I was going to go to the pool at lunch today, but then I didn't want to. So I'm writing this instead. Yay for offseason!
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| The road bike has busted out of the garage for fall riding. |
So, it's been a while since my last race. I've been thoroughly enjoying just doing whatever, which has still involved some swimming, a lot of cycling, and a little bit of running. And doing a lot of thinking about what comes next. Spoiler alert: still really have no idea. Lots of possibilities kicking around at this point, but it's safe to say that 2017 will probably not be the year I do a full Ironman. For a bunch of different reasons, but most importantly, I just don't want to right now. Which is the best reason of all, really!
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| stopping to smell the flowers. Actually I don't think these really smell like anything. |
Right now I'm really leaning towards focusing more on the Olympic distance next year, but nothing has been decided. There are too damn many races to choose from!
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| Oh hello there new toy. |
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| Da fuck with this mountain thing on Zwift? 30 minutes of climbing?!! |
In terms of how my current training is looking, I've reconnected with Zwift, which is a whole hell of a lot of fun on that fancy new Computrainer, and is perfect for me right now since I'm not following any sort of training plan (nor do I want to). Chasing jerseys around the Island and London courses is keeping me in shape, and I'm having a lot of fun with it. I'll be back on Trainerroad soon enough once I figure out what my target races will be for the summer, and start to get serious again about preparing for them.
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| outside is alright |
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Why yes I coordinated my socks with my jersey. Thanks to Amy for the pic!
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I've managed to get outside a few times, too, which is always a good thing. Gotta squeeze in as many of those as I can before it gets too cold/snowy/etc.
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| Foxy made a friend! Big shoutout to Amy for her first ever 100k ride - she was a total trooper and rocked the new distance! |
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| I guess this fall thing is ok. |
Swimming is swimming. Going twice a week just to maintain feel for the water and because it's nice to stretch out. Can't complain.
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| I appreciate how the Muskoka shirt says FINISHER and 70.3 in massive letters to make sure everyone knows I did it. Because if you can't impress random people on the street, what's even the point? |
Running. Oh, running. Well, I've been deliberately keeping things slooooooooow the last few weeks, and it's starting to pay off. My last few runs have felt downright good, and the 'slow' pace is getting a little bit faster (man it's nice to see a sub 6 min/km average after a very easy run again!).
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| I don't totally hate running! Yay! |
So I signed up to run the 5k at Road to Hope next weekend. Running no longer feels totally shitty, definitely time to race! SMRT.
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| #selfies are hard |
But seriously there's a reason behind this, which is that I need some sort of pace benchmark before I start Around the Bay training sometime in December. I'm a firm believer in training at my current level, rather than the level I wish I was at, so this will help me set up a training plan. I'd love to take aim at another PB at ATB (2:40?), but that's really going to depend how things shake out over the next month with this slow/steady base building running thing I'm doing. The 5k race will help me figure out where I'm at. I have 0 expectation of anything even close to a PB; I'll be pretty ecstatic if I can keep it close to 25 minutes. Or at least under 26 minutes.
(run confidence: not high right now).
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| Running is fun! Especially when you muck around for 5 minutes trying to get a decent picture for instagram (which is the most important thing, I think we can all agree). |
At any rate, I'm enjoying myself, not putting any pressure on myself (other than a yearly mileage goal that is just within reach - can I hit 10,000 km on the year? I'm at 8430, so as long as I can keep up the trainer miles, it should be doable...), keeping things pretty easy and stopping to take a lot of pictures along the way. 2017 goals will all fall into place eventually, but there's no rush to get there right now.
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| Leaves seem to be moving past their peak this week. Sad face. |
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| I'm going to miss fall. Enjoying it while it's here! |
