Ironman Training Thoughts

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Hey Y’all! I hope you are doing great! I am exhausted and running on E as per usual. Between working two jobs (Jenny Craig and personal training), attempting to have a social life, taking classes to keep all my certifications up to date, and ironman training, I am stretching myself to the limit. I love all that I am doing but dang, can it just slow down a bit?! As I like to tell my friends and family, hang on till December 1 and I will become a normal human again! December 1 is only 80 days away which means the Ironman is only 78 DAYS away!!! CRAZY!!!!! So for today, here are my training thoughts….

HOLY CRAP THIS TAKES ALOT OF TIME! Yes, I knew it would, but gosh darn it seems like I am always training…. get home from work at 8pm and you think you’re done for the day….NOPE! Time to get on the bike in the apartment and spin for a couple hours then make dinner, shower, and go to bed. There are definitely some long days involved with getting ready for this race.
Lake Norman needs more water. Although I am proud of myself for building up to some super long, continuous, open water swims, I am really tired of
getting out of the water with a slightly orange tint (thank you red clay).
This girl can eat! 4+ hour workouts really rev up the metabolism. I feel like there are days when (read as: most everyday) I just can’t eat enough to keep up.
I think my new favorite of the three sports is biking. I have always been partial to running (which is why I say I think) but right now I am really loving my long rides. In fact, I really look forward to my 60+ mile rides. Something about going a really long distance under your own power and maintaining 16+ mph the entire time is really cool.
However, biking is a struggle. Combine the fact that I am exerting myself for hours on end and I’ve already got a reved up metabolism, I hit like 3 hours in and I AM STARVING!! This is something I am working on but is taking some major work. I currently take a GU every 45min and am sipping gatorade endurance and water but it is just not cutting it. I think next long ride I am going to try an almond butter sandwich at the 2.5 – 3hr mark and see how that works out.
I am having some issues with my neck and shoulder that stem from my soccer day which unfortunately throws a kink in training every now and again. I constantly have knots that run down my neck and under my left shoulder blade. This causes a lot of pain in my left shoulder and arm all the way down behind my elbow and when its really acting up all the way into my hand. Although this stinks, if this is the only “injury” I am having to deal with I feel like I am doing really good!
I feel like I am going to be one of those people who says “I am never going to do another one of these again” and turns around and immediately signs up for the next one. The training is long and grueling but I couldn’t be more anxious and excited to get to race day. It is crazy that such a big life goal of mine in getting so close.
I am most nervous about the logistics of getting to and the actual race itself at this point. My flight is booked but now the questions of, how will I get my bike there? What if it gets lost in transit? What if I need help making bike adjustments to my once I get there? What if everyone speaks spanish and I can’t communicate? How will I bring all my food down there? I can’t drink the water there so how am I supposed to drink on the race course? How will my hydration and nutrition needs change if I get down there and it is a sunny 90+ degree day? The list goes on and on!
I am so thankful for my family and friends that are being so patient and supportive of me as I take on this big adventure. Really, even though I am doing the training on my own, knowing I have a support crew cheering me on often from a distance means a TON and often what keeps me going.
Training is tough. It is wearing me out. BUT I am so happy and excited to be taking on this big challenge! I cannot wait till race day when I get to put these many months of training to the test! I am confident I will be able to complete it but that doesn’t make it any less intimidating right now!

There you have it, my current thoughts on ironman training… I will be sure to check in as the race gets closer! If you’ve ever done an Ironman yourself, I would love any input you may have! Have a great day!

Hey, Yes I am Slacking….

Hey Hey Hey! Man I am a slacker… a post every 20days, I can do better than that….well maybe. Regardless of if I am slacking, thats how things go these days. I am busy from before the sun rises till long after it sets most days and exhausted every free second I have in between. So here is the run down of whats been going on these last 20 days:

Easter weekend was spent in Boone with my family and Dylan. We watched a little baseball, dyed some easter eggs, I kicked butt at the Easter egg hunt, Dylan made a delicious baked apple french toast, and we hiked Grandfather Mountain.

Work is busy as ever, we are growing leaps and bounds at Jenny Craig…thank you Time! They published a study reporting that Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers were the top two most effective ways to lose and keep the pounds off.
Rock ‘n’ Roll half Marathon was great. Thanks Kathryn and Coop for being such gracious hosts. Dylan and I ran a 1:48:34 and 1:48:35…guess who won between the two of us?! ….Yep, you guessed it, THIS GIRL! haha thanks for being a gentlemen Dylan. It was a tough course, and we were both a little disappointed by the event festivities both on the course and after but overall we were happy to have run a good race and I am sure we will sign-up for another race together sometime soon.

My other job is growing immensely as well. After a very slow start, I now have 1 – 2 personal training clients everyday, Monday – Friday, at the Y. And as I mentioned before I am helping coach alongside two amazing women the triathlon team. Check out this awesome post practice team selfie!

Now that the 31Day Detox is done, man I have had some yummy foods! I might have even slipped up and over did it on the sugar in that first week but I am on track again now. Not a stringent diet I am following but back to my variety in all things, moderation in all things approach I typically have.

this couldn’t possibly be kilwins amazing praline ice cream…. 😉

Ironman training is up and running, I have felt exhausted these last couple weeks but I think I have a better plan this week and was (finally) able to catch up on a little rest this weekend so I am ready to get after training this week. Nearly 11hrs of swimming, biking, running, and strength training scheduled for this week.

Living in Charlotte has opened up so many more opportunities to see family. I get to see my parents and grandma on nearly a weekly basis and when out of town guest pop in to stay with my parents, I get to see them too. I am loving this aspect of living in Charlotte. It was great visiting with my aunt and cousin at the beginning of the month.
The lake is open! Starting last weekend, the lake is open for business…well for play! After Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon, Dylan and I headed to the lake for a little R&R so we thought. We ended up jumping out behind the boat for some wake boarding and surfing then this weekend a little kayaking and paddle boarding. Chase even jumped in on the fun this past weekend!

I think thats about it for me! Work, train, eat, and play! I guess I can’t complain. So what about you, how are things going on your end, what have you been up to?

Have a great week!

8 Point Win

Hello Hello!! I hope you are staying warm and off the roads on this cold, yucky, ICY night!! Today’s post is a quick update of what has been going on with me these last couple weeks….

1. SNOW DAY or should I say ICE DAY!!! Today I didn’t go into either of my jobs since the roads were such a mess. This was a super strange concept for me considering it was a Tuesday and not going into either job only happens like 3-4 times a month!!! That being said my first reaction this morning was “….uhhh what do I do today?!” Not to worry though, I did manage to clean the entire apartment top to bottom, run on the treadmill, run the stairs, sign up for another race, cook a pretty awesome dinner, and still sit on the couch for several hours. Pretty productive day for never leaving my building!

2. Speaking of apartment, it is coming together great! My roommate had furnished most of the apartment before I got here but it feels more and more like home to me everyday.

3. I am still on the Grilled Cheese kick that I talked about yesterday but today I traded out the chicken for a little canned tuna. It was awesome! I wonder what master piece I can pull off tomorrow?!

4. My race calendar is starting to come together for the year. At this point I am going to be running Rock ‘n Roll Raleigh Half Marathon in April, Beach to Battleship Half Ironman in October, and Ironman Cozumel in November. I am looking to add in 2-3 more races between May and September. Maybe a sprint and an international distance triathlon…not sure yet but I do know I need to find a few more to keep myself motivated all the way to the end of November.

5. My car finally has a name!!! I present to you Edna!!! Like the little lady that makes the super hero suits in the movie The Incredibles.

6. Work is super busy and by super busy I just mean I am working all the time. As a mentioned a few months back, I am working at both Jenny Craig and the Y. I love that I am getting to help people achieve their goals but dang it is hard to find a balance sometimes. I am fighting to keep my Sunday’s free as often as possible but that seems to be getting harder and harder to do each week.

7. Cookie butter and cookie butter ice cream might be my new favorite foods. If you haven’t tried them, stay far far away!! They are almost too good to be true!!

8. Did you catch the “us” and the “we” in the grilled cheese post yesterday?! Since “love” is in the title of the blog I guess it is only fair I share the latest update in that category too…..His name is Dylan and we have been on a few dates now. Two of which were to one of my favorite places in Charlotte, Freedom Park. We went there the last two weekends to either throw the frisbee or shoot hoops. Aside from the park we have gone for ice cream, bowling, cooked each other dinner, and checked out Lake Norman State Park for a little hiking. I’ve had a great time on each of these dates and I am really enjoying getting to know him more and more!!

Post hike smiles at Lake Norman State Park 🙂

So there you have it, a life update in 8 short points. And incase you couldn’t figure out why I titled this post 8 Point Win, it is because I am extremely happy with the way things are going these days as I adjust to Charlotte living…. basically it feels like I am winning 😉

Have a Great Day Y’all!

Let’s Get the Party Started!

Happy Monday Y’all! I’m sure many of you are headed back to work or school after a nice hiatus through the holidays. I unfortunately did work through the holidays but still managed to squeeze in all the holiday fun I wanted (see yesterday’s post) which has put quite the damper on my typical healthy eating and regular exercise routine. Originally I had planned to kickstart my workouts at the beginning of December after taking a short break to recover from the marathon, as I mentioned in my Offseason Training post. That worked great till about the week of Christmas…. So here I am, ready to kick off the new year with a new training program but this time with a new goal.

This new goal is something I have wanted to accomplish for a long time. And I especially wanted to accomplish before turning 25. So this is the year. I am training for my first ever FULL IRONMAN!!! Thats right, that 140.6mile race consisting of a 2.4mile swim, 112mile bike, and 26.2mile run. I signed up over Christmas (Merry Christmas to me) to compete in Ironman Cozumel November 29th, 2015. And you might ask why before 25, well the answer is simple. 25 is when I move into the big girls league. Racing at 24, my age group is still small and tends to be a little less competitive but come 25 and beyond, the numbers and the competition greatly increase.

So now comes the hard part…training. How in the world do you train for a race this long? How long do you train for this? Should I complete all the distances before going into that day? Should I do a half iron as a warm up for this race? The questions go on and on. So for now, although as I talk to more people this may change, I am going to start my training now. I have found a 36week program online from Trifuel (anyone used it before??) that has gotten good reviews from others who have used it before with the only caveat to add a little extra distance to the long runs. I know 36weeks puts me starting the week of March 23rd so in the time leading up to then, I am going to work on building a base. I plan to pick a half marathon to do in the month of March as kind of my season opener so I will train for that plus adding in some miles on the bike and in the pool as cross-training. However, up till March, my main focus will the half marathon and strength training.

And since training for an Ironman is soooo many grueling hours, I figured why not reward myself?! I have created a jar that I will be putting a dollar in for every workout that I do leading up to the race. That way, when the race is all said and done at the end of November and I am an IRONMAN, I will be able to treat myself to something nice. Not sure what it will be yet but once I figure it out I will let you know.

So there you have it, my 2015 goal. What are your goals for 2015? Please share in the comments below.

LET’S GET THIS training PARTY STARTED!!!