Resting.

Since finishing the triathlon, I’ve worked out only once. I suppose that’s not that much of a slack off, after all, it’s Thursday morning, and so that means I’ve rested two of three days. But my plan is to rest again today. Maybe tomorrow too. I’m tired, and I’ve been training hard for races almost nonstop for about two years. I still have three races on my schedule for this year, possibly four if BB and I add a 15 km race in DC we saw that looks fun.

Racing is awesome, and I enjoy it and I love collecting medals. I love the accomplishment and the feeling of fitness and connection with BB I get from it. But constant training is wearying too. In addition to the physical toll, it can be mentally exhausting to never take a break. Burn out is real, and insidious. It’s time for me to take a week or so off so that I don’t burn myself down and feel like the fall marathon is a burden, not a joy.

BB and I set a goal for ourselves to remain “half-marathon fit”. Meaning, any morning we wake up, if we want to, we should be able to call in “sick” to work and go run 13 miles. We’ve done that. What an amazing thing, really, too. Just the ability to go and run for two hours without stopping feels incredible, and like an enormous privilege. Similarly, I am now capable of a three hour triathlon, covering almost 30 miles of swimming and cycling and running, without stopping. Unbelievable to me. It used to be impossible for me to walk 200 yards up a steep hill without resting in the middle.

But even though I am amazed at what I’ve been able to do, I can still get exhausted and feel overwhelmed. I need to take a short break before committing to my marathon training. Marathon training is awesome, but monotonous. Day after day after day running for hours at a time, putting in 35-40 miles on the long weeks, and suffering all of the various little injuries and ailments along the way.

I’ve worked out a plan with a little less in the way of weekday miles, and a little more cross training this year. We’ll see how that feels. As usual, my goal is to finish. But I’d love to set a new personal record too. Which I think will be possible, and even likely. We’re not going to stand around for two full hours ahead of the race start, our feet getting swollen. So it ought to hurt less.

But before all that, before the race, the training, the effort, and the agony, I need a rest. I spent months training for a big thing. I did the big thing. I got the medal. I’m proud. And I’m tired. So I’m resting.