And the Return to Ironman begins....tomorrow at 5 AM. What was I thinking?

This is my Journey into my Return to Ironman- 2018. It's my journal/documentation of the ups and downs of what it takes to be an age-group athlete training for an Ironman triathlon. This is more of a way for me to remember what I am doing over the course of the training season.   As any Ironman Athlete can tell you, sometimes the days can blur into one training day of swim, bike, run after another. So, while some may not find this at all interesting, those that wonder...could I do an Ironman? Do I have what it takes to do an Ironman? I give you a peek into my journey and days to complete my next Ironman at Madison, Wisconsin on Sept. 9th, 2018.  Forgive any misspelled words/awkward sounding sentences. I'm pretty sure I'll be be happy just to get them down on the blog. Consider it a test of your mental skills to figure out what I'm saying. I hope you enjoy reading my journey.


Returning to Ironman:

So here I go, back at it. I've signed up for my next Ironman in Madison, Wisconsin on Sept 9th, 2018.  I will be doing this race with a crazy amount of wonderful people from my triathlon family.  Erika, Marc, Adrienne, Laura (her first ever Ironman!!!),  Ocky??  (subtle hint to see if he is going to consider it yet?)  and I know I'm missing others, but this makes me excited to get back into training, and have a awesome amount of friends out on the race course with me this time.  

It's been a interesting year not doing any training/racing in 2017. My body was in much need of a physical break.   I was just so burned out mentally and physically that I was not loving it any more. I took a full year off to just do everything I felt like I have missed out on and just get back to taking care of the basics.  And I thoroughly tried to enjoy every minute of it. But I still had fun cheering on my friends  this year watching and following their progress on Facebook.

In June last year, I got the chance to go volunteer at the BASE Aid Station in Santa Rosa IM, the only event I was at, and I have to say, it as always, was a blast.  I got to see some friends I haven't seen in a while, Dave from AZ,  Matt and Lauralee, Jay and Liz, and others.  I wasn't quite sure how I was going to feel.  It was good to get back in the "tri family" and realize that I missed it, and I still wanted to do it.  So I decided that I wanted (key word here)  to do another one in 2018.   I couldn't decide which one. I was leaning toward WI because I was supposed to do it in 17 with my friend Ocky, we shook on it after all .  Then fate decided for me in the way of  Erika and Marc who, booked  their rental with me as the person taking the spare room, my teammates from IMAZ13 and IMMT16.  And since it's only 6 hours from my family home, maybe... someone will actually want to come watch me do this crazy race and I won't have to always answer,  "no I'm alone, will you be my emergency contact?".  Luckily, I've had wonderful friends that have stepped in and was  willing to do this for me so I at least had someone who knows if something happens. 


It's my fourth year representing BASE Performance Supplements as a Ambassador.  And I'm excited to be wearing the BASE Kit this year for my racing. I might actually say I'm slightly jealous I didn't go with the blue and pink kit.  Yep, I know, me embracing pink?  Well, shades of pink are becoming more accepting in my world, but I'm still overall anti pink.  I'm also excited to get the chance to meet more of my new teammates as the year continues.  I only wonder, if I discovered BASE before my DNF in Boulder, would I have not had my DNF in 2014?  Of course, if not for that DNF and having horrible electrolyte imbalance, going south by the way of heat stroke,  I wouldn't have found BASE, and been successful with my races ever since.  And because of it, I've made some incredible lifelong friends along the way.  (way too many to list here, but you know who you are!)  

So, my biggest change, is I had to make the tough decision to switch coaching, only because I could not afford the one I had anymore.  I will always be grateful for FC Coaching, taking a chance on this random triathlete from somewhere in AZ  who answered a random facebook video and jumped in on free group coaching for IMAZ13, and then stayed with them through Boulder 14, 15 and IMMT 16.    I have made some lifelong friends from this decision and I will never regret it and always be grateful.  I hate the idea of leaving my coach that has been nothing short of amazing with me, that knows me , knows how to push me, and I have truly loved having her as a coach.  While she may no longer be my coach, I have her as a friend for life. That sounds like an even better deal. :)


So, this year, I branch out into new territory. And I am signing on with a coach that my teammates Erika and Marc have recommended and are using and gave the seal of approval.  TriPower Multisport out of California, Coach Mike Plumb.    I'm looking forward to this new transition to see what new eyes and a new coach can do for my training.  

I'm also, after having a solid year off. Working hard at revamping my nutrition. It has always been one of my biggest issues. Each time I do the Whole30 it gets a little better.  This year, I am very motived to make it a much higher priority then years past.  So this will be a journey that will only help me in my life, not just in Ironman.  

A big decision to say here in California, was that I only have to make one move during training with my traveling job before IMWI. I has some really great opportunities to work in CO and in AZ again, but it was going to increase to possibly 3 moves, and after careful consideration of weighting all pros and cons, remembering how challenging that was on my training and overall mental health (and pocket book).   I decided I will l be here, training on the Pacific Ocean at least through June.  Then I will either be doing 70.3 WI or 70.3 Coeur d'Alene.  I haven't quite figured out exactly which one I want to do.  But training on the Ocean, sure doesn't suck in my opinion.  


So here I sit, on the eve of my first official training day for Ironman 5 (and 2/3rds, I did get over 102 miles on my DNF race in 14). I spent the last four hours food prepping, as I'm on week 4 of my Whole 30 reset, and can only eat Paleo. I've gotten my training plan for my first week. And I'm slightly freaking out about my AM swim before work at 5 AM, mainly due to I've never been a early riser to workout for training.  But, I have very limited times to swim in my tiny little town I'm working for my travel assignment. So, I will learn to embrace the early morning training sessions. I've always wished I could do it, but I always had to be at work by 6:30AM at all my jobs, so it was never a possibility. My current job, I am not in until 8:30 AM.  So here is my perfect opportunity to get one of my workouts done in the AM.  Swim in the AM, Bike/Run in the PM.    I kinda feel like I was doing a mini transition as I attempted to  pack my two bags for my workout sessions tomorrow.  Then figure out what I'd have to transfer  from AM bag to PM bag. I have a feeling I'm going to decide really quickly, that extra 20$ a month for the locker, may just be worth it.    

I'm excited to start this next Ironman Journey. I am excited to be doing IM #5 (#3 for us together)  with Erika and Marc. I'm excited to see what this year holds. I already feel a change from taking a break, and I can't wait to see how the journey goes this year from my previous IM years.   

Now, I'm off to recheck my bags one more times and get to bed early.  I can't sleep in.  







“The adventure of life is to learn. The goal of life is to grow. The nature of life is to change. The challenge of life is to overcome. The essence of life is to care. The secret of life is to dare. The beauty of life is to give. The joy of life is to love!” ~William Arthur Ward.