Achilles is healed. Hips have been readjusted (thanks Earl!). Only left with a blister from the heat.
I'll get to the job hunt and such after the running/biking/swimming update, since I seem to be slacking a bit in that department. I was very caught up in trying to get my dream job that I kind of let working out slack a bit. Now that it's July, the job search is heading back. More on that in a bit...
Sunday: 12.5miles in Barrington with Joe (my running buddy, so nice to be back:))
Monday: lift, swim, easy run
Tuesday: morning run and leg strength, afternoon bike workout (4x2min pickups, 2x20min race pace)
Wednesday: 4th of July race, an 8k, finished only 12 seconds off of my PR. in the 95degree heat + humidity...I'll totally take that.
Thursday: easy brick of 4min run/10min bike x4. reminded me of my love for duathlons
Friday: easy 5miles, meeting with Earl (see below) and wedding planning
This was a pretty successful week in terms of training. Coach Cari and I talked about my big goals (DUATHLON WORLDS!) and the races that I would be doing to lead up to Du Worlds. One of these races is the HyVee Triathlon in West Des Moines, Iowa, on Sunday, September 2nd.
Ryan and I did this race probably 3 years ago and I did enjoy it... even if I was blowing black stuff out of my nose for a week. Yeah...I can't remember what exactly happened, but the lake that we swam in (which was actually a different one from the normal lake HyVee is set in) had a bunch of black crap in it. We stayed the night with one of Ryan's U of I Tri Teammates and he got pretty sick from it. BUT, besides the water, we really loved this race. I think for me, I liked it so much because I dominated on the run. I did SO awful on the swim (and even really on the bike... when I look back and see my average was 18.5mph, I have to laugh at myself).
SO, my current focus is Duathlon Worlds, but right before that (3 weeks out) is HyVee. Lucky for me, I pretty much have the ideal situation going on in terms of work for this summer. I basically nanny/chauffeur two triathlon kids. I take two kids to tri practice most mornings. During this time, they swim. I tried just running and lifting and doing core, but the practice time still gives me about another hour and, let's be serious here, I don't just sit around. I wish I could, but I think I just don't have it in me to lounge around and do nothing.
In my last post, I mentioned how the kids' triathlon coach was involved in a serious car accident... well, her dad has been helping out with the team for this week, but I am supposed to "step it up" a bit next week. He even said I could benefit the kids (and myself, of course) by swimming with them. Now, these kids would just DEMOLISH me in the water, but I think it would be motivation for us all. It's like doing laps on a track and you can run a 6:00 mile and there's someone you know that runs an 8:00 mile.... most competitive people are going to try to lap that 8:00 miler as many times as they can. And, the 8:00 miler is going to push themselves to go harder in hopes that this won't happen. That's what I kind of think will happen when I start swimming with the kids team.
I just went and saw Earl Gunther (RMS Physical Therapy in Schaumburg) and we set up a flexiblity, strength (lower body), plyos and core program. I worked with Earl last October when my hamstring tore and he got me back pretty quickly. I've told SO many friends/random people to see him...he's honestly the best Physical Therapist there is. Most PTs will advise you not to run, but Earl KNOWS how stubborn we runners/triathletes/athletes are and gets you back FASTER. I'll make sure to post more once I start incorporating his program.
JOB SEARCH RECAP
In my recent blogs, I've been talking a lot about teaching and how badly I want to be back in the classroom. Don't get me wrong; I still want to teach and 100% believe that is my calling in life (professionally anyway). However, there's a lot of other important things going on in my life right now. Wedding planning and home owning (as in we gutted our house basically and are now putting things back together) are the two big ones. If I continue focusing on teaching and getting that dream job (or even just a job for that matter), I'm neglecting other things.
On the 4th of July, Ryan and I both had the day off (this is rare for us). I told him we needed to do wedding/house stuff. My first bridal shower is August 4th and we only had probably 1/2 of our stuff on our registry. So, after our race, we came back to my house and worked on wedding stuff. We truly got a lot accomplished, but I just couldn't help thinking how much I could always be getting accomplished if I was focused on wedding stuff instead of teaching stuff.
I'm not giving up. I know of a LOT of openings for the 2013-2014 school year (retirements!!!), so I'm going to have a full-time teaching job then. But this year, maybe I am meant to focus on all of the big firsts for me and Ryan.
If I don't get a full-time teaching job for the 2012-2013 year, Ryan and I can go on a honeymoon right away. We can go to Duathlon Worlds together. We can be on the same schedule (or at least see each other more than we do now). I can choose to take a day off and not worry (as in the day before our wedding). We can do far away races and be able to leave earlier than 3pm on a Friday. Selfishly for our relationship, me not having a teaching job might be the best thing to happen for us.
I am a firm believe that everything happens for a reason. I don't know if I'll have a full-time job come August/September. Truth be told, I'm at peace with either outcome. It's time to focus on the FUN stuff. I'm focusing on our wedding, our house, and my training (things I can control) and not letting the things in life that I can't control (job situation) bring me down.
Time to add some things to our wedding registry :)
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