A few weeks ago Paul and I ordered Chinese (don’t worry it was steamed veggies not fat balls!) and I received a very appropriate fortune cookie “Time heals all wounds. Keep your chin up” At the time I thought, “BS, I have been trying to keep my chin up and give this calf all the time in world to heal, and still nada! But, I guess I need to thank the Chinese Gods because here I am up and running before expected.
(Thank you Chef Chens? 😉 )
I have been adding some running into my walks for the last 7-10 days —and all I can say is what a humbling experience. I’m sluggish, creaky, stiff and just plain slow! My average min/mile has been around 11-12min. Redic. But, the calf is intact!
So, this weekend I made the commitment to finally start a training schedule again. I knew it would be slow but I couldn’t stand going at this alone anymore. So, I decided to go to the FRC social run on Saturday at 8:30am – I thought it would be a good way to ease back in. Nope, my friends basically hazed me to get up and go to the BRICK (Bike + Run) at 6:30am by sending me texts all day Friday with messages like, “theres no try, just do” and motivational YouTubes. Bottom line, I’m a sucker and ended up riding 20 and running 5.5 miles on Saturday morning. Ugh, I love those guys and hate them at the same time.
And, the result? I have never been so exhausted in my life! Goodness. How much endurance and stamina have I lost? It took all my focus to get through the end of that run – and might I add we were slow as snails! Big thanks to Bridget for hanging with my slow butt! #truefriend. And the rest of the day I was completely wiped. Paul saw me and said, “jules do you feel ok?” “umm, yes, just tired…” I took a quick nap and was off to bed at 9:30pm! You would of thought I did a Century + 10k Brick! It’s official – I am out of shape. I got BRICK’d.
During our ride the guys were talking about what Ironman to do next summer. I was excited to be part of the conversation and perhaps part of the group to go. But, after yesterday I had one of those moments where I thought to myself, “I just don’t think I’m going to make it – not to something like that. I can’t do this.” However, there was also another, much quieter voice inside saying, “remember this day when you cross the finish…”
I may spend the rest of my summer fighting for my fitness, chasing boys on the bike, and trying to be a triathlete but I am looking forward to the challenge — Even if it means I’m off to bed at 9:30pm and we eat a lot of Chinese because I don’t have energy to cook.
#Selfie after being BRICK’d
