Overcoming FOMO

 “It’s not fair! I never get to….”  This is something that my husband has heard me say a lot over the past few weeks, as I lamented the loss of a night on the town, a sleep in, a day on the couch, a ski day, or brunch/shopping trip, even staying up past 10:30 p.m. on a Saturday night. And through it all he reminds me that my free time has been spoken for – by choice -  and will be until July 24, when I lay all the work on the line.

Not an easy thing to hear when you’re someone who sometimes experiences a high degree of FOMO. Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) is something that I’ve had to deal with over the past few weeks, and it’s made me pretty cranky – so I apologize to those closest to me, who have steadfastly stood by as I ran around spouting bile with a black cloud over my head. Let’s just say, it wasn’t pretty. It probably has a lot to do with the blog going silent for a few weeks too, you know the old adage – Nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all. Another contributing factor has also been the recent return to winter here in town after a hint of spring, we’re all itching to get out on the bikes, and run without tights!

I’m starting to come to the other side of it and have had to realize – again – that I’m not actually missing out; I’ve just made a conscious decision to spend my free time doing something else in order to achieve a goal. By the end of last week, I’d finally made peace with that, and my mood has been markedly improved since. Rather than bitching about what I’m not able to do, it was time to look at what I can do, look forward to what’s to come, and really get excited about it. But, not in an annoying way, of course.

In other news, I’m happy to report that the run is really coming along – many of you know that this is not my favourite discipline. I had a great interval run Tuesday, and a great moderately paced run Saturday morning– I actually finished with a smile on my face. This euphoria didn’t last long though, as we were immediately put through the paces on the bike with a two hour ride including a full hour of standing climb to complete the brick. Fun times. Ok, not exactly fun, but definitely worthwhile.

With all this talk of looking to the future, here is a look at the minimum of what’s on tap this week:

Today – Swim – In terms of effort, I view this as recovery from a weekend on my feet.

Tuesday – Run and Swim – Toughest/sweatiest run of the week in terms of effort

Wednesday – Bike and T-run – Tough bike intervals, run is short/light-moderate effort

Thursday – Weights and Swim – Hardest swim of the week

Friday -  Bike – Low intensity – active recovery

Saturday – Long Bike/Run Brick – group session – let’s me know I’m not in it alone.

Sunday – Long Slow Run and Weights – weights post-run - focus on form when I’m tired.

The nice thing is, I know that next week is recovery week, which includes a big fat rest day! So, I can push my efforts this week, knowing I have that to look forward to! That and the fact that the pool by our house is finally reopening next week! This will shave at least two hours of travel time off my entire week!

In the Zones!

Remember the Beep Test? Where, in a so-called test of fitness, the phys-ed teacher put the class through a running test during which you had to run between two set lines on the gym floor, beating out the gradually quickening 'beeps' while doing so?

Well, imagine the gym floor was on a grade, moving under your feet, and you're running between beeps that are minute and a half apart. Throw in a basement in a semi-renovated state, a medium sized fan, my hubby monitoring my progress while he and the pup cheer me on, and you have me doing a run test to determine the heart rate zones that I should be hitting during various training sessions. This run test was last week, and I'm happy to report that I'm solidly 'in the zone' and have some marks with which to ensure my exertion is where it should on the run.... the bike test, as you may recall, was the week before.

We've reached week 11 in my plan, which will effectively mean the end of the adaption period, which from my perspective is a huge part of the base building I needed to prepare me for what is to come. I built up for five weeks prior to hitting my prescribed adaption phase of 6 weeks,  and by doing so I feel that I've given my body ample time to adjust, I am fairly comfortable with the routine, and now the workout frequencies feel normal. Next week will bring the beginning of the next build, with the volume increasing, and a few more workouts added.

Up to now I haven't wanted to bore you with such details, but I wanted to make sure that I shared some progress, for accountability sake. So there you have it.

So far so good this week from a training perspective, we finally had clear skies during our post-ride run on Saturday morning, the sun even peaked out at the end of it, which was a welcome site after almost a full week of rain. Sunday's run only had a few hiccups, one rock in my shoe and a moment of 'aw, man, do I gotta?' which I pulled myself out of after only a minute of two of slowing to a walk. Thank goodness this was after I'd run into Coach B.  Tried a new pool tonight, which was more bath than pool temperature-wise, but got me home 30 minutes earlier for dinner. Really, it was a win all around. And then we had ice cream... win, win, win!

And so, it's onward and upward, with hopes for a change in the weather, a ride on the road would be so good right now.... until then, I think our next tri related investment will be............ a gigantic fan.

Life is good.

It has occured to me over the last few weeks that in life, the most important thing is to realize how lucky we are to be able to seize every day and live it to it's full potential, and appreciate everything and everyone it has to offer, because in truth, you never know what's going to happen next. 

This has never rung out as clearly to me as it has over the past few weeks, when one of the brightest, most positive lights I've ever had the pleasure of sharing the company of, went out. We'll miss you M.I.L.R, you meant so much to so many, and will be missed by the two of us and our whole family. And never forgotten.

It's been a week of reflection, at home, at work, on runs, in the pool and on rides - endurance sports give you a lot of time to remember. It reinforced to me how fortunate I am to be able live a full and happy life, including training for this sport, backed by a support unit that is stronger than I ever could have hoped for. Although I must admit that I wasn't as certain of my husband's support as he was 'ahem' coaching me through my ATR bike test the other night.That was tough stuff, nothing pretty about it.

Last weekend, it looked like spring was in the air, and I had a great run along the Canal, watching and listening as the skaters made their way up and down the ice. This was followed by a massive snowfall on Monday, which basically meant that winter was here to stay, at least for another six weeks. I think Ian would have wanted it that way 'all the better for skiing on' you see. 

Big weekend of training coming up, and run test next week. We're in for some tough workouts, which I'll regale you with soon. 

I appreciate you all letting me take this moment to remember. Be sure to carry the sunshine in your pocket.