I work out

I have been on summer break for almost a month, which is sad to think how fast this is going.  There are many perks to having the summer off, and one of the big ones for me is I get to workout in the mornings.  I am a morning person, all the way.  I can wake up at the crack of dawn, and be wide awake almost immediately.  So working out in the morning is pleasurable to me.  And working out, I have been. 

I am currently training for the Peachtree 10k, on July 4th, and the bike portion of an Ironman that will take place Oct. 26.  And of course in the back of my mind I am already planning out my training for the Goofy which is in January. 

The Peachtree won't be too big of a deal, as I technically started training for it 3 weeks ago, running 3 times a week.  I added a mile on to my runs each week, so this week I am running 6 miles on my training run.  The added bonus is I have been taking Cade in the jogger with me, which means my training runs are a lot more difficult than the actual race will be.  But let me tell you Cobb County sidewalks are a disaster.  There are a few roads that I feel are a little too busy, hilly, or curvy for me to run in the street with Cade.  And so I am forced to suffer pushing the jogger over tree roots, trash, over grown fields, cracked sidewalks, curbs (because half of these sidewalks have no ramp, which I am pretty sure makes them NOT ADA okay), and manhole covers that are about 2 inches higher than the rest of the sidewalk.  It was manhole that almost sent Cade flying through the air a week ago, but thank goodness I had my hands on the jogger, and caught it as it went airborne.  Still that scared me enough for me to stop my run, turn around, and walk back home.  But all in all I really enjoy my runs, so no major complaints.

Now this relay....Let me take you back.  I think it was sometime in the fall, and I sitting around a table with three other fabulous ladies.  Only one of us there is an Ironman.  But we are all athletes in our own ways.  I wish I could say there were drinks involved when this plan was devised, but no.  Just a bunch of crazy ladies, with big dreams.  And the thought of a medal.  When we left our dinner that night a relay team was born, and I had somehow agreed to do the bike portion.  I am not a fabulous biker.  I am a great runner.  But I am always wanting to better myself, and I thought I can already run a marathon.  Just thinking about a 2.4 mile swim makes sweat appear on my forehead, so that leaves the bike.  112 miles of biking.  The day I agreed to be on this team I hadn't ridden my bike in over a year.   

In my mind, working towards this relay goal is a big deal to me.  I am one part of a team.  If I am poorly trained, give up, or can't make cut offs, that doesn't just effect me this time.  It would mean a medal for two others.  I put a lot of pressure on myself, and now doubly so.  There are two others counting on me to train, prepare, and survive 112 miles of biking.  Everything I do this summer, well actually anything I do up until Oct. 26 will be with this 112 miles of biking in mind. 

So that being said I am biking.  A lot.  I started back in January on my trainer, for 30 minutes, then 45, then 60.   Then I took the bike back out on the road, and did quite a few 60 minutes out and back.  Then when I started summer break I switched to getting in actual miles.  I hope to be able to do 100 miles by Sept. 8, and then I hope to do 100 again on Oct. 6.  Whew, that scares me a little bit just typing the dates out.  I am currently up to 45 miles, which took me just over 3 hours.  I average 15 mph, but where I am training has a lot of stop lights, and traffic, so that does slow me down a bit.  I am giving up about 7 hours a week towards this goal. 

I know I won't be able to give up that kind of time when school starts back up, so I am trying to do what I can before summer is over.  Not only is this a lot of time to give up on a weekly basis, it has also been a little tricky figuring out when to go.  Cade can't go in the bike trailer until he is a year old, and we haven't even purchased one yet, as he still has a while to use it.  So I can't take Cade, Jacob works 3rd shift and sleeps during the day (which is a whole different blog post on that tackling that), and then to top it all off Jacob has been gone with the Army since the 17th and won't be back until the 30th.  To say I could have every excuse in the book to not workout is an understatement at this point.  But I have worked it out with a neighbor girl who comes over 3 times a week to watch Cade. 

Working out has always been important to me, and I am going at it full force this summer.  I have about two weeks before my trip to MI, where I hope to be able to still get in some rides.  I will have to do some juggling, but if something is important to you then you will make it happen.  This is important to me, so I will make it happen.