Oh Boy...Here We Go...

Low and behold, I looked down and there it was..

Right on the schedule.

SPEED.

Yep, it stared back at me like a evil eyed ant eater who'd just run out of ants (ya like that one?! :)

After weeks of training in my aerobic zone and constantly thinking "back it down Kim, take it a bit easier up this hill, oh no you didn't just hit that heart rate - deep breaths"

It was finally here. The time in which I get to feel the burn rising up and setting my muscles on fire, hear my labored breathing increase to the point of no return, and know that if I felt like I was going to puke - that meant I was doing it right.

I have goals for speed.

Although it always says, heart rate 160-197, getting to 197 only happens every once in awhile when I'm in a 5k or something anaerobic of that nature for an extended period of time.

The speed bike goal is always 180. I usually try to build throughout the workout starting in the 160's and then finally by the last one or two intervals bust it out as hard as I can to hit that magic number.

On the run, it's always 190. I've been known to hit a 192 but the weather has to be pretty hot and I pretty much have to kill myself for a long interval to make it happen.

Either way one thing if for sure, without a doubt, not a question in my mind - it's going to hurt. Bad.

Hurting bad is kind of fun though every once in awhile don't you think? It reminds us that we are in fact increasing our fitness and getting some mental training to push through the hard times during a race. I find it so gratifying when I'm doing my cool down, soaked to the core with sweat, tasting its saltiness on my lips and knowing that rolling out of bed tomorrow might just be a killer, that I freakin did it.

Besides people, there's still racing to do.

Some are winding down, and trust me, that's hard for me a bit. It would be nice to kick back and enjoy the fall, watch the leaves turn, sip a little apple cider. What the heck though, that will just have to wait until Thanksgiving.

For now, I'll be fighting the darkness off with my bike during my mid-week long ride, churning out the yards in the pool, and running my long runs in tights getting ready for three more big showings:

The Nations Triathlon on September 13th in DC

The Autumn Leaf 5K on September 26th

The Half Ironman World Championships on November 14th in Clearwater

So, that's the dilly-o folks. Please pray I can make it that long as my friends kick back and stop showing up at the pool etc. The new playlist is set, I've started looking for my arm warmers, and rumor has it two pairs of Newtons from the Newton fairy are in the mail.

Tonight 8 x 400, at DUH DUH DUUUUHHHH - the track. Oh man.. this is scary. No faking it now kids..

Let's Get Er Done.