“When does your season start?” my chiropractor asked.
“Ummm… last Sunday….” I answered.
“No, you’re triathlon season.”
“Oh. Mid-June.”
“You’re not ready. Your lungs might be ready, but your back is not ready. Your body isn’t ready.”
“I thought not,” I replied.
On Sunday I ran a half marathon, my first running race of my life (other than in junior high school when I ran a 1500m race). It was a great race, but I really wasn’t ready. I knew I wasn’t ready and I knew I wasn’t going to be ready, but I did it anyway. My time was just under 2:19, which was all right. I averaged 6.30 min/km… not a bad pace for not training.
Pros: I got to run on a really awesome course in perfect weather, I now know what it feels like to <i>just</i> run without swimming and biking first, and I got to see lots of people that I know from the running crowd.
Cons: I started hurting 8km into the race: my right IT-band and my left foot. That’s really all that was negative about the experience.
Where do I go from here: I am getting back on the yoga wagon – more stretching and holding stretches for longer. I’m also going to be doing some more running. I am definitely not ready for the half Ironman right now.
Tomorrow I have a two-hour massage to help work out some of the kinks. My chiro wants me to torture myself by massaging my IT-bands with a frozen water bottle (a good trick, but it’s going to hurt so much!). I go back on Friday. The race on June 15th is a local event that will be a good intro to the season. I’m taking it easy this week and then it’s back to the training next week. I wish my coach would send me my schedule.
