Week #2 training and my inspiration

Week #2 training. Continuing to build. The 4000m key swim was KILLER. Swam the entire 2.4 mile Ironman distance my third time back in the pool. Turbo trainer ride this week also hurt. I have to keep reminding myself that the painful moments and hours are when I'm growing the most and gaining the strength and endurance I need. It's been a while since I've pushed through pain and fatigue like this!

I got a new bike computer this week. I used it on my 3 hour trainer ride on Saturday, which allowed me to better see my stats as I rode. This made me push harder, and made my transition run hurt a LOT more.

It's been harder to start training again this year versus last year. Last year I knew I had no idea how it would feel, but this time around I thought I had it figured out. The mental shift to prioritize another thing in my life is something I forgot would be a strain. It's taking some adjusting, creating a bit of unnecessary stress, but I'm going to try to mentally shift and remind myself to enjoy the journey, that this is something I love.

Seattle has been stormy this week and had some gorgeous rainbows, a few that reminded me (and my work team!) that we have to look at the positive side of things, not focus on the storm.

Whenever I need a little push to get going and get my training in, I find Ironman videos to pump me up. I found this one this week. Mirinda Carfrae is an incredible Ironman World Champion. She is tiny, always gets off the bike way behind the leading pack, and just smashes it on the run. She has killer focus, runs a sub 3 hour marathon, and never loses her composure during the race no matter how much time she has to make up. She is amazing.

Comments

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...

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....

2020

Since I usually use this blog for training and race reports, clearly haven't had much to update in 2020! This years' calendar was supposed to include: Victoria 70.3 CDA 70.3 Santa Rosa 140.6 WA 70.3 70.3 WORLDS in Taupo, NZ! Clearly, none of these were a reality this year. It's been a rollercoaster of a year but I think I've done a decent job with coping. I never stopped training, still keeping up an average of 12-15 hours a week. It's kept me sane despite everything going on in our country and our world. In the absence of racing I've picked up some new hobbies, one being gravel riding (thanks to Rosanne Kelley!!)! I am a SUPER newb but have had fun exploring some new places and learning some actual bike handling skills (which is for sure a weakness of mine). Otherwise, I feel pretty fortunate this year. I'm able to work remotely for my job and have a nice setup in the townhouse now. I miss my work friends SO much but we've found some ways to spend time...

Seattle Ironwoman

Search This Blog