No more floundering!

I won't say I fell off the wagon.  I never stopped running.  I took a break from swimming, but have been back at it for a solid month and a half.  My bike?  Oh, poor neglected Bella.  Yes, she has been locked in a closet since I did my last race... three months ago.

I never let go of my goals, but I did let go of my focus.  There was travelling for the rest of the summer and then some real life commitments I had to deal with.  Then some excuses and a bit of laziness.  I ran when I felt like it, swam when I wanted to.  Nothing too intense.  Just because.  In my opinion, a great strategy following a big race - just not for three months.

But, upon getting all that out of my system, I took a look at everything and considered where I want to go.

I want to figure out just how much potential I have.

At one time, I self identified myself as a "slow runner".  I was never going to race to compete, only complete.  Doing a sub-60 10k was something I saw as the holy grail of running, at least for me.  I figured if I could reach that goal, I'd be forever happy with my speed.

The day I started seeing more was about a year ago, when I shattered that 60 minute barrier, running a 10K in 56:33.  Then I bested my first half marathon time by 30 minutes.  There was finishing that 5K as the fourth female.

And the thing is, I feel like I still have more.  Much more.

I've now invested in myself in a way that 2 years ago, I didn't think I was worthy of.  (As a note, I always recognized the worth of a coach, just not my worthiness of one.) Along with my new job came the financial freedom to do so.  I've hired a coach.

Not just any coach.  Angie, whom I've been working with in group classes for nearly two years now.  She's already guided me towards numerous "aha" moments and breakthroughs before I was even one of her coached athletes.

Today, she emailed me my program.  Nothing surprised me.  There wasn't even anything to scare me - much.  Overall, more focus and balance.  For the swim and run, I feel like the main adjustment will be some intensity on the run, and a more specific focus on the swim.  Although I did see some hill repeats sneaking in a few weeks in.  Hills are my training partner, right?

But then, there is spin class on Friday, which will be the first time I get on my bike (I don't think a couple rides on my hybrid at the pace of a 5 year old count).  Her words in my plan are: "this is going to be a shock to your system".

I think that might be coach speak for: "you might die".