Ah Ah Ah Choo!

Arizona spring boasts perfect temperatures for triathlon training and amazing desert blooms, but along with that comes allergies.  All my workouts are outdoors all year long except for an occasional indoor trainer ride.  That is part of the benefit of desert living.  In the winter, you can sleep in and wait for warmer weather to arrive or you can bundle up with your winter gear you got for Christmas and test out what degree it was made for.  In the summer, you adjust your alarm to rise with the sun at 5 am or even earlier on long workout days and put your headlamp on to beat the heat of the day.  It is awesome to ride, run and swim with the beautiful flowered plants lining the streets, sharp bright sunrises and sunsets painting colors in the sky, and silhouettes of the mountains popping out as the light changes.

When in motion, you sometimes feel like you are just a part of a picture painted on a canvas or watching a wide screen documentary as you move through time and space.  I visualize myself running or riding through the Arizona desert being photographed and published in the RAVE RUN section of Runner's World or Triathlete Magazines.  For those picture perfect moments in time, I am grateful as I am fortunate to not have to be an urban triathlete and run from traffic light to traffic light every day surrounded by high rise buildings.  I am very happy to live in the setting I do despite having to share it with more and more cars.  This setting does not come without a price.  During spring time there is a premium attached to the yellow, orange, purple and pink blossoms and that is ALLERGIES.  I am sorry for those that travel behind me on my bike while large streams of clear fluid escape from my nose like the strings of a kite.  And after enjoying the scenery by day, my eyes and throat become itchy and swollen by night.  I wake up in the morning with pools of drainage and an achy body.  Remember it is just SEASONAL and it too shall pass.
This week did not go as smoothly as last.  Workouts were shorter, some more intense and overall less frequent.  My body seemed to be suffering a little more with less to give.  Rebellion.  On occasion, the body fights back.  The mind is saying go, go, go and the body says no, no, no.  You can push past it some of the time, but respecting the volume of the scream is something a triathlete at times must do.  Does one taper for a training race?  I fought my body to squeak out 53 miles on the bike yesterday, but today, I gave in and allowed my body a day of rest knowing a long race is coming next weekend followed by an Olympic the following weekend in San Diego.  I only got 2 swims and 2 runs in this week and 3 rides with 2 light core workouts.  Sometimes less is more (I tell my husband that about his haircuts).

That invincible feeling that comes with a long ride fades away quickly when you have a tough week.  This week I mutually agreed to lead a C level ride so other turtles would come out of their shells and join in and the faster riders would not have to wait for us.  I stayed in the back and slowly but quickly I was seeing Orange Jerseys fading from my sight.  The new club I joined does not seem to have any C riders (besides I classify myself as a C+) and I found myself with my one friend and we enjoyed our C ride all on our own.  Maybe there are a few B- riders in the crowd but they turned and went on a shorter route.  I will still hold out for some other slower riders who love endurance to join in.  I still embrace who I am.  Speed is all relative to the others that surround you at any given moment.  Lately, I have been surrounded by many fast people.  My confidence about being in the middle of the pack is waning as I move to the back of the pack in this new group.  A true competitor will rise to the occasion and learn from the more experienced athlete.  Another opportunity to be thankful for (I think).  Put fear aside and just ride!

Highlights from this week were a great swim workout with fins that had my legs screaming for a few days, a great open water swim at sunrise at Bartlett Lake, and a 50 mile bike ride.

Lowlights:  trying to add some speed intervals on bike and run were another "sign" reminding me about the excess weight I am carrying, not getting good recovery after long hard ride and runs last weekend, and more arm pain with increased efforts after it had finally started to lessen and most of all......Ah, Choo.......Allergies.

I am not going to wish my allergies away so fast because they start to diminish when we reach the 100s in AZ and I am in no rush for that.  It is so nice to be able to get out earlier in the light and wear a sleeveless jersey, so a few sneezes and itchy eyes will just have to be one more thing I put up with.  We endure a lot and an Ironman can bear a few sneezes in exchange for colorful scenery, fragrant air, and nice temps to train in.

Now that I have taken control of my own schedule, I am not following a rigid plan and I took the liberty to take a TIME OUT today and rest and recoup my body.

(shared from Women's Recreational Cyclists Facebook Page.