After I swam with Erica now almost two weeks ago I did not do any exercise the rest of the week. We had our church weekend retreat at Camp Tadmor. I was active enough but did not get any runs or rides in. Rob left for Ukraine on Memorial Day.
I was not sure if I would be able to do anything while he was away. I am not comfortable leaving the kids yet while I go running. They are not old enough yet. They are always a little off anyway when Rob is gone. I had Tuesday afternoon off and I left Kara in after care. I biked to Turner and back following a route from the Salem Bicycle Club. It was an amazing ride and so incredibly beautiful off. The roads were not too busy and the rolling hills were perfect. I put in nineteen miles and made great time. I did bike in my clips because I was not sure how much start and stop I would have. I could do it in clips as there were very few intersections. I saw a couple other bikers as well. It really boosted my confidence when it comes to biking.
I had planned on swimming Wednesday and my friend was going to come and watch my kids. She texted a half hour before she was supposed to arrive saying she was very sick. Turned out she had pretty severe bronchitis and could not sub for me the following week either. By about Thursday I hit "survival mode" and doing the bare minimum while Rob is away. I could not get any exercising in at all. I worked in the garden a lot and played with the kids. We went swimming at Turner pool on that Saturday. It is very difficult for me to completely give up running while Rob is away. Rob made the point that come fall I could probably leave the kids for a half hour. If my work schedule stays the way it is--I will have some days or afternoons off.
Rob came home late afternoon on Monday. It is always a rough transition when he comes home and I can never put my finger on why. My anxiety is always high when he's away but I suppress it so I can get by without overreacting to things. It explodes when he comes home. Monday & Tuesday were not easy. We really had to sit down and talk openly and deeply about things, but we made so much progress. I was able to put my finger on some of the things triggering my anxiety. I was able to run about four miles with Tracy Tuesday morning. I had not run in awhile and I could feel it. I could maintain my normal pace. It felt really good to get out and run. I skipped swimming on Wednesday because I was overly anxious Tuesday night. Rob & I had to work through that. I slept terrible both Monday & Tuesday night even having some bouts of insomnia. By Wednesday night I was feeling pretty normal again. I played hockey and had a great time. I'm enjoying hockey more than I did in the spring. I'm getting a little bit better at it. Hailey plays the whole time now so it is a good way to spend time with her.
Thursday was a crazy run around day. I worked from 7 to 4. Then I had to bring Derek to a birthday party downtown, drive to the gym back on our side of town, drive back to downtown to pick up Derek, go to the library, and then pick up dinner for Rob & I. I was not home until after 8. I was late to Group Ride at the gym because of traffic but I got most of the workout in. There were plenty of bikes open so I didn't have to fight for a bike.
Friday I had planned on swimming in the afternoon but then realized the pool is closed for swim lessons on Friday afternoons. I was going to run but I had this short time window between work and leaving to go to Portland with friends. I knew I was going to be gone all night so I wanted to spend time with the kids. People often asked me how I could train for marathons when I had baby and toddlers. In some ways the timing is easier. They nap for hours in the afternoon or go to bed early. Sometimes they wake up later. I would do long runs on Saturdays and Sundays during their afternoon naps. I would put them down and go run leaving Rob with them of course. By the time I got done with my run they were waking up. It was the same with bedtime. I would put them to bed at 7:00 and then get ten miles in. Now they are older and we take advantage of the afternoons they are home and they can stay up until 9 at night. The advantage is I can get up earlier since I am sleeping through the night. After Rob being away and getting off schedule, my anxiety high etc. early mornings were next to impossible.
I had planned on going to a ride with the Salem Bicycle Club on Saturday but I did get home until 1:30 am early Saturday morning. I woke up with a head ache and severe female issues. I felt overall yuck. I knew I was not that sick because I had somewhat of an appetite. I took it easy all morning and early afternoon. By late afternoon I felt normal and only a slight head ache.
Rob is still jet lagged at night. He gets really fatigued starting around 9:30 PM. I need to transition to going to bed earlier and getting back to earlier mornings this week. It is my last week of work and a pretty normal work week for Rob too. I did sign up for the Deschutes Dash but chose the sprint tri so I am in. I need to exercise more the next four weeks. The problem is we are gone quite so bit so I have to at least run while we are away. I am not good about doing that while we are on vacation. I know I have a good base load of exercise. If I had to do the sprint tomorrow I could. But I need to be a little more consistent.
After the triathlon I am going to maintain a base of swim, bike, running. And then possibly transition into more running and less biking/swimming in the fall. If I can avoid major IT band issues, I may consider a 1/2 marathon in late 2016. It is hard to plan beyond the summer. As of right now I am back to working less hours again in the fall similar to what I working last fall. But I am also taking a couple of classes. I usually get client inquiries in the summer...so it is hard to know what the fall will look like. I just want to enjoy the time off before start planning.
