Did I bite off more than I can chew?

Well here it is, officially the end of March is around the corner and the beginning of Spring is here though the weather outside and the forecast would have you thinking it was still deep in February.

Does that look like Spring to you?

I haven't been myself lately and I can list off a million and one excuses why. I pushed too hard at the Ft. Lauderdale Half Marathon and I had to take 2 weeks off to recover, then I had my trip to NYC with my daughter coming up and then I got a head cold right before leaving for NYC ...  in any case, my training schedule was basically non-existent and definitely very little consistency if any!  Not to mention this winter and the Polar Vortex!

And then it sort of hit me - did I bite off too much this year?  Is shifting from end of year Ironman to a mid-season Ironman not giving my body (and mind) enough distance from Ironman training?  Did I really think I could sandwich an Ironman in between the Boston and the NYC Marathons?  How in the heck did I get here anyway??????

But I am here - and I've got entry to and paid for both Boston and NYC - both of which I may never get the opportunity to run again.  Then there is Ironman Lake Placid - my "validation" Ironman.  What's a validation Ironman you ask?  As you know I have done two Ironmans - Ironman Florida 2012 and Ironman Cozumel 2013.  Both of these course are flat and considered "easy".  Well, let's just be clear - there is no such thing an an easy way to propel your body 140.6 miles.  If you take a look at this guy's number crunching you will see that Cozumel is ranked just under Lake Placid, Florida however is a lot further down.

http://www.runtri.com/2010/07/runtri-benchmarks-easiest-ironman.html

In any case, in my head, I was pretty sure I needed to do a "real" Ironman - like Placid, or Penticton, or Whistler, Or Coeur d'Alene or Mont Tremblant, to quell the thought that I only picked the easy Ironmans.  Now of course people have made comments to this effect but honestly this all stems from my own head.  So last July I signed up for Placid.  Yes, at that time I knew I was running Boston and NYC marathons.  Yes, I think I was crazy.

But here I am, 4 weeks out from Boston Marathon and 17 weeks out from Ironman Lake Placid.  It is what it is and I'm doing both, I've just had to shift my goals a little bit.  I always wanted to run my BQ time at Boston but that is just going to have to wait for another lifetime.  I will have to take it easy in Boston because I will not have weeks to recover.  In fact, I won't have any time to recover because I will be 3 weeks into my official training for Placid.  I will be pushing my biking legs to the max.

And, I've decided to take a lot of pressure off myself for IMLP.  When I got into this crazy sport I promised it was for fun.  Then I sort of got fast.  And then the talk and dreams of qualifying for Kona filled my head. And then it didn't seem fun any more.  And then it seemed that I was going to disappoint those closest to me.

And then my husband - the greatest sherpa, my biggest fan, and most amazing sport photographer, Barry sent me the most beautiful email.  I won't share it in it's entirety but one of the many paragraphs that hit home I will:

Go forward bravely and boldly.

You have become a powerhouse of endurance and you have trained brilliantly, religiously and so incredibly for 3 years now!

You are amazing!!

Fear not, as you battle on.

Fear not.

Rest assured that all will be good, no matter what the outcome.

Good, bad or neutral, life will go on and more races will come.

 So I might have bit off more than I can chew but I'm not going to back down from this challenge.  So I'm back on the training program, focusing on IM training with a little marathon training in the background.  I'm running the Around the Bay 30k next Sunday as my longest training run for Boston.  And then I'm going to run Boston, enjoying every moment of it and not once regretting that I'm not running fast enough.  And as for Lake Placid - I can only train, like I have trained in the past - I will push myself to my limits over and over in training and then on race day, I will push myself over my limits as I have done in the Ironmans before.  And at the end will be the next question - Which Ironman next?

Musings post Ironman Cozumel

1.  I have to get faster in the swim.  If I want to be more competitive I cannot give up 10 - 15 minutes on the swim. That's it. I need those minutes.  I need to get to the pool and get it done!

2.  I have to train harder on the bike this winter to develop my riding muscles.  I am new to cycling (3 years on the road) and I know there is untapped potential in my legs. I need to figure out / find / hire someone to help me reach this potential.  I need to learn more about using power and I need to push myself harder here.

3. I have to figure out the mental aspect of the run.  I lost the mental game at Cozumel (read about that here: Ironman Cozumel) on the run.  Just because I couldn't get a gel in me, I basically surrendered to hitting the wall HOURS before it could even happen - I actually remember at 14km, 1/3 into the run, that I was "not going to make it if I couldn't keep nutrition in me"..  I didn't even think I could do it drinking pepsi every 10 minutes!  Why did my brain not let me entertain the idea of just running the marathon on gatorade and pepsi?  I'm sure it could be done.  I thought there would be more variety of food on the run but the aid stations were sparse.

I'm not sure I'll be ready for Lake Placid in 2014, but I'm setting my sights on a race in 2015 which will be all out try for a Kona slot.

Christmas Vacation in Florida (how to avoid the effect of 100 beers)

Yeah - it's that time of year when I get to run away from the approaching winter here in Canada and spend a couple weeks basking in the the warmth of my home-town of Stuart Florida.

evening in the backyard

I can't tell you how much I love spending this time of year in my home town seeing old friends, boating, swimming and family traditions.  Unfortunately it also includes many libations and no gym!  And with my hip injury, it's looking like my running will be curtailed a bit as well.  So, to combat what my husband says is 100 beers, I've decided to make some commitments, make them known to the small world one or two people that might read this blog and hopefully keep me honest to combat the effects of 100 beers in 2 weeks!

1. 5 minutes of plank a day
2. 50 push-ups a day
3. at least 30 mins of swimming, at least every other day (a total of at least 7 pool workouts and if warm enough one ocean swim)
4. a 16 mile long run and a 20 mile long run (IF my hip recovers)

I'm not sure how much blogging I will be doing but I will keep myself honest with twitter updates!  Here's to a very Merry Christmas, perhaps with 100 beers but no extra pounds!

IMFL and The BIG 2012 Plan

2011 was a great year for me.  I had been thinking about triathlons for over a year and finally took the plunge, bought a bike and raced my first Triathlon.  And now I'm hooked.  My "A" race this year, as of 1:05 this afternoon is Ironman Florida on Nov. 3, 2012!   There is a very LONG road to IMFL!

Here's the plan!

 Ft. Lauderdale A1A Full Marathon. February 19th.

My first and probably only full marathon before IMFL.   My first goal is to get to the start line, second goal is to finish in under 5 hours, but the "A" goal is to finish under 4:15.  

Chilly Half Marathon. March 4

Just a training race to keep me focused on running through the miserable winter months.  the weather will be a huge factor in timing in this race but I would be happy to run it sub 2 hours.

Around the Bay 30km, March 25

Just to get out and run it is my only goal.  Don't even want to put a time goal on this race.  It's a tough course and usually tough weather!

April Races

Beaches Spring Sprint 5km - will be happy to break my time from last year so Sub 24mins is my goal - unless I run it with my 7 year old daughter - then it will just be a happy 5km.

There is the Angus Glen 10 miler which I might race again this year just because it was cut short last year.

May

Toronto Goodlife Full or Half - will depend on how much a full takes out of my sails.  I don't want to do anything to jepordize my health before the Welland Half Iron which is 6 weeks out.

Ottawa Half OR the Woodstock Tri - conflict here as my hubby and bestie want to run Ottawa every year but I want to get a Tri under my belt early in the season and before the Welland Half Iron.

June

Binbrook Tri - June 9th - if I can't run the Woodstock Tri I will run Binbrook.  Not sure I would do both, but you never know!

WELLAND HALF IRON - BIG RACE - June 24th.  This is my Spring "A" race.  Goal will be to finish it in 6 hours, give or take.  This is a HUGE milestone race for me and will really give me a glimpse into the IRON world!

July
July will be a play-it-by ear month -  I might just train but I might do the Gravenhurst Oly tri or the Peterbourgh Half Iron depending on how much the Welland half kicks my butt.  We usually vacation for a couple weeks in July down in FLA which will give me much needed salt water training - but being vacation can take the mojo out of my training!

August
The only Tri in August that catches my eye is the Niagara Tri.  Then there is the Accura 10 miler and the Midsummers night which I might tackle the 30km as it would be good training for the IMFL.

September
Because I loved Wassaga Beach so much in 2011, I think I have to return for the Oly tri this year on September 8th - good training race.

Then it will be nothing but training until ...
NOVEMBER 3rd - IRONMAN FLORIDA

And I think that will be the plan for 2012.

I'm going to try to use this blog to capture my training over the next year as I endure to become an IRONMAN!

Ramblings about The Beach

I am so very fortunate to live in a great little neighborhood about 9km from downtown Toronto called The Beach (or The Beaches depending what side you stand on that debate).  We have been here for 7 years now and I can say I would live no where else in Toronto but here.  Yesterday I had the opportunity to try SUP for the first time.  That's short for Stand Up Paddle if you are like my hubby who said to me "when you say SUP it means nothing to me".  I had been wanting to try it for awhile now and now I think I found a new hobby (oh how to fit this in between runs, rides, swims, spins, yoga, and weights) but unfortunately only another month or so before this hobby will move South.  I'll be checking it out when we are down in FLA this winter for sure!

If you live in Toronto and want to give SUP a try give Janna a shout at http://www.supgirlz.com/ and let me know and I might get out there to join you!  They only paddle until the end of September so not a lot of time left.

On my run this morning I was once again reminded of house incredibly lucky I am to live in such a wonderful neighborhood so close to Lake Ontario.  I even stopped to take a couple of shots on my Blackberry.  They didn't turn out that great - will try more another time. That's the CN tower and downtown Toronto.  I thought it was a nice and clear day but the BB seems to have picked up some smog or haze!

This is taken from out on the point of Ashbridge's Bay Park looking back to where my street is - about 3.5km away.  It's so easy to put a 10k run in around the boardwalk and Ashbridge's Bar Park.  today was a reminder to get out and enjoy the weather and the neighborhood now because even though it isn't even mid-August, the air at night is tuning cooler and fall is just around the corner!