Today is a rest day from exercise but not from fitness. My muscles are busy building themselves. I do a lot of reading about fitness and exercise and one of the big messages I finally "got" is that rest days are just as important as exercise days. But sometimes it's hard on my stress level to take a day off. So today I think I'm going to take a leisurely walk after I eat lunch just to convene with nature. And by leisurely I mean not change my clothes, stop and smell the roses, not get my heart rate up and
definitely not perspire. I read somewhere that being in nature for even a short amount of time reduces the stress level. And I need a hot bath. I've been thinking about a hot bath for several days so maybe tonight is the night.
I have some fun news. Last week a friend emailed me a deal from schwaggle.com for a discount on the
Marin County Marathon races. Don't worry, I haven't lost my mind and signed up for a marathon. They actually don't even have a marathon distance. The options are half-marathon, 10k and 5k. I signed up for the 10k for only $22. I figure one half-marathon for my first year of longer running is plenty.
So here's what my year is looking like so far:
February 5th: Kaiser half-marathon
April 7th: Marin County 10k run
June 16th: Tri for Fun Sprint Triathlon
November 4th: Marin County Olympic Triathlon
I feel like I need something in Aug/Sept to balance out the season. And I think it needs to either be a swimming or cycling event. Some options are...
Tiburon Mile Open Water Swim, Sept 9th. They have an hour cutoff. It took me 13:20 to swim 500 meters. If I were to maintain that pace, which is unlikely given I'd be going 4x as long, I'd need 51 minutes to swim a mile. That's cutting it close. And it's $140 entry fee. Ouch.
Tour of Napa Valley, Aug 19th. They have a 30 mile ride that looks like fun, a 65 mile ride that looks like a serious challenge with two major climbs. Hmmm...30 miles sounds nice. This event is resonating with me right now so maybe that's the way to go. But they haven't posted pricing yet, something tells me it's $$$.
Ok, that's it for me...off to enjoy the rest of my restful day.
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Hey there, Michelle. I've been following along, but as I said, having some issues with posting. I'm so so pleased for you in increasing your running distances week after week. I was thinking this morning, "Michelle is going to have one of those lean runner bodies pretty soon." I know I'm not the only one who would like to see more pics of you. Oh, and just because I have to, Congratulations on losing 25 pounds!
ReplyDeleteThe Napa event sounds lovely. That is on my list of places I'd love to visit. Your race schedule looks like fun. I'm so excited for you. I can't wait to get mine set up for the year.
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