Life has fallen into a very mundane routine since training has ended.  I have started my marathon training.  I knew it wasn't going to be easy but to be honest, it's turning out to be harder than I expected.  Training for a 70.3 certainly took up a lot more time and effort.  And towards the end included close to 30 miles of running in addition to biking and swimming.

So what gives that this plan seems so hard right now?  I ran fourteen miles today, pushing this week's mileage to 29, and I was definitely riding the struggle bus.  These long runs the past few weeks have been among my slowest-paced runs in a long time.  My mid-week shorter runs are the fastest pace I've been able to keep up in ages, however.  Either way I'm not getting discouraged about it, especially considering my long runs are on the hilliest route I know.  I'm trusting that I am building a lot of strength on those runs.

I'm definitely excited to continue training and pushing myself each week.  Although it's hard, my life does not feel consumed at all by this training.  It is still enjoyable, despite how hard it is.  I am unsure my body fully recovered from the 70.3 before jumping into training, which sort of has been a domino effect of feeling constantly fatigued.  Who knows.

I'm disappointed that I haven't been able to jump back into my old gym routine, but I'm not worried about it.  The prospect of losing muscle tone isn't something I want to be a concern or obsession of mine.  I know that I will eventually be able to fit that back into my life again, but adding that to my training right now will make me feel consumed.  So for now, I am happy with where I am at.