Nation's was an awesome race! My parents came to DC to support me, which was super fun, because my dad hadn't seen me race since my 1st half marathon back in 2005. It was also awesome to race with fellow DC Tri Club members and pretty cool to set a new PR.
In June, I joined the DC Tri Club's Olympic Distance Speed Program, which propelled me to become more involved with the club and provided me with an awesome training plan. I swam 2-3 days per week for 45-60 minutes, biked 2-3 times per week, with at least 1 long ride and 2 bricks (bike followed by a run) and ran ~2 times per week. I also did some strength training and continued focusing on my nutrition plan. The results were fantastic! I swam the 1500m about a minute faster than Jamestown even though others complained about being slower in the water. The bike was brilliant and I shaved a whole 7 minutes off my 1:29:05 time, averaging about 17.5mph. The run was hot and slow and I was actually almost 1.5 minutes slower than Jamestown, but my total time was still 6 minutes faster (3:07:46)!
ChesapeakeMan was also pretty cool, because while Pablo couldn't be with me at Nation's, we were able to race the Bugeye Classic together. Given that this race was 2 weeks after Nation's I didn't plan to PR. The race had a half distance (1.2 miles) swim and two transition areas, so I took it as a perfect opportunity to start practicing for the half ironman. I aimed for a 45 minutes swim and ended up doing it in 46:16, which wasn't too bad considering the longer distance and the crazy amount of jellies we swam into (those buggers sting!) The bike was a super flat, but windy course and I was ecstatic to complete the 23 miles in just under 1:17 (close to 18mph, wohoo!!) Like Nation's the run was my worst leg. I don't know if I had just pushed too hard on the bike or if my lack of running between Nation's and Bugeye tooks its toll, but I came in at a weak 1:08:95. My total time was 3:16:25, which given the distance differences was still a better performance than Jamestown, although not quite as good as Nation's.
All in all, I am super happy with the 2013 season and I CAN NOT wait until 2014! In april I was almost an Athena (165lb plus women) placing dead last in my age-group. Now I'm halfway to my goal weight and at ChesapeakeMan I actually placed 2nd in my age group!
This past week I took off from working out, but tomorrow starts the off-season training plan which will last through January when Ironman training begins. The off-season probably won't look very different than my 2013 Oly training plan, except that I'm going to reduce my swim and bike load, mix in some yoga, TRX and other strength training and focus heavily on run speed workouts.
For 2014 I was initially going to sign up for 2 half distance triathlons, some shorter distance triathlons, maybe a couple of half marathons and a full marathon, but apparently I'm maried to a crazy man who has decided he'd like to do Ironman Louisville in 2014.
I had originally set my mind on doing an ironman in 2015 but had recently shifted to the idea of waiting until after I had kids (how cool would it be for your kid to see you finish an ironman?) But now there is a new option and I have to say I'm tempted...I mean if we're going to train together and I'm going to do the distances anyways, why not make 2014 the year of the Ironman?
My main concern is that I want to make sure I can train for it to meet the 17-hr finishing deadline while remaining injury-free. Inadequate training for our 300-mile bike ride left me with 2 painful knees and I clearly remember chasing the clock during my full marathon in Stockholm in 2005...miles 20-26.2 were BRUTAL and I was constantly running, or hobbling, against the cut-off clock. I can only imagine what those miles are going to feel like after a 2.4 mile swim and a 112 mile bike ride. Of course I'm in much better shape now than I was back then and more importantly I have a thorough understanding of the importance of proper training and nutrition. Realistically, I'm actually aiming for 14 hours, which would give me comfy 3 hour window to the midnight deadline....so what's stopping me?
It's probably fear, because why wouldn't you be scared of a 140.6 mile event that's going to take at least 14 hours. Fear is natural when considering this intense event. But there's a reason I recently acquired my first tattoo...
I'm stronger than fear.
I proved that to myself when I overcame a 20-year-old fear of dark water and I'm stronger than the 140.6 miles I'd need to conquer at IM Louisville. I'm still not 100% ready to commit, but I'm definitely getting there....
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