Sunday, December 23, 2007

Baby steps

Today I took the first, tentative steps towards becoming myself again. Or, more accurately, towards becoming the latest version of me, who I think I'll call Kate the Great Balancer.

Since my sub-4 "victory" in October, I have neglected my fitness and my training. Instead, I've thrown myself into work (by necessity) and my social life (a mixture of Christmas, engagement...). It was great to take one item of stress off the list, and, unfortunately, when I'm not getting a breathing break until 8/9pm, that's what exercise was- just pure stress. I tried a run commute one morning (humid, backpack-ed, highway 8-miler) and felt good until about 10am, fine until 8pm, and absolutely shattered for the rest of the week. Oh, and some random DOMS kept me awake until I had to resort to ibuprofen.

So, here I am, nearly 2 months post race, feeling like a spotty blimp. My skin is terrible, and I've never felt less inclined to try bridesmaid dresses or bikinis on. My fat clothes are tight, and my skinny clothes are a distant dream. But I don't regret a thing. Well, not really. I've had a pretty impressive year at work, and feel good about performance, and about the recognition I'm getting. I had a fantastic time enjoying the Christmas season, and showing my ring off time and time again.

So, no regrets, but with a venue booked and a date set, I'm ready to commit again, and today I set out for my first outdoor ride in probably 6 months. It was slow, the hills hurt more than they should have, and the headwind on the way back just about broke my spirit, but it was great to be on the bike again. My bike computer hit 500km during the ride, and my first "Kate the Great Balancer" goal is to hit 1000 by March.

Merry Christmas folks!

7 comments:

Mike said...

Happy Christmas! :) - sure it won't take you long to get back to 'fit' Kate :)

I struggled on the bike with the headwind yesterday as well and I'm sure it was a lot more windy in Wellington!

So the bike ride ... base training for an Ironman??? I'm planning an unsupported Ironman in Jan 09 ... anyone interested??? :) haha

Mike said...

So that's sorted then Kate ... honeymoon spent tapering for and then racing the Ironman :) haha

Wes said...

Merry Christmas, Kate! Sometimes, being balanced means less training :-) You know what to do :-) :-)

Rachel said...

Hang in there! You just finished a marathon! Don't beat yourself up too much. You are awesome and will bounce back verry quickly. And a HUGE congrats on your engagement!

GP said...

Between holiday binging and several months of not running (because of injury), I've been paranoid about whether every piece of clothing I wear wasn't a little more loose a few months ago.

You've had a great race season and plenty to celebrate. Just remember that once you get on a training track, you'll feel better again. That's my mantra ;-)

Phil said...

Happy New Year Kate ... congrats on your engagement!

Steve Stenzel said...

Happy new year!!! Good luck with the planning!!