I am a triathlete. And now what?

I never really knew what to expect after I finished training for my triathlon and completed the race. When I started this blog, I didn’t really think about it. A few months into it I began to think about what the purpose of this blog would be, since the goal was to do a triathlon. I did it! (Man, did I do it!!) And now what?

I did it. And now what?

Something in me decided that I wasn’t going to just stop. I enjoy the social factor of doing 5Ks with the group of friends I made while training for the triathlon. So I knew I’d be doing some 5Ks after the triathlon and into the fall or winter. What I didn’t know was that I was going to get sucked into the idea of doing a half marathon. In April, shortly after I started my blog, two of my friends in Florida began talking to me on twitter about the thought of doing the Disney Princess Half Marathon. I told them I’d think about it and promptly thought “Yeah right, you are crazy if you think I’m running for that long on purpose. 5K is one thing, 13.1 miles is stupid”. And then I told them “Yes”.

I seriously don’t know why. Maybe it was a subconscious fear that if I didn’t make another BIG goal after my triathlon, then I’d become a couch potato and stop training, working out, being active, etc. I remember looking through a Runner’s World magazine and I saw an ad for a Disney half marathon in November. It reminded me of the convo my friends and I had and I thought, “Oh that looks cool, I want to do that”. I must add here that I sincerely enjoy reading about running and researching running, running shoes, running blogs, running pace calculators, running accessories, helpful stretches for runners, ways to be a better runner, the right food to eat as a runner and much more. However, I hate the actual ACT OF RUNNING. I don’t like it. When I’m out there running, I hate myself for even getting myself into this running stuff. When I’m at a 5K, I love the social atmosphere before and after the race, the excitement before the race, the glow after the race, and of course the t-shirt (more so the medal!!), but I HATE the run part. I so desperately want to be a runner and I love the idea of being a runner, but I don’t like doing it. It’s okay, I know I’m mental.

The amount of books that I’ve bought on running is ridiculous. The amount of magazines I get is borderline crazy. The number of websites I have bookmarked would probably put most runners to shame. And I’m not even good at it. But I want to be. I try so hard to enjoy myself while running, but I just don’t. For some reason the want that I have to BE a runner is what gets me out there and keeps me going. I guess that’s all that matters right?

I know people have said to me before, “You are a runner” I still don’t consider myself one. It’s a mental thing and until I can conquer it, no one can convince me otherwise. I’m stubborn.

Back to “now what”. I have been looking at half marathon training plans (and I won’t lie, it terrifies me) and trying to choose one that looks like I can handle it and at least complete the half marathon. By the way, it’s in February. That’s in four months. FOUR MONTHS. I gave myself 9 months of training time for the triathlon. I found a plan by Jeff Galloway on the runDisney website and I think I might try that one. It starts the training in on October 4th and is a 3-day a week plan. I can fill those other days with spin classes or strength training or kickboxing or yoga or rest. Rest sounds like the most fun.

I also have the book Run Your Butt Off! that I plan to read and try to follow. It’s basically a program that helps people eat right and train right so that they can lose weight and start running. Regular people, like me. Not athletes who run a bunch of marathons per year, but people who are overweight and can’t run at all. They must have read my blog.

Get yours here!

The book specifically says, on page 24, “YOU NEED TO RUN SLOWLY. Very slowly. How slow is slow? Try this: Make your run no faster than your walk”.

Seriously, did they read my blog? It’s like they are speaking directly to me. My run is probably the same pace as my walk, maybe even slower. Good to know I’m supposed to start slow. Here’s my problem though. I’m not starting out. I’ve been doing this for 9 months. And I’m still at the beginning. No matter how hard I tri try, I don’t see progress with my running. It’s frustrating and I don’t know why I still want to do this.

Regardless, I have a half marathon to train for and six 5Ks coming up in the next 3 months. We shall see if this book and Jeff Galloway’s training plan can help me get somewhere fast. Kinda fast. Or just get there period. Here goes nothin'!!