Leave it on the Bike

It's late, I'm tired and I know this will not be finished tonight, but the thoughts of today's race are still blowing around in my mind, much like the wind we saw on Long Island today.   In addition to my half-marathon training, I decided to take on my first multi-sport race, a sprint distance duathlon that I have been wanting to do for years.  It's a 2 mile run, followed by a 10.5 mile bike, followed by another 2 mile run.  I was at this race 8 years ago, as a spectator.  I remember looking at the women racing, thinking that I should be out there too, but I was taking care of babies and then busy getting divorced and then taking care of young children.  A few years ago, it became an important goal of mine, as well as a mental hurdle.  I hung the race description in my room and planned to get there.  A few months ago, I still did not think it would be this spring. However, by adding in the run training to all the spinning I teach, it became a possibility.     As with th...

The highest hurdle for this half-marathon run was getting to the start line.  I knew that, once I started, I would finish the race.  If I had to go much slower, walk, whatever, I would finish the race.  Starting was another story.  My nerves were not about my finishing time.  Considering how my training had been stalled and I was coming off a stomach flu, I had given up on that long ago.  I was concerned about how bad I might feel. I'll admit, I was emotional race morning.  I was thinking back over the past 6 months of my life.  I was thinking back to the new year and my resolution to be happy.  I was thinking that, 3 months ago, trying to run this distance was not even on my radar.  I was thinking about squeezing in training between kids, work, school and countless other obligations.  I was thinking about how I hadn't run in forever.  My stomach was still not right after being sick.  It was raining.  I was thinking about how I almost sabotaged myself and then vowed that I woul...

My original intention for this post was to pick up where I left off and write about run training. What happens when a Spinning instructor takes off the clips and starts training for a half-marathon?  I planned to write about using cross-training machines (hate them, but they work) and jumping on treadmills before and after teaching classes.  I planned to write about how I felt crossing over into mileage I'd never done, how I felt about about slowing down (me?) and changing my stride to help with endurance.  I planned to write about running 10 miles on a treadmill, my first trail runs, and being a student. While all of this will play a role, I realized, as I received my race number and packet this morning, that this post is not at all about these things.  This post is more about the mind than the body and how our thought processes can get us to our goals or render them impossible.    I casually mentioned to a new boyfriend, and runner, that I was always interested in doing some long...