Clueless Runner: --er Triathlete?

Why haven't I been blogging as much lately? First of all, still recovering from party-madness. We had honey-bear's first bday, then Honey-Bear's 30th birthday, after which I collapsed. How is it so exhausting throwing parties? I feel guilty  for being tired because I had so much help from Grandmas! But it does wear you out, in addition to teething/baby hating whole milk/ poopies out the wazoo.

Whew.


Got the idea from my brother, who is doing the Ironman in 2012. Not to mention.....I have an irrational fear of both bicycles and open water. (& middle eastern camel spiders eating my flesh in my sleep, but nevermind that). I thought doing a tri could help me overcome a fear of these things. So I had to sign up for one because I knew if I didn't, I would forever be tormented by my lack of basic-life skills that will make me an uptight-non-risk-taking-Claire-from-ModernFamily-kind-of mom if I don't learn at some point.

And, who knows, triathlons might be an easier hobby than running to maintain as I age, right.

 So here I am, committed. But it's actually not so bad--  borrowed a bike from my step-mom, am using our neighborhood pools, and will just have to buy all the other junk I will never want to use again. (Fortunately, Justin is starting triathlons so he'll just use all the stuff). I'm actually growing a lot! (both as a person, and physically...my calves are the size of my face I fear )

My training so far? Well, it's working out well! I *actually know how to swim now!! It's incredible. Years of swim lessons as a kid did nothing for me, but pressure to not to humiliate myself in front of hundreds of meat-y athletes did the trick. Justin&I spent the first week of 'training' learning how. It took me every night that week but by the end, I was swimming laps! That was week one, then last week, I kept pushing myself to go 400 meters straight. This week I went on my first bike ride--6miles of hills. (It's amazing how motivated you become when the other option is walking home...) The biking was the hardest. I will say that marathon-training gave me a good base, so the cardio isn't as difficult as it would have been, but it was hard.  I thought swimming would be a nightmare, but I actually enjoy the swimming, and it's the biking that feels stressful and time-consuming. Kinda like driving. Have to use your brain and junk ;)

I'm not really going to blog much about this process, this will probably be the last of it. I just wanted to share, in case anyone wonders--why I am MIA for the next 6 weeks. (I am tweeting about it after each workout though if anyone's curious (cinders_gr))

Because even though Justin already laughs a little too hard when we watch her,  I refuse to become Claire Dunphy.

marathon training: did i make a mistake???

Okay before I gripe, I will list the things I love about running.

A) It's efficient. Short amount of time, and I'm giving my heart a great exercise.
B) No gym membership, no driving somewhere, time efficient, wallet-efficient.
C) It feels awesome.
D) It is worship. For me, starting at 2-3 weeks postpartum, it is a way I physically thank God for my health. Hard to explain.
E) It's can be *good for your joints, and good for your heart. (See articles I linked to previous post)

But, I will say, I'm not gaining muscle. After running a certain mileage (which really isn't very high), your body gets so used to it, it stops being a way to lose weight/build cardio. (Look in any running journal to find the scientific mumbojumbo, I don't have the energy to link right now). So, it's probably not something you do to lose weight or get in great shape.

But, it's something I do because I *love.

Up until my 16mi run, it gave me energy, endurance for my day, and a time to focus on God.

My muscles and joints feel awesome. Doing taxes on the computer hurt my joints worse than 20miles. A little tight 3rd day, but no pain.

But, I. Am. Exhausted.

...I basically use every ounce of energy in my day to spend time with my baby and teach him things. Which, let's be honest is more important than spring cleaning.

Everything else: Gone To Pot.

What's funny, is I am just running ONE time a week, but I am drained all week from my one long run.

That being said...... I'm not training the way a runner should be training for a marathon. I'm eating fast-food and PBJ's and pizza. I'm running one time per week instead of three, and I'm doing no muscle-building. And I really feel that that is the reason I'm wiped.

But, I am training the *best I can while being a mom (minus the poor diet, that's just bad habit), while putting my baby first and my husband first. (Which is why, they say being a stay-at-home mom is a full time job..if it's really your priority, it IS a full time job!)

What I wasn't expecting was that being a mom is incredibly and unexpectedly draining physically, emotionally, spiritually.

And, I'm glad I'm not training for the whole 4-6month period that most runners train, because that would be a long amount of time to train for ONE short event.

So, what has training looked like for me?
Three weeks ago, I ran 16;  Lots of hills, but nothing to report except hamstring soreness that lasted 4 days.

The week after, I ran 18.9.  The hardest run by far. It was 82 that day, I ate three Goo in the first half hour (stupid, stupid mistake) and my legs felt like ten million pounds. Awful day.

This week, I ran 20.8. I felt really good afterwards, definitely had another 2 miles in me, no complaints. Okay I'll find one. It's hard to 'stay off your legs' when you have a 10month old. I think that's why I can't recover quick enough energy-wise to run during the week.

This week: Exhausted. I am literally having to push myself to get laundry done, to take Elijah out, to go to Target and I LOVE Target.


So......do I still love running?
Yes, please!
Will I ever run another 26.2 mile-marathon?
Not while there is a baby in the house!