As the title of this post implies, my training over the past few months has been all over the map. In fact, I don't even know if you can actually call what I've done 'training' and should instead just call it 'activity'. When I was gearing up for the Nation's Tri and the NYC Marathon last summer and fall, my training was spot-on. I rarely missed a day of training, let along went an entire week with nothing planned. However, ever since I finished the Philly Marathon, I've been all over the place.
Usually, after my last race of the season, I'll give myself a little mini-break from running, biking and swimming. I generally don't do a lot of biking during the winter as it is, because the thought of riding outside in 30* weather isn't all that enticing - and the horrific winter that we had this year just put an exclamation point on why I don't ride in cold weather - and the thought of doing indoor rides on the trainer is equally as blah. I'm not a huge fan of spin classes because the bikes are awful so that means a nice long winter break from the bike - but that also leaves me super pumped when those warm weather days start to roll around and I can get back out there.
However, swimming and running is usually my bread-and-butter in the winter. I don't mind cold-weather running - maybe one day I'll write about the reason's why I'd rather run in the winter than the summer - and swimming is inside anyway so there's no real reason to stop. In fact, during last year's season I did way more yardage in the winter and spring than I did in the summer - either inside or outside - so my swimming actually fell off during my peak training times - not exactly an ideal way to train but whatever.
This season I just can't seem to find the groove. I've been much more consistent in the pool than anything else, getting in the water at least twice a week, but I've slacked off a whole bunch when it comes to running. I've been battling a knee issue ever since my two marathons in two weeks in November, and even with all the time off it still flairs up if I go longer than five miles. Obviously I haven't seen a doctor, because that would be something logical, and I'm just hoping that as I ease back into mileage it will sort itself out, but if it goes on then I guess a visit to the doctor is probably in the cards.
I have a half-marathon on the books for late April, so with only six-ish weeks to go until the race, I am woefully unprepared and untrained. Actually, that's a lie - I know that I can run the 13.1 miles, it will just be at a pace significantly slower than previous half-marathons. And I am actually okay with that. I can't expect to be in the same shape that I was leading up to the NYC Marathon because I trained my ass off for that event, but over the next few weeks I am vowing to at least get my body - and mind - prepared for the race.
And hey, if nothing else I'll get an awesome finisher's pint glass to take home.
