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| My limit? INFINITY |
During this visit with Jared, I asked "what now"??
How far can I run?
How long can I run?
How fast can I go?
I am usually not one to sit back and be satisfied with "just a little bit" and I am counting the weeks to when I can tackle big distance again. The thoughts of Spring weather and long runs is getting this gal pretty excited!!
Then Jared said something to me that felt like a slap in the face.
"You don't need to run any long distances"
"You don't need to run more than 4x a week"
My facial expression was screaming but! but!
"You need to decide, Jen-what is your focus going to be? If it is going to be triathlon and performance, you don't need to run more than 10-12 miles for your long run right now" (note: I am only doing sprint and Olympic distance triathlon this season and I don't have any distance running races on the schedule as of now).
This actually made me really, really sad. Not what I wanted to hear. I love my long runs-they are my therapy sessions. My escape. My ME time. I love my long runs!!
We talked in circles about this for a bit-me trying to convince him that long runs of 18+ miles are OK but essentially, I knew he was right. He explained to me that the chances of injury are going to increase with big distance and if I am going to focus this season on triathlon and it's shorter distance run, then I really should be on getting faster and building a really strong bike.
I will not abandon my long runs but I am willing to sub in a long bike as he recommended. I am willing to try the workouts he suggested. I have listened to him so far and it brought me to a pretty good place already. Plus, the guy is a genius (in my opinion) and an Ironman finisher so...he's gotta be onto something, right?
THEN he asked if I would be getting a triathlon coach. I told him that as much as I would like to, this was just something that was not in my budget. I explained to him that I had a couple of Joe Friel's books and with some online tools, I was creating my own training plan. He felt strongly that I would benefit from a coach, giving me the name of his coach and suggested I get in touch with him. He even said that he would probably be willing to give me some guidance for free.
I have been on an amazing journey discovering fitness and my passion for running and triathlon. But it's been something I have had to do on my own. No personal trainers. No nutritionists. It's been just ME. My own research. My own planning. Educating myself on exercise, nutrition, endocrinology. And it has been just fine.
Do I want a triathlon and/or running coach? SURE! I would love some assistance to improve my performance, but help is expensive and I don't have expensive.
I would love guidance from someone who has been there and done that but that's not in the cards right now.
I hate having limits.
I want to run 20+ miles every weekend if I want to.
I want to ride my bike for hours on end on a sunny Saturday afternoon.
I want to swim, swim, swim.
I want it all and I want it NOW>
But I need to be smart about it too--So I can continue to improve and do so injury free!
But those big distances are not too far away...2011 will be a season of learning, developing better skills and techniques.
Oh and chasing some short distance PR's.
Watch out Dad. I'm coming to get YOUR 5k PR.
There are no limits on that, right??
