July in Numbers

July was a good month for me.  It was the month I learned that it seems that I can run again.  I ran a 10 kilometre race and my knee didn’t blow up.  Two weeks later I ran another 6k in a race environment at full body weight.  And my knee felt okay then too.  Not perfect.  But not a hot mess crisis either.  This, my friends, is good news.  Really REALLY good news. 


Taken at the British 10k on 14 July 2013. My legs may have a few races left in them yet!

The Numbers

323: Minutes of running – a new monthly all time high
52: Hours in Seoul
39: Kilometres run – pushing my running envelope while managing the after effects
28: Degrees Celsius, the hottest running race I have done to date
24: Hours of Training (my new “no problem” training zone – more than double where I was in 2009!)
8: Out of the water 8th in my age group at the London Triathlon
2: Trips to Paris
1: My first ever mechanical DNF (did not finish)

Pithy Nuggets?

Frankly, I feel like I don’t really have any pithy nuggets from July.  What I am doing is working – consistent training, figuring out the right patterns to not overload my body, managing to balance my training and fatigue levels, managing to train while travelling – all of it seems to be in a good spot and pointing in a solid direction.  Finally – FINALLY – I seem to be settling into a good pattern – an active healthy lifestyle that does not feel like hard work but feels like a lot of fun. *big smile*

I had expected at this point of the year that I would be entering into a more relaxed time, full of splashing around in the pool and lazy Sunday mornings, but I have some unfinished business.  I haven’t completed an olympic distance triathlon since 2011, and I really REALLY want to see how my past months of training pan out on a race day.  I want to put it all together.  I want to experience just what my body is capable of doing.  So instead of relaxing into August, I am gearing up again.  I signed up for another race, and have just about two weeks to go before the start.  I opted for a completely opposite type of race from London – I will be doing a race which sets the maximum numbers at 200 athletes – there were 456 in my wave alone at The London Triathlon.  I chose a small local race on open roads rather than closed roads and city scape.  I’ll be swimming in the North Sea sighting off a lighthouse and a ship, not in the Thames next to rotten polystyrene at the start line.  I figure, if I want to test myself, why not put myself in a situation where I will, essentially, be racing alone?  After all, when it comes to me and triathlon, it really is a me versus me race. 

It’s not time to hang up my shoes for the year – not just yet!

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