Skip to main content

RACE WEEK for IRONMAN ARIZONA

IT'S RACE WEEK for Ironman Arizona. I can't say I'm enjoying tapering, but I am looking forward to heading to AZ! For the first time - I feel like I'm heading into this race prepared. I did 3 - 100+ mile rides. Last year, I went into Boulder having gone 82 miles as my furthest ride. This year, I ran 16.5 miles as my longest run (did that 3 diff times), but on one of those days ran a second time and hit 21 miles running for the day. I swam about the same as I have for every race. Maybe next year I'll actually try to get faster at swimming... :) I know what I can control on Sunday, and that many things will cross my path that I can't control. That's the part that makes it an adventure. KNOWING that things will not go according to plan is really the only certain thing about racing a full ironman distance!

 This year I've had some success racing - I did two triathlons (olypmic and 70.3 distances) and got first in my age group and top 10 overall for the women both times! I can't help my competitive nature and the fact that this now makes me want to rank in my Ironman age group - but I can't let that beat me. I have to stick to my race plan. Remember the marathon ahead. Remember that THAT is my main goal. PR my marathon time, IN an Ironman. If I can be even a LITTLE faster on the bike than last year, but run the whole marathon, I can PR by more than 2 hours. I want it. I've put in the work to achieve it. I have to beat my brain on the run and JUST. KEEP. RUNNING. 

 MY IRONMAN RACE GOALS!
swim - 1:15 (I could go 1:10 if I have a good day)
BIKE - 6:30 (this is a conservative time - I want 6:15)
RUN - 4 hrs. I want to run the full marathon

 If I achieved what I set above - I would come in under 12 hours. That would be a perfect race for me. It is unlikely I will have a perfect day - running the whole marathon would be a massive accomplishment for me, as I've never put together a good marathon after the swim/bike. This season I put together a decent half marathon during my half ironman, but that was a pace I definitely couldn't keep up twice as long!!

 I have really bad race anxiety. It's something I've worked to get more comfortable with this year - to be fueled by that anxiety vs terrified. So far, it's helped. I've gotten more comfortable with my routine, focusing on the things I can control, and trying to remember that I CHOOSE to do these races. Remember WHY I choose to do them. 

 I choose to do Ironman to be more than average. To do something extraordinary. To do more than I used to think was possible. To continually improve. To show myself what I'm made of. To be more. And because... I Love the Pain.

Comments

  1. AnonymousNovember 15, 2017 at 9:27 AM

    Wait. So. You have to swim for an hour straight!?!?!?! Nope, Ironman is not for me. BUT GIRLLLL YOU GOT THIS!!!!!!!!!!! And when you get nervous remember it is suposed to be fun! :D
    Cheering you on from Jersey!!!!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Being a spectator: Ironman 70.3 Lake Stevens and 10 year reunions

Lake Stevens is less than 40 minutes from downtown Seattle, so Isaac and I decided to go watch the Lake Stevens Ironman 70.3. We had assumed earlier in the year we couldn't race this half Ironman 3 weeks post Ironman Canada and didn't sign up. We saw some participants wearing their IM Canada 2015 Finisher hats and were a liiiiiittle jealous. Would have loved to participate, but who knows how that would have felt on my knee, which is still hurting on runs post race (but my brain was wishing I was out on the course the whole time!) The swim start was in waves, which I'm assuming was fantastic. Nice and calm, surrounded by your age group instead of 2,000 people! Swim start So foggy on the lake! Coming in from the swim T1 and T2 were in the same spot. This portion felt like a normal tri - you have your transitions preset and have to get your run gear wet while you strip out of your wetsuit! I really loved having gear bags and changing in tents in two separate tra...
Post a Comment
Read more

2021/2022 - Pregnancy, baby, return to racing

WOW. So much has changed since I last posted in here. About two months after that last post I found out I was pregnant!  I spent 2021 in various phases of life: First trimester I was super sick and actually unable to even get much movement in! I don't think I've ever worked out that little in my life! Every day just felt like a struggle to survive. Second and third trimesters I was able to swim, bike, run and lift. I was able to run up until a couple days before I gave birth! I mostly ran and lifted - I hated biking pregnant and wanted to limit my covid exposure so I didn't go to the pool super consistently until the very end of my pregnancy. I spent the rest of 2021 fumbling my way through learning how to be a mom and take care of a baby! It was months of living in a haze of no sleep, hormones and tears BUT with all of that in the rear view, it was an amazing time of growth and learning so much. I had 4 IM branded deferred races from 2020 that rolled to 2021, then to 2022....
Post a Comment
Read more

Ironman Mont Tremblant Race Report

Short Summary - Swim: 1:06 - PR by 3 minutes Bike: 6:06 - PR by 9 minutes (but on a WAY tougher course than AZ!) Run: 4:28 - PR by 3 min Overall: 11:52:21 IM MT Swim:  short version- got a swim PR. long version - as I walked to the swim start, I cried (I don’t think I’ve cried in 2019). I felt so thankful to get to the start line, to be a part of this incredible group of people, and so proud of all the work I put in the bank to get here. As soon as I lined up to hit my rolling start, a calm overcame me and I repeated “stay present, each mile as it comes”. I ran in, dove to start and instantly my goggles filled with water. FUCK. I stopped to drain them and tried to keep swimming - repeated that 4 more times till I just treaded water to try to see what was wrong. Could I do this swim with no goggles or with them full? I swam so many OWS with these goggles, what on earth was happening?! Eventually I got the left goggle cleared and staying water free, and just dealt with a...
Post a Comment
Read more