With 39 days to go till my first ever 70.3 I can safely say now that I am getting close to saying "I cant wait to taper". I am starting to get slowly more tired physically and things are starting to ache more than normal. My eyes are getting heavier and harder to open as that alarm goes off in the dark mornings and I wonder if it is normal to feel a little "I'm slightly over the early mornings".
I still enjoy the training and the feeling of getting better and better everytime I head out the door but I AM having to push myself mentally harder and harder.
Prime example - yesterday was my longest run to date and although I am happy about it I just wasn't feeling it at all. Right from the very beginning I struggled to get out of bed trying to find to excuses to stay in bed - too dark, too cold, didn't get a good nights sleep, felt smashed from the weekends training- it took so much mental strength to drag my sorry behind out of that warm, comfy bed.
Whilst sitting eating breakfast I called upon the collective strength and determination of my friends on DailyMile to help get me through this mental funk so I could do what is was my training plan called for - a 2hr run. The previous night I had a tonne of my friends on FB give me much needed encouragement too.
So as I headed out the door to quite possibly the most foggiest morning I have ever seen I really tried to stay focused. Focused on keeping my mind in the game and staying on track. The first hour wasn't too bad - it wasn't great great but it was ok. My legs did feel very heavy and it did take me a while to get into a rhythm but once there I held it for about an hour.
At about the 1hr 30min mark I started to struggle and it was then I wondered if I was hitting THE WALL. Not sure what that wall is exactly but I felt dizzy, really heavy legged, and slightly nauseous. It also coincided with this one particular hill that I even struggle to ride up. So I allowed myself to walk for 1min. No more, no less - once that 60secs was up it was time to get going.
Taking off again wasn't as tough as I thought it would be - I actually found it refreshing to have had a rest and then get moving. It was just what my body needed. I learnt something about myself yesterday even after all the lack of motivation I suffered before this run was that I am tougher and much more focused then I give myself credit for. It is so easy to just neglect things, to overlook them and say I will get to it at a later date. When in actuality if you miss that opportunity you may never get it back.
So I am really happy to report that in my longest run to date I completed 20.1km. And I did it not feeling the best too. Goes to show what your body is capable of even when you feel not your best. The human body is a resilient machine.
