Road To Kona: Lately

It has been a little bit since I've written a recap of how the road to Kona is going; it is still going and am starting week 10 today.  Training has been going steadily though not fantastically which is one of the reasons I haven't written much.  Lately each week's re-cap would sound fairly similar, a mix of good and bad days.  The couple of weeks have been wrought with stress that has finally caught up with me. I've never really realized how negatively stress can affect you until just recently.  Each day for the last two weeks my body has started to react more and more strongly to the stress slowly dragging me down physically to where I now feel as though I am moving through cement when I try to do anything.  Every muscle in my body aches and it seems as though I will come out of a fairly simple workout like I just got hit by car.  For the first couple weeks of stress I dealt with it the way I normally do, through my workouts and training, however when it just keeps coming on top of you week after week eventually it creeps up on you.  Thankfully that stress trigger should be moving out of my life here shortly and already knowing that has helped to bring some of the weight off my shoulders.

So what have I been up to since my last weekly update?

Swimming

Swimming has taken a little bit of a back seat due to not really wanting to swim and getting a tattoo that kept me out of the pool for a little over a week. I finally got myself back into the water this past weekend and for the first time in a long time I enjoyed my time in the water.  It was not fast even a little bit, as I felt a bit sluggish (remnants of my body dealing with the stress I have been under) however it felt good to be in the water, away from everything.  Swimming normally does not provide me that solace or peace that I get from running but this last Saturday it was as though my body needed the weightlessness you feel when you are in the water and the quiet of being submerged.

Despite that it does not mean that I can keep skipping my swimming so one of my goals this week is to get back to my two swims a week. .

Biking

During this lull in updates I did another FTP test, my first one was at the beginning of the year.  I am very happy to say that at least I could prove that all my hard work during January - March had paid off as I upped my FTP from 245 to 278.  However, since that day I have not been even remotely been able to hit any of my workouts on the bike.  At first I chalked the missed workouts up to having pushed my body to a point it  hadn't been to before however after they continued to happen I started to get frustrated.

What the hell was wrong with me? Was that FTP just a fluke? Maybe I am really not that strong? If I can't do it now how am I going to be able to do it at CdA or Kona?

It is amazing how we don't always know what is wrong with ourselves but we can easily tell others or give advice to others who have similar symptoms.  After talking with my Betty Sisters, describing how I was feeling, what was going on in my life, and my frustrations each of them immediately told me most likely it was due to the stress negatively affecting me.  The second they said that to me it all started to make sense, combine that with my husbands confirmations of it.

Since that realization I've kept up with my workouts however haven't put any numbers behind them, just ride to ride.  It has helped to decrease my frustrations in regards to not hitting numbers.

I've been able to get a couple of rides outside but not as many as I would like.  The weather here in the PNW can't seem to figure itself out and it means more dark, grey, and cold days than not.  I still keep my fingers crossed that it will change for the warmer and sunnier.

Running

As running is always my best stress reliever it seems as though it is the one thing that stays consistent even through the stress.  Since the husband, mother, and I have a half marathon coming up in about two weeks that is a good thing.  The best part is that we've all gotten some runs in together, even though we don't all run at the same pace it is much more fun knowing they are out there with me.  It makes my heart so happy to be able to do these things as a family.

There really is something very freeing about running and these last couple of weeks it is one of the things that I have been grateful for - it may be the only thing keeping me sane.

What's next in this crazy Road To Kona?

One of the reasons I have not kept up with my weekly updates, besides the fact that my brain has felt negatively full, is that I've found myself skipping workouts a lot lately.  That is not something I felt you all would want to hear every week...  However, with Couer d'Alene 70.3 only 2.5 months away and myself having a goal to go sub 5 hours (as my high end goal) it is time I stop skipping workouts.

I am also really excited to announce that I just signed myself up to do Whistler (Canada) 70.3 as well at the end of July, it will be my last race before Kona.  First though we have to go through our yearly half marathon (or marathon) down in Bend - which was mentioned just above.  This has quickly become one of my favorites because it is such a family venture.

I also am hoping to get myself back on track with my blogging, from weekly updates and weekly positive posts; the new journey I am about to take should really allow for some great creative thinking time.

Thank you all for sticking with me on this crazy, roller coaster of fun journey!!

CHEERS!! Kayla