Know When to Fold Em'

So for me, working out is a way of life. I'm not one of these people who dreads a workout. I never could understand why someone would continue to do something that they clearly did not enjoy. I love swimming, biking, and running. Sure there are days and certain workouts that I whine and complain but overall I'm in this because I really enjoy doing it. In many ways it is my medicine. I do not feel well when I take a day away. I feel sluggish and hungover and completely lacking energy. In an ideal world I would wake up every morning, drink two cups of starbucks, and get right to some kind of work out. The point to all of this...rest does not come easy to me. If I could get away with it I would never ever take a day off. Today my body is telling me I need rest. And I need to listen-I know what can happen when you come to this fork in the road and choose to carry on when your body is screaming for a break. I've had a couple of big weeks and on top of a high mileage week I worked over 48 hours and got very little sleep. Saturday was my 6th night in a row working-I came home and slept for three hours, then ran for 3 hours, then went back to work for my final 4 hour shift at work. It was a cluster of a week-I never work that much but with the kids on break this week and Matt in Boston next week I had to put in some extra time. In two weeks I will be running the New Jersey Marathon and today I struggled with a 6 mile run at an 8:30 pace-not good. The heart rate was low but the quads are not cooperating. So, I bagged the bike this afternoon-despite wanting more than anything to get out and enjoy the sunshine. I will rest if I must and I must. Sigh...jc

Lake Placid 140.6

I have been waivering about Lake Placid for months now. I have to say I was really sad that my three favorite training partners decided not to race LP this year. I was so looking forward to finally racing an Ironman w/my BFF from Maine- Melissa-unfortunately she had a spinal fusion-twice-in recent months so she is a no go. The best part about doing triathlons is getting to share the experience with great friends who totally get it. Cuz let's be honest-most people think this is really crazy. In fact, I remember the first year I did Lake Placid and I would go to the Cavalry Club pool where my kids are on the swim team-the other moms would ask me what I did for training that day and if I rode 90 I would say 30!! Stupid-but I just got sick of trying to explain how I actually enjoyed riding my bike that far. OK-back to Lake Placid-it is my favorite place on earth. I just feel at home there-I could totally move there-and I would LOVE to retire there. I raced my first Ironman there in 2008-that was the year that it poured rain the ENTIRE day. I loved every minute of it. I was having a fantastic day. I had an amazing coach-and I was prepared. Plus-I had that once in a lifetime fire that you get when you do something for the very first time. I was having the race of my life until about mile 93 on the bike when I got my first flat. I had issues with the stem on my race wheel and ended up getting 2 more flats-only had 2 tubes so had to wait for bike tech for 20min in the pouring rain. Three flats from mile 93-108! It was devastating and I need to go back there-I feel like I've got unfinished business there. So now I'm ready. I feel that fire again. When I'm doing my long rides I see myself riding the LP course-I hit a hill and in my mind I'm heading up the three bears. When I'm running the marathon in New Jersey in two weeks I will be running Placid-this is where my heart is. See you there!

Getting Stronger

I've been a total slacker about blogging. This is a really busy time of year in the Chaffin household. Matt and I are both ramping up the mileage for race season and the kids have baseball, lacrosse, swimming, and soccer. This is alittle insane but honestly I function better when I'm crunched for time. It has been interesting for me coaching myself. The best part about it is that I am way more relaxed about my training mentally. When I have a schedule in front of me I tend to get alittle anal retentive and I really freak out if I have to miss a work out-i stress and worry alot about how to fit it in. One of the benefits to going solo is that I find that I listen to my body a whole lot more. I was completely guilty of not being completely honest with my coach about how I was feeling. I was terrified to miss a work out. Now that I am winging it-if I feel like crap I just take it easy that day-no big deal-and when I'm feeling good I can lay down the hammer. For now, it is working. I'm fortunate to still be able to do a large amount of training with Kristen who always pushes me out of my comfort zone. One of the biggest changes I have made thus far is that I have been doubling up on my longish rides. 50+ miles on Monday and then 60+ miles on Friday. I'm alittle panicked that I have yet to do a century (hundy as Adam would say) with Placid less that a hundy days away!! There is time and right now my focus is Eagleman 70.3. On Monday I've just been riding at a relaxed pace-and the past few Sundays I have ran 20 or more miles so the legs are not all there on Monday! On Wednesday Kristen and I did a brick of 25 miles on the bike followed by an hour run. This was a total disaster for me as I was going on less than 3 hours of sleep after working the previous 3 nights in a row. I started the ride out and immediately got a terrible side stitch-the kind you get when you are running really hard-the kind I've never had on the bike! KRoe was hauling up a huge hill and every breath I took was so painful. When we got to the top she said, "You have a bloody nose!" I told her she should just go on cuz i was feeling like crap-the good friend she is she didn't wanna leave me with the nose bleed and all! The run wasn't much better but you know what-I got it done and it is miles in the bank. Some days that is all you can do. I know that it is all making me stronger!