I Was Lost, But Now I Am Found

This is my Journey into the World of Ironman. 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.  Forgive any misspelled words/awkward sounding sentences. I'm pretty happy just to get them down on paper. Consider it a test of your mental skills to figure out what I'm saying. Hope you enjoy reading my journey.

   

Current Training Totals:

Swim       46,100 yds             19:49 hr/min

Bike       357.43  Miles          29:35 hr/min

Run        148.04  Miles         32:39 hr/min

Other/                                    15:00 hr/min

Strength

Overall  Training Time:       97:03 hr/min


Well, It's been just shy of a month since I have last posted.  A lot has changed....for the better. I finished up with Twin Falls, ID  assignment the last week of Feb.  I had a few more fun moments with the upstairs neighbors making life there kinda like I was in  "Twilight Twin".  I had a few more serenades in the early morning hours.

The Neighbors jamming to the wee hours of the morning. Stopped around 6 am.

My SI Joint was acting up again for the last week, so I decided with much hesitation to take off three days and just rest it. I did get in a lot of sleep, during the day time. And I got in a few more views of the area.  

                                                                   The hospital- good place.

                                  Evil Knievels failed attempt to jump across the Snake River in 78.

                                              Shoshone  Falls.  at about 40%

                                                         Snake River

                                                Pilar Falls....no where near running. 

And in true Twin Falls send off. As I left on Leap Day.... I attempted to return my cable box, in which I was told they had a drop box if they were not open.  

Not Open, and No Drop Box. 

So the box came with me, and I headed off to Billings, back to my assignment the I left in November.  Which honestly felt like a million years ago.   And off I headed to my Montana "Home".   Had a wonderful 8 hour drive, getting in some really good time.  And some fun snow along the way.  

  Did you know, in Montana, You can make Snow Angels....Standing up!!!

               West Yellowstone, one of my favorite drives along the River.

Ahhhhhhhh....Welcome home.  Greeting Home to Billings with a Amazing Sunset on the Rims above the City.   I missed this place....

So I headed over to my new rental for the next two months.   And I must say....I'm kinda in love.  While it's more expensive then the last place I was at.  I have to say. It's fully furnished, the owner of this HomeAway rental is Super NICE. She has went above and beyond since I've been here.  She put me on a side, where I have no one under me, so I can't disrupt the down stairs neighbors, and her dad lives above me. Who has already proposed to me.  Twice.   And did I mention is a pretty cool place??

            Super soft, King sized bed. One thing I insanely miss from traveling is my own bed.

I unpacked that first night, and settled into my amazingly comfy King Sized bed...and had my first SOLID night's sleep in three months.  That alone made the extra $$ for the rental...worth. every. single. penny.  

                      I miss my East facing sun....:)

                                       The dogs were quite happy too..

                                                     Side area.  

I can't say enough about this place. I spent the first week, catching up on sleep, and settling back into my training routine, my back is feeling better. Finally. Can consider a lot of that from the crappy bed I had in Twin.  Distressing.  I finally am feeling more back to my regular self. I'm out of the Twilight Twin Zone, and feeling normal again. I am Happy again. 

Had my birthday this weekend too. I was a bit down, because this year holds a special place in my heart.  Its' My Favorite Number Birthday. It may sound silly, but I had so much planned to celebrate it. But it all kind of went out the window with my last assignment. I kinda got so lost I forgot to plan it.  I had hoped to go to Bend, OR.  But due to finances, it was not in the cards. So I spent it alone.  I got in a beautiful 7 mile run on the Rims....in 71 degrees.

   Heaven after my 7 mile run...Immediate relief of all sore feet, knees, hips, back  the second I slipped on these amazing ugly suckers....Oofos Sandals. 100% it.

I found out I have free membership to the Anytime Fitness, just a block from my rental....

                                   Blood Orange Mimosas...yummmmmmm

Birthday Breakfast...Sweet Potato Pancakes!!

Mimosas and a Cupcake kind of day!

I got in a nice swim at the Y. I did not get my dip in the hot tub for my birthday...booo

But the boys gave me a lot of love in the morning when I woke up. Kahlua was literally climbing on my lap, which he never does..giving me some much needed birthday kisses. 

 I got a lot of sweet kind birthday wishes from my family and friends over the entire day, which made my day in the end, I didn't feel so alone anymore. 

My very first birthday wish came from my sweet 10 yr old nephew Brogan,  who texted me at 6:20 AM my time to wish me a Happy Birthday.    

(This was on his double digit day.  He turned 10. Nerf Wars were in full effect)

And then I started my first day back at Billings in St. Vincent's. I have to say, it felt like coming home.  It felt like I have been gone forever vs only four months.  Ahhhhhhhh....  Montana...my home away from home (AZ) away from home (MI).   It's good to be back.  

Training has gotten back on track. The only snag is that I had some SI joint pain come back full force just this past weekend. I did an hour of yoga, my PRI exercises, attempted to self distract as taught by the PT, and yes pop the pubis my fellow PT friends. But alas I had not much success. I also, for some reason was extremely fatigued.  I couldn't seem to get enough sleep. It was a pretty busy first week on rehab. I went a little stir crazy on Thursday with 4 showers. I was a bit over heated, and dehydrated I think by the end of the day.   On Wednesday, I literally kicked my own ass with my killer treadmill workout with hill repeats. I could barely make it out of the hot tub after cause my legs were so toasted and tired.  Then I jinxed myself after talking with my Coach on Thursday. It seems like every time I tell her, things are back on track and going better, I have something happen.  Seriously, it's kind of a ridiculous pattern.  Every two weeks, It's like my body says...HA, HA, break time whether you want to or not. It just kinda shuts down.   

But...I'm two months out for St George 70.3. I'm excited to see my Teammates from FC, and my BASE teammates.  I have a rental with two spare queen beds in one room, so if anyone needs a place in St George. Let me know. I will have my dogs with me on the other single room.  

I know there wasn't much on training on this post. But I'm thinking that's okay.  as the title says, I was  pretty lost the last three plus months in Idaho.  But I am back on track and feeling back on track.  I Have found my Groove again.  Thank God.   Happy Training!!!  

Assessing my swim form...

well,  I felt fast in the top video, it sure looks      slllooooooowwww.


Form sucky... I have some work to do.

St George 70.3 is now officially on the books!!!

I have officially signed up for St. George 70.3 for May 7th.  I was a bit nervous to make it official as it has scary hills on the bike and the run.  But I have decided that if it scares me, then I need to do it. It's only going to make me better for my full in August.  


So.....My official race scheduled for 2016 as of this moment: 


St George 70.3 -  May 7th, 2016

Boulder 70.3-      June 11th, 2016

Vineman 70.3-    July 10th, 2016

Ironman Mont Tremblant-  Aug 21st, 2016



COMMIT

2016....Let the Next Ironman Journey Begin.

2016  Ironman Training: It Begins

This is my Journey into the World of Ironman. 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.  Forgive any misspelled words/awkward sounding sentences. I'm pretty happy just to get them down on paper. Consider it a test of your mental skills to figure out what I'm saying. Hope you enjoy reading my journey.

   

Current Training Totals:

Swim       19,400 yds             8:36 hr/min

Bike       143.45  Miles       11:55 hr/min

Run         87.40  Miles         17:17 hr/min

Other/                                     6:45 hr/min

Strength

Overall  Training Time:       44:33 hr/min

Whew! I’m exactly one month and one week into my training. This year, there r big plans  and goals I’m setting for myself for my racing.  And it starts with starting off my training beginning a month early. Mainly to get in some good base training under my belt. 

I’m currently sitting in Twin Falls, Idaho. And while the hospital I’m working at is great, and I get to work rehab again. I’m having a pretty huge struggle with the apartment I’m living in.  My “furnished” apt that is double in price was really poorly “furnished”.  I’ve had very loud neighbors who have graced me with parties starting at 10:30 pm and going on til 1-2-3 AM. I don’t honestly think I’ve gotten one solid night of sleep since arriving the week of Thanksgiving.  The dogs have taken a bit of an adjustment, but we got the routine down and seem to be settling in.  I honestly feel like i’m in a parallel universe/twilight zone.  Just when I am having what seems to be a good day, there is this “switch” and everything just kinda goes to shit.  I normally am a really positive person, or I like to think so. I’ve had that much more this last year of traveling. So it’s a bit discouraging to get stuck in this rut.   But my rotation is up at the end of Feb. Then I head back to my stomping ground of Billings for a couple months, with the hopes of finishing out May-July back in my old job to cover maternity leave, and finish up my IM training for my next race in Canada!!!  Yes, thats right!! I’m going international this year!!  My passport is getting renewed and I’m going to Mont Tremblant  Aug. 21, 2016.  

Bailey's 11th b-day!

Perrine Bridge-Christmas Eve 2015  Let's BASE Jump?? maybe not.

Best, Uglist, Amazing Recovery Sandals EVER!! 

Take a bite out of that finger why don't you! 

On that note. Let’s talk this years training  and racing and goals. 

I’m currently signed up for three races. I hope to add a fourth soon, it’s just dependent on a few things.  So here is the plan:

Racing Schedule for 2016

May  8th-  St George 70.3  (tentative, should know soon)

May 14th - Whiskey Row 1/2 Marathon (tentative, depends on job and St George)

June 11th- Boulder 70.3

July 10th -  Lineman 70.3

Aug 21st- Ironman Mont Tremblant. 

I had a long talk with my coach about what I wanted to accomplish this year with my training. Now that I have my Redemption Race out of the way.  I found myself breathing a huge sigh of relief in that I can still do an Ironman. It’s a pretty daunting feeling when you fail at something you have trained so hard for. It wrecks major havoc on your confidence and on your self esteem. I just re read my race report from my IMB race, and I have to say I got emotional all over again. It was like I was right back there doing the race.  

Now, I have a hunger, a hunger to not just have fun and finish the race. I have a hunger to do better, to push myself more and be better then I was.  I have a desire to be competitive with myself.  I know I won’t break any huge records. But I want to break my barrier of where I want to be in my racing. I want to push past the uncomfortable and see what I’m really capable of.  When I talked with my coach, I basically said, tell me what you want me to do, and my answer is “Yes, coach”.  

And so, I’m now one month and one week into my training. I think I’ve almost doubled my training hours that I did last year for my first month of training.  Coach says she put me on an “aggressive” training plan.  And I admit, I can feel it. But I also like it. It’s kept me sane while here in this twilight zone.  I’ve had to get pretty creative in the beginning to get my workouts in. It started with a few setbacks. I’ve had a weekend of nausea/sick, a dog bite that kept me out of the water for a week, and then a sick dog that totally threw off one weekend as I was up every hour all night with him having horrible diarrhea.  Happy to report, finger is healed, dogs are better and pooping normally, and I’ve got more green squares then red on my training peaks schedule.  That’s a bonus. I feel strong, yet sore.  I feel fatigued, but awake. I have been pretty much on my foam roller every night, with cracks and creeks along my spine. My left shoulder has been tight, but I’m getting the swims in and stretching. My hamstrings are tight, but again, stretching all the time.  I’m getting maybe 5-6 hours of sleep, with the neighbors keeping me up. I’m eating more healthy, but still have a lot of work to do. My bike trainer is LOUD and vibrates the floor and walls of the apt. While my neighbors are not very respectful. I at least try to do my rides after 9 and right when I get home from work so I have most of them done before they come home from work. 

I train in a bubble....

Run at one place, then drive over to the bubble to swim. 

The world vibrates when I'm on my bike. 

My Go to Word for when I want to stop. 

Wear your goals....

Support Crew. 

I’ve been selected for a second year in a row as a Base Ambassador and I’m so excited to be part of this team again. The products are really good, and I’m excited to use them again for a second year in a row.  I’m also happy to be continuing my training with my coach and the FC Coaching team.  I’m so blessed and happy to have Jillian be willing to work with me again this year.  She had some good info from me from my IMB race, and being able to be there and actually see me race.  I’m excited that she will be at the Boulder 70.3 race and the Vineman 70.3 racing also.   I will be with some of my other AZ IM13 FC teammates in IMMT.     I think I’m going to have to change over my Garmin from Miles to Kilometers, so I can prepare myself for the change in numbers for racing.  I just renewed my passport. 

The new Watermelon Flavor is Amazing!!! I love it!!

Im sure I have more to say, but I’m stopping with this for now.  In tradition, I leave you with a final quote that is my IM Mantra for this year of racing in 2016.