Time to Switch Gears!

So I ran my first half marathon this past Sunday, and all of the training paid off - I came in a full 40 minutes faster than my original goal time of 2:45; and 10 minutes faster than my last minute goal time of 2:15. My finish time was 2:05:13!! I went into the training with the mindset of 'I just want to finish' - but at some point it became clear that simply finishing was not enough. I wanted to see what I was truly capable of. So I pushed myself really hard, and I'll admit - those last two miles were brutal!! But crossing that finish line ahead of my goal time was definitely a huge accomplishment! I had an upset stomach for two days but it was counteracted by the huge smile on my face. I made a decision. I committed to the training; and I exceeded my expectations. It was a beautiful thing.

Now it's time to switch gears, put running on the back burner, and focus on skating! I intend to keep skating for team Ezeefit Lite - I love being associated with some remarkable skaters and a product I actually believe in. My first skate race is in 24 days - The Apostle Islands Inline marathon! I did it last year and had a really great time! The town of Bayfield is beautiful, the course is wonderful, and I get to see a lot of my friends. I'm looking forward to all of that!! I am approaching the race pretty much the same way I did last year - with no pressure and no hard expectations. I hope to come in at or below my time from last year (1:40) but my primary goal is to have fun! I'm staying out there an extra day so I can spend more time with my friend Susan, and I'm really looking forward to the entire weekend.

The primary intent of taking up running as cross training was to maintain my conditioning throughout the winter. I was tired of gaining 10+ pounds every winter and spending the first part of skate season losing the weight and regaining my endurance and conditioning. I am happy to report that I was successful! I didn't gain any weight, and I've been out on my skates only 6 times this year; but I never had that feeling of starting over again. I didn't feel like there had been a few months in between skate sessions. I skated pretty strong and felt really good! So my plan worked!!! An added bonus was actually falling in love with running and now having 2 sports that I feel actively involved with. Win/win.

I'm quitting my job and my last day is next Friday (May 31st) and I'm going to take the month of June off. I will be training a lot during that time. I should be ready for Apostle with no worries. I intend to continue running as well; I will continue my Tue/Thur weight and running workouts, I'll skate 3x per week and I will also continue to do the Saturday morning long run. I don't really want to skate on the weekends if I can help it; the trail is way too congested and it makes me really tense. I'm hoping for weekday skates with fewer people on the trail! I skated 20 miles today, and the trail was relatively empty. I'm looking forward to that very much.

July I will probably do another running event; I won't be skating a race then. In August I'm doing the duathlon in St Paul: skating a half marathon then running a 5K. I'm pretty excited about that one. I think it will be challenging. After that is Northshore in September - then I'll probably switch back to running. I plan on running the Rock n Roll half in October; and of course I will continue to run throughout the winter again.

I think I can finally call myself an athlete; rather than a wanna be. My primary criteria was consistency. For too many years I was on again, off again and to me - a true athlete is consistently active. I feel that I have finally reached that point. Better late than never...

And so the countdown to Apostle has begun!!