Finding the Spark

For the past ~2 months I have making it a point to put more effort into my training. I have always been a hard worker when it comes to training for something but I had been finding myself getting too comfortable even during my harder workouts. I am not the best at easing up and frequently end up doing easy and recovery workouts a little harder than I probably should. I was finding myself not going easy enough on easy workouts and then not being able to give what I want on my harder workouts.

Training for the Nike Women's Half Marathon was the first stop of my journey to getting back to competing somewhat competitively. I was committed to my training but was not as invested as I could have been at all times. I did the work and certainly challenged myself but mentally I wasn't pushing myself to that place. Since I started triathlon training at the beginning of the summer I have been trying to push myself out of my comfort zone more.

The site of my super hilly long ride on Thursday

During workouts if I am feeling good I will push harder, even if the time on the clock says I am going fast enough. I don't want to settle for what the numbers say I can do. It's all too easy to only do as much as your mind says you can do. I remember at swim practice and meets those times where I would go after a time that not even my coaches thought I could do. I wanted to test myself and was not afraid but rather excited. That feeling you get in the pit of your stomach before you're about to do something really bold and gutsy but amazing is what I lived for as a swimmer.

I have spent a lot of time training this summer and a lot of time thinking of where I want training to head in the future. Instead of dreading my hard workouts I look forward to them and am excited to find that spark that keeps me coming back for more. Although clearly not all workouts are meant to be super hard, it is an amazing feeling when, instead of pushing hard during an interval, you push a little bit harder than you thought you could. I never want to settle but rather I always know I can do more. Sometimes it's better to miss your goal than to not even try to go after it.

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