Returning to Racing

These legs of mine (along with my heart and mind) served me well in 2019.

Oh yes, they did.

After intermittent stops and starts with my running and cycling due to injuries, and hefty studies, and a lack of self care if we’re being completely honest with each other, I managed to get myself back out there last year.

According to Strava I logged 289 km running and 1495 km cycling with a few runs and rides lost due to battery issues.

The year was all about regaining my love for running and cycling, which I totally did.

But last week we said goodbye to 2019 and …

Hello 2020!

I’ve got 2 runs under my feet so far this year and I’m prepping and ready for a whole lot more to come.

fbt
New Year’s Day run in the sun, short sleeves and all!

Seriously.

While last year was about returning to my sneaks and clipped pedals, this year is going to be about returning to racing … or, at least, organized running and cycling 😀

Following my 122 km bike ride last summer, I encouraged my husband to gift me a fondo for Christmas or my birthday.

And then I completely forgot about it.

Until, Christmas morning.

There, under the tree was a box with a pair of pajamas duct taped to the inside, along with a bottle of wine from Dirty Laundry vineyard also duct taped, and the number 126.

Huh?

He had a HUGE smile on his face.

“It’s a puzzle,” he laughed.

I hemmed and hawed for a few moments. I brought our son into the puzzle-solving realm as he’s quite the sleuth, but both of us were stumped.

“It’s a race entry to the Axel Merckx fondo,” he clapped. “And I’m doing it with you!”

Whaaaat?

Big Ring figured since I’d already done 121 km, I could totally do 126 km. He organized a Bed and Breakfast weekend getaway (the fondo is in Penticton, about 4-5 hours from where we live) with the boy staying with his granny and grampy.

This will be my second fondo, but double the distance. My first fondo, the Women’s Living the Dream Fondo, was lovely, especially the Tiffany’s necklace at the end, but quite small with not many competitors.

This one is the real deal.

That means, time to start planning my training strategy.

The fondo is in July; I won’t have a whole summer to log miles like I did last summer.

Yikes!

And it’s not just a cycling plan I’ve got to strategize. I’ve also got running races to plan for.

I’m already registered for the Hot Chocolate 10 km race in March, which will be a return to a tradition we have with friends of ours – race in the morning, Nero Belgian waffles in the afternoon 😀

Blog-Hot Chocolate Run
The first year I was injured, I became a part of the cheer squad.

I’d like to do a few other running races as well, but haven’t yet decided. I’d like to do a fun run-race again this year with my son, and a couple other 10 km races, plus possibly a half marathon in the mix too. These are currently up for consideration:

Vancouver Sun Run 10 km – April

Vancouver Eastside 10 km – September

Granville Island Turkey Trot 10 km – October

Fall Classic Half Marathon – October

The challenge with the Fall Classic is that I’ll also be preparing for my registered dietitian exam, which is sometime in November.

I honestly have no idea, at this point, how to prepare for that exam and if it’s feasible to be training for a half marathon at the same time as studying / hopefully working as a temporary RD / building my business for athletes with T1D.

See lack of self care ability above. It’s a work in progress 😉

I haven’t done a proper race since the Medtronic TC 10 mile in the Twin Cities way back in 2015!

Not gonna lie, pretty sure the nerves will be in overdrive on race days!

And yet, right now, I’m feeling pretty freaking excited about getting myself back out there again 😀

It’s going to be a journey, my friends, hope you’ll all stick around to see how it ends!

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