Note: I've been thinking about this for a while and rehashing things in my mind and I've decided to publish this before my race report from this weekends triathlon. Besides results for that aren't up yet and I'll just hold you all in suspense. So here does:
One of the big challenges about being obsessed with training is finding people who understand. Most people don't see spending 11-13 hours a week training as a viable "life style choice". I get a lot of "you don't need to run today, come have beer and pizza with us instead." I usually resist but every once in a while I'm convinced and then that days training is either cut short, of diminished quality or abandon altogether (so far this year that's only happened once). Thus the need to find people who will encourage training and not hinder it.
Two weeks ago after the De Ronde ride on Saturday I went to my first Trail Factor trail run. It was awesome to run with a really serious group. Wow most of them are really fast. I can't keep up with ex cross country runners and collegiate track athletes but it was fun to try. They really inspired and motivated me something that feel has been somewhat lacking in my training lately. We ran Hamilton Mountain, 2700 ft elevation gain over 2.8 miles then a gradual descent for a total distance of 7.2 miles. It was a blast made a bunch of friends. I ran with trail factor again this weekend on Herman Creek trail. It was also totally awesome even though it was raining like crazy. I could really learn to love this trail running stuff.
On Wednesday I had my first group track workout. I met Shawn (my coach, who's leaving me for Texas)and kick ass local runners and triathletes Emily, Zach, and Jen. I'm missing this week because I'm out of town but I plan on staying connected with them. As the season continues I think that group track workouts will have to become a staple in my training.
As I search for a new coach I'm pretty sure that I'll be looking for an environment where I can connect with fellow athletes Particularly runners and swimmers like I have with Portland Velo. I'm pretty self motivated but every once in a while I need someone to help kick me into gear!
This is a rest week and I'm flying to St Louis for a surgery follow up so expect some blogging on that late this week.
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2 comments:
I totally feel your pain man! Nobody seems to get why Friday nights have to be cut short for a 7:00 am Saturday 4+ hour run.
Hey - I am just getting around to reading through your posts. It was pretty awesome to have a group track workout but now that Shawn is gone I've been doing them on my own @ Duniway track. Usually my track workouts fall on Wednesdays, but I just got my updated training plan from Bostad and now they're on Thursdays. (At least for this coming week.) So much for consistency in schedule!
But if you're up for doing them as a group, I can give you a shout out. I tend to do my workouts on a whim when I have some time. I work from home so I can sometimes get out in the middle of the day, but sometimes after 5 p.m. I am pretty wishy washy when it comes down to it! However, it would be fun to try to plan some stuff out.
Good luck with finding the coach - have you found one yet?
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