Seattle Ironwoman

Last Ironman, Isaac created weekly workout boards so that we could plan for the week and send them to my sister, who seemed to have a really hard time figuring out what training week we were on... I love these boards. He makes it on Sunday, and then I'm able to plan out my week. If I have any girls dinners, work happy hours, things that I don't want to miss, I know I have to have a super early morning or shift a day or two around and can plan that out in advance. Highly recommend doing something like this each week - laying all your workouts out on paper/whiteboard/calendar and taking in what you need to accomplish that week helps you to actually fit it into your life. Also - note the orange stars. Each week, there are highlighted "key" workouts. Those should be your hardest pushed, most intensive and focused workouts.   Well, this was what week 1 looked like for training. In reality, the first 3 months of training for Ironman is just building a base for the...

I recently read an article on Ironman's website about time management -  click here to read.  Managing your time effectively during training is crucial to succeed. When you're working out for 1.5-3 hours each workday, working 8+ hours a day, commuting to and from work (good thing I'm just a 25 minute walk from my work! Never variable time), cooking/eating... that's pretty much your whole day. I'm so fortunate to work at a company that doesn't police my time so I have some flexibility, but for those who HAVE to be certain places at specific times, having a poorly planned workout schedule can really cause problems. A few tips on things I learned about time management during training and things to keep in mind (these are not revolutionary concepts...): Training schedules are guidelines. They are not end all, be all. Having said that - I am totally guilty for living by my training plan, down to the minute (150 minute run means 150 minutes ON THE DOT in my world....

I am obsessed with this song. It's been on repeat all week. It's February. I'm sure that means different things for different people. Some people think of this as a romantic month, maybe another month filled with winter (it's been 50-60 degrees in Seattle this month...), maybe just a short month. For me, February means the start of my 6-month Ironman training plan. Back to scheduled workouts with structured distance goals. Back to focus. Back to dedication. Back to the pool, back on my bike, back to tri focused lifting (it's not back to running because I'll actually run far less than I have been running the last few months). Back to fatigue, back to barely being able to move on the weekends, back to needing 10 hours of sleep a night to recover. Back to focusing on fueling, protein intake and hydration. I haven't been in the pool since before Ironman. I got back on my bike three weeks ago, and it HURT.... I can't wait to feel like a triathlete aga...