Wednesday, February 29, 2012
One third at 80%
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Starting over... again and again!
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Typical Colorado
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
What is Ironman training?
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Sunny with a high of 37 degrees!
Friday, February 17, 2012
The Wall
It's well known among runners that when you run long you may come across "the wall".
A few see it 1 or 2 miles before the finish line and some others earlier. It depends on training, nutrition or simply mental preparation. Some others just don't see it.
I've seen the wall several times in past races, but sometimes you hit a different type of wall... Although that doesn't mean you can't keep going. You just have to find a way around it.
Last year, during my first Ironman training experience I hit the wall early on (3 weeks in) when I couldn't really figure out if I was coming or going... The early wake up times were killing me, I was starving all the time and couldn't figure out what my body wanted. I was also tired... very... all the time. I called Coach. Asked for help... Figured out a way to go around the wall. Kept going.
This time around I doubled the time... 6 weeks. That was yesterday. My training isn't frustrating, my body isn't tired, my nutrition has been great. I do believe I hit an emotional wall. I found myself frustrated at my living situation, not having all my stuff with me, not finding my things... It all started when I couldn't find my watch to go swim. Then realized my Garmin was not there either. Got all my stuff that was scattered all over the man-friend's place and left. Went home (after swimming of course!).
I missed my home, my space, my stuff. While being in Boulder is a commodity, I love my home. I don't mind the commute to work (as I write this while on the bus). I lived out of a suitcase for almost 3 weeks and I hate that.
Anyways... Maybe not a big deal for some, but believe me, when you put your body through intense training, little things can mean the world. All I can say is: It's good to be home!
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Cravings
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
First day... Again!
My goal of working out 40 days in a row has not been accomplished. After a 17 day streak, including a double workout on the 17th day, I had to take a rest day. I actually had to convince myself that it was the right thing to do. I was exhausted from a fun weekend.
After my rest day yesterday and a 9hr overnight sleep, I felt like myself again. Today I got back to training and while my legs were feeling tired the first 20mins, I felt as if I warmed up after that...
Maybe I should aim for 18 days this time... 40 sounds pretty ambitious.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Getting high in Vail - Training day 17
We then headed to the lodge at Eagle's Nest where they gave us hot cocoa and some food and we stayed for the awards ceremony. To our surprise, the "Heavy Metal 20-29 Female Category" only had 2 contestants. So I got second. Yep, I got my silver medal. Ok, I wasn't the fastest, but apparently, only 2 girls in my age group are brave (and awesome) enough to put on a pair of skis and walk up a mountain for a total of 2 miles and 2500 ft of elevation gain.
Friday, February 10, 2012
46:28 he says...
Welcome to the 2012 Ironman Coeur d'Alene!
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Running on empty
Don't we all feel like we are running on empty at times? Don't we all feel like there's nothing in the world that will motivate us to even get out of bed some days?
We've all dealt with ups and downs in life... Some more than others. My "downs" come and go... But all in all I am a lucky girl. I'm sure my bad days would be someone else's luckiest day ever. Still, these are the days when I feel I'm running on empty.
During the fall last year I felt like I hit rock bottom. I was feeling sad and tired all the time. I started to gain weight and was not feeling motivated to do much. One day I decided to stop by the bookstore. Walked around and ended up finding myself wondering way too close to the self-help books. While I wanted to cheer myself up, nothing looked appealing enough. I kept walking.
Later on, as always, I found myself in the sports section. "Ah, this feels more like me" I found a book called "Running on Empty". An ultramarathoner's story about love, loss and a record-setting run across America. This sounds right. I need to read this.
Due to my lack of motivation, I never really got to it. It sat on my bookshelf for a few months. I picked up a few other books which also sat there unread.
Today, as I lay in bed getting ready to sleep, I decided to pick it up. I do not have the feeling of running on empty, but still looks like a great book with great reviews from well-known people: Aron Ralston, Dean Karnazes, Christopher McDougall, Kara Groucher, Ryan Hall, and others.
Will post my own review in a few days. Maybe it'll help keep my momentum going. Yes... 14 days of working out and counting!
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
How to train a dog
Some say it takes 40 days for some simple instructions to become a habit to a dog. All it takes is consistency and the pup will learn whatever you want them to.
How about humans? Is our brain trained to make a habit out of something we do 40 days in a row?
As far as I'm concerned, getting back in shape after a 2 month "I'm-not-gonna-do-anything-post-marathon-recovery" is hard. The first few days of Ironman training this year were hard and yes, I skipped a run the first week and skipped two swims 2 weeks ago. After that second skipped swim I've worked out 13 days in a row. So, in theory, I'm only 27 days away from making swimming, biking and running a habit.
I grew up an athlete. I did track a few years in elementary, middle and high school, swam when young, was always a runner and played tennis a few years. That's apart from basketball and soccer that I played in school too. But, was this a lifestyle? I was never really on a schedule... I just did it for fun.
Today, I find myself training for an Ironman. Where skipping a workout means a lot. Running, swimming and biking has become part of my daily routine... And I like it, but I still struggle to get myself to the gym or just simply out the door after work. Maybe in 27 days it will be less of a hassle and it will just be like having breakfast, like brushing my teeth... A habit.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Injury-free
It's been a long time since I've had a training related injury. Maybe I shouldn't be talking about it but just thinking about it makes me smile.
When I started training for Ironman last year I got to a point where I was stiff and sore on a regular basis and my body felt... well... tired. For the first time in my life I started getting a massage on a regular basis. Three words: A-MA-ZING. Well, maybe I was able to describe that in one single word, ha.
My massage therapist, let's call him A, is amazing. He is a great listener and will really focus on addressing all my concerns. Last night was the first time this season that I went back to him. My thought: "Why did I wait so long to come back?" I had put it off due to work and other little things happening but I'm glad I finally came back.
I scheduled three other sessions for the following few weeks and can't wait to go back. It's an hour of my week that I get to close my eyes, relax and feel all that my muscles do for me. Not that I think the reason why I have been injury is 100% because of the massaged but I definitely think it plays an important role during hard weeks of training.
Here's to another year of injury-free training!