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!