs are starting to spring back and they’re eager to get out there…
Tomorrow will be a busy day with no time to train… but I want to get out and practice my transitions and other mental preparation. And then it’s off to the IM course on Thursday… I’m getting very excited!
I remember the interval training I did as a cross country runner (years ago) it was killer. I know you dread it, but it works. You can reach both your goals - I know it and so do you.
Check out this pic of a bike being missed by its owner :
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