6 Months and Counting

OMG, IMMT is in 6 months!!!!  I am glad week 2 went better then week 1, sort of.  I missed my Thursday swim practice due to work commitments but the rest was done.  I had an issue with my long run on Sunday, I managed 13.4K before a muscle issue caused me to throw in the towel.  I spend 90 mins on my tri bike on Saturday, 2/3 of it in aero position and my right leg did not like it, not one bit.  I went to yoga last night and put heat on it and it seems better today so we will see. Next week I will go back to double spin classes on Saturday and then try the tri bike again.  I really need to work on that so I am use to it once I can get outside. Otherwise I am happy with how the week went.

I am great at doing all the cardio on my training plan, where I fall down is my strength training, I just don't do any, I know I need too but it just does not happen.  As I sit here typing this tonight I am suppose to go to the gym for a power bar class with friends and I am trying to justify not going.  Yes I have work to do and tons of ironing to do but they are not pressing, they are an excuse.  Last week three great stories popped onto my newsfeed talking about excuses and I knew the universe was sending me a message, time to stop making excuses and just do it.  I know I need to do it, I know I should want to do it but I still make excuses.

So I am not going to let my excuses be bigger then my dreams, I will go to the gym tonight, I will do strength training twice a week and I will use the hand-weights in Zen cycle on Saturday morning..YES I WILL.  I will do PIYO twice a week and a core workout after every run...YES I WILL.

I also need to start watching my nutrition and food, tighten up and less cheating, less wine and less carbs.  This will be harder but I can and will do this as well.  I need to put in a great effort, I need to put away all my excuses and I need to put on my big girl panties and just do this because the next six months will pass and I can be ready or not.

I Want a Do Over

Good morning from snowy Ottawa.  We are having a blizzard today so we have opted for running on the treadmill at home.  Two runners, one treadmill means waiting your turn and since Neale has the longer run, he is going first.  This sort of sums up my week, my first week of IM training, well in mind anyway my coach may not agree.  In my mind I had mid November and December as my off season, January as my build up month and February was to be the start of IMMT training.  

I had a great vacation and was ready to get to it, 13K run on Sunday and Tuesday started well, swim practice and I was looking forward to spinning and yoga in the evening.  Unfortunately, Neale decided to share his cold with me and I started to feel worse as the day went on.  I decided to go to spinning but skipped yoga as my runny nose would not be appreciated in the hot room and the constant sniffling might be annoying.  By Wednesday morning I felt terrible and I missed my speed workout...and then swimming on Thursday morning and spinning Thursday night.  My strong start was crumbling, week one was a bust and I want a do over.  I managed to get back on track by the weekend and had a great double spin class on Saturday followed by a 3K run and today I will do my 16K run.   

So next week will be WEEK ONE 2.0 and I will take my frustrations from last week and channel them into this weeks training. 

IMMT is 189 days away and I plan on making every one count, there will be set backs, there will be good workouts and bad workouts but whatever happens, I will get there...one day, one workout at a time.

Miami Race Recap

I am home after a week in the heat and I am sick of the cold already.  On Jan 25th I ran the Miami half marathon in a tank dress and yesterday I ran in Ottawa in lots of layers and -29C temps. It was so cold I had to wear my water belt under my jacket so it did not freeze.  Calgon, take me away again...please! 

Leanne in the foreground and me in the red hat had a great chat as we ran

I headed to Miami on Jan 23rd and I was looking forward to a fun run in South Beach, I love the Art Deco style and that was one of the reason the race appealed to me.  The other was the ability to hop on a cruise ship after the race...which I did :-)  The Saturday was overcast, muggy and windy but Sunday started out cold, well cold for Miami anyway.  At 6:15 when the race was suppose to start it was 10C and I was glad to have my long sleeve t-shirt on.  The race puts your flag on your bib and in the starting corral, I was flashed by another runner showing me her maple leaf on her bib.  It turned out she was from Ottawa as well and was doing the same thing I was, running the half and hopping on a cruise.  I saw her a few time during the race which was nice for me but not for her as she planned on running a sub 2 hour time and I was not.  

The run was great for the first 15ish km/9 miles, I had a few hiccups like compression shorts that would not stay in place but I was enjoying the run.  I managed to stay with the 4:15 marathon pace bunny until the 9 mile marker and then I had to slow my pace.  I had a sharp pain on my toe, like someone was sticking a pin under the nail and the start of a blister on the bottom of the same foot.  I knew at that point a PB was not in the cards but I was determined to keep running, just keep moving forward and I would eventually finish.  I pulled out all the mental tricks I knew, I though of those who could not run, I thought of the athletes in wheelchairs I had passed, I thought of my mother-in-law and I though of my coach and all the time she just kept running regardless of the pain she was in and she has some great stories to tell.  At one point I started walking up a canal bridge, I was fed up and frustrated and so ready to stop but I did not give up, I got mad.  I got mad that I was giving in to the dark side, I had no reason to stop, it was a beautiful sunny day and I was running in a beautiful city, I was healthy, I was happy and I was alive.  I started to run again and I was not going to stop until the finish line, that was the only time I walked the whole race.  

I did finish in 2:09:30, 32 seconds slower then my Las Vegas time and  I was happy with that.  I knew that without the foot issue, I could have met my 2:07 goal time or been real close and I can live with that.  I will not show you a picture of my toe but lets just say it is a nice shade of black and I will be losing the nail any day now.  I finished in the top 22% for my AG, 24% of all Masters women and 26% of all women.  I have worked hard on my running and the results are starting to show, soon I will be going for a sub 2:05 half marathon time and maybe next year I will crack the sub 2 hour mark, I will not stop trying until I do.

After the run, I went back to the hotel to shower and change and then I headed to the cruise port to board our ship, it was a great reward for a year of hard work and helped me re-focus for this year. IMMT is in 6.5 months and this is about to get really real...fast.