Here goes nothing...

So this blog thing seemed to keep me sane and/or find an online support community of likewise insane people when I was studying for the bar exam and training for my first marathon, so I decided to turn to it again for my first Ironman. Plus, my friend Kerry Sue created one and I'm jealous, and it might be a good way to prevent me from annoying my facebook friends with constant Ironman updates.

A little about me, I was never athletic as a kid but decided to run a marathon to prove that I could back in 2008. I had never run more than 2 miles before I signed up for that. My mom* thought I was going to die. But I did it. And I didn't die. Now I've done 17 marathons, 3 ultras (will be 4 after this weekend) and am training for my 2nd Boston marathon. My marathon PR is 3:25:30. I like running. A lot.

In 2010, after I qualified for Boston, I needed a new challenge so I decided to try a tri : ) I signed up and did the Olympic distance Pac Grove tri with Team in Training in September 2010. Before I signed up for that, I didn't know how to swim - at all - and the last bike I'd been on had a pink banana seat and tassles. My mom* thought I would die that time too. As kids have a habit of doing, I proved her wrong again. Since then, I've completed three olympic tris and a half ironman.

I still really suck at swimming and cycling and feel like I'm faking my way through the whole thing, but oh well. It's fun and I want to say I'm an Ironman before I turn 30 (in August). So I did what any sane person would do - I signed up for Ironman Coeur d'Alene Idaho in June 2012. I'm hoping that by June 24, 2012 I will be able to swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, and run a full marathon all in sucession without dying. And before they close the course. It would also be cool if I could spell Coeur d'Alene without looking it up on google by then.

So here goes nothing ...

This is week 1 of my official training plan. What is my official training plan? I swear it's not Ironman endorsed by any means. I found a couple of different plans on the internet (mostly beginnertriathlete.com), ignored what they said about running, added in the run plan for a 3:20 marathon from 'Run Less, Run Faster' (which I will probably ignore because I like to Run More and still try to Run Faster just to prove that book wrong), added in my Jillian Michaels workout videos which I swear have given me six pack abs in the past, and printed up a fancy schedule on an Outlook calendar. If I do everything on that schedule, I will probably die. A good friend pointed out it lacks only one thing - rest days. Ooops. I figure I'll just take days off when I feel close to dying.

So far, it's going well. My weekday riding right now is all on the trainer because I'm a wimp and it's cold outside. Plus, I can watch movies while I sit on my trainer. My swimming right now is all at the gym pool because it's not warm enough to go to the lake yet. Hopefully that will change soon. The old pervy men staring from the hot tub and my inability to remember when the senior citizens water aerobics class will deprive me from my opportunity to swim are already on my last nerve. Here's what this week looks like so far:

Monday:

• Morning: Biked 60 minutes on the trainer, all small chainring work low effort (and watched a great movie - 'Beginners' - check it out)
• Evening: Swam 2400m (is it meters or yards? I can never remember), 1500 of that was continuous. I thought I was going to die. But I didn't.

Tuesday:

• Morning: Jillian Michaels 'Maximize - Front Side' workout video with 5 lb weights (You might be laughing at this. Clearly you haven't done this video. She is brutal and says stuff like 'If you feel like you're dying, you're doing it right!')
• Evening: Ran about 7 miles at the track. Did my workout first - 1.5 miles of warmup followed by 5 x 800m @ 6:00-6:10 pace with 30 seconds rest in between each. Then coached Team in Training and got in a few cooldown miles with them.

Wednesday:

• Morning: Swam 1650m - 300 warmup, 3x400 each progressively faster, 150 cooldown

That will be my only workout today since I am busy tonight. Tomorrow calls for a long tempo run and another session with Jillian Michaels. Friday will be another bike and swim day.


My plan is to at least post my workouts each day but I make no promises. It's already seeming like this Ironman thing is going to keep me pretty busy...


Here goes nothing..


* Mom - these references to you are not meant to be derogatory at all. I'm glad that you care about me enough to not want me to die. You're the best mom ever. Love you.



PS How can I make the blog put a space between my paragraphs?