Second Installment

Hanging out on my trainer for an hour and fifteen minutes tonight so I figured I would write the second installment of the road to IRONMAN! If you missed the first, feel free to check it out: it all started with a free t-shirt!

This whole Ironman thing was kind of freaking me out for a while. Don’t misunderstand, this is my year to do my first full iron distance race, but since you plan for it so far in advance it can become all consuming. Having to sign up for the race a full year out, you could really count down the weeks and days until the race…and I did for a while, until I read a blog post on some triathlon blog (that I cannot seem to recall so if you know which one I am talking about please let me know) that advised people not to spend their mental energy on Ironman training until you get closer to the race. So much in the sport of triathlon is tied to mental strength and fitness. Their logic made sense and it really has helped me to focus on the here and now. I still freak out a bit when I get tired and start to struggle on a 5K run thinking all the while that come November I will need to be running a whole lot more, but then I remember that November is a long time away and I am able to let it go.

So then what am I focusing on now? Right now my mind is focused on putting in quality training for my first big race, Gulf Coast Triathlon, in May. My race schedule is pretty bare bones at the moment. I have only registered for 3 races: Gulf Coast on May 11 (a half iron distance race), Augusta 70.3 on September 29, and Ironman Florida on November 2. I am thinking about adding a sprint or two and an olympic if I can find one that falls at the right time on the calendar. Training has been going well for the most part (I’ll explain that statement in a future post so come back soon.) I joined a new team this year (shout out to Freshjunkie Racing) so I have been adjusting to a new coach, new schedule and new pool. All in all I am very happy about my decision to make the change. I do miss the ladies that I have trained with for the past several years, but it was the right time and the right choice for me.

Someone asked me yesterday how my training was going and my response was that I feel like I am learning new lessons everyday–really it’s amazing how much I am learning! Come back soon to hear about some of those lessons.