well, yesterday it was 51K of running. today, it was sore knees in the morning, but i soldiered on and went out for another long run and swim to boot! 22k more of running, plus a very strong 3k swim. not technically a double marathon, but certainly the equivalent of such. 9 hours of serious endurance training in a span of 31 hours. not too bad for a comeback! if the weather wasn't so brutal, i'd still be out there running more!
what has become a weekly tradition for me on sundays this year, was another trip down to Quidi Vidi Lake to visit the many feathered friends that call this area home, including Barry the Goose! there was an older lady at the lake today, and she had thus huge plastic bag of bird seed, it must have been at least 10 pounds! ...and while she was distracted by a few of the duckies, Barry stuck his head right into the opening of the bag and munched on the seeds.. it was so funny! wish i had my camera for that! then shortly after, he wattled over to where i was and took a piece of bread out of my hand, then went back for a swim on the near frozen water..
running in the cold windy winters here can be quite the challenge, but visiting the animals certainly makes it worth it. they totally make my day!
well, after 73K of running this weekend, the legs are ready for a rest.. i think i will focus on swimming the next few days.. but wow, what a great confidence booster for me!
the other big news was my e-interview for the World Out Games website. they are going to do a featured story on me for their newsletter that will coincide with the release of their new policy that i helped write, a policy that will allow transsexual athletes who are 'in transition' to participate in the athletic event without having to be assigned to a male or female sex category..
i haven't officially registered for the games nor bought my plane tickets yet, but i will likely do this as soon as the policy becomes official. as many readers know, i no longer desire to be labeled as a 'male' but most athletic sanctioning bodies are unwilling to recognize me as a female as of yet until i meet the IOC's (International Olympic Committee) protocol. this new policy isn't perfect, but it is an interim solution that will allow me to participate (although not technically be eligible for sex category awards) with a label of 'not male.'
in addition to the marathon, which takes place on July 26, i am giving consideration to participating in their longest swimming event, the 1500m freestyle, on July 27. i am by no means a great swimmer, but in an endurance event, (not that 1500 is endurance, but it's the longest race they have) i feel i could at least post a respectable time. it would be quite a feat for me to register and complete a marathon and then a swim the very next day.
after this weekend's training, my confidence levels have skyrocketed. i have no idea how much weaker 6 more months of estrogen will make me, but if i can counter it by raising my health and fitness levels up a few notches, who knows how great i could be come July? it's definitely something to work hard for. i wrote the sports director and asked about swimming benchmarks. i don't want to swim unless i know there will be others out there at my level. the last thing i want is to become the next Eddie the Eagle Edwards, and go down in history as the worst swimmer in World Out Games history.. lol i've also written and asked about gender neutral change rooms for the swim facility. it will be interesting to see if they have thought of that issue yet or not!
wow, long post.. i'm in a talkative mood tonight!
Jennifer
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