The challenges of staying consistent with ironman training while we travel always force us to get creative and innovative with our workouts. This past weekend while in the Bay Area my husband and I got train at one of our favorite places, Mt. Diablo!

On Saturday, we climbed to the summit with our good friend Morgan. The actual climbing elevation is +5,000 ft but the summit elevation is around 3,849 ft

above sea level. So it certainly helps with altitude training ☺. I felt much so much stronger than times before. It could have been that Morgan and I were chatting, singing, and motivating each other and/or it could be evidence that my intervals and bike training are paying off. It’s likely that it is a combination of both. On Sunday, my husband and I ran up to the Mt. Diablo ranger station and back, which is about 12-14 miles total and over +2,000 ft of climbing going up. Going up clearly takes much longer than going down, and going down can often be arduous as you are having to control and monitor how your body and legs are responding to gravity and impact. Again, going up did not feel as laboring as times before. I felt good, strong, and steady. I chose not to use my ipod and really took in the nature and tuned into my body. When we made it to the station I was so happy! On the way down I was excited to be half done with our workout but also because this was a new milestone in our running. We had never run up that far on Mt. Diablo. I guess my excitement took over and I carelessly took a fall 10 minutes into our descend. The cut on my knee and hand were pretty bad, I likened my knee to the looks of ground beef, but for some reason when I popped up and realize that I had no choice to keep running the pain seemed to fade and I kept plugging away. It wasn’t until I got to the park gate to when my hands and knee started to throb. I managed to clean it up and get back to the house.

Looking back, I am surprised that once I got over the fact that I fell and decided not to dwell on it my body responded and continued to do what it needed to do. I’ve written a previous entry on pain perception and Gate Control Theory but it’s been a while since I’ve gotten to test it out, which is a good thing. This weekend I was reminded that our bodies are extremely resilient…we train them, they respond, we focus, it responds, we refocus, it responds. Sometimes when you keep doing the work day-in-day-out you wonder if it’s worth or it if will pay off but that Voice inside tells you to keep going and remain committed. Something inside says that there is a greater purpose, Something inside tells you to stay the course, Something inside tells you that you can do this and are made for this. I believe that Something is your First Voice/intuition/God/Universe/Source guiding you to overcoming life’s perceived challenges, falls, and wounds. The mind-body-spirit connection is inevitable and nurturing all three facets of that relationship I believe is the epitome of reaching peak mental and physical performance.

“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” Thomas Edison, inventor

“Some men see things as they are and ask why. Others dream things that never were and ask why not” George Bernard Shaw

“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavours to live the life which he had imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours”. -Thoreau