The Week's WODs

Monday: Rest (post TRX certification)

Tuesday: 25 miles bike

Wednesday: 6 mile run

Thursday: Rest

Friday: 25 mile bike

Saturday: 13 mile run & TRX circuit

Sunday: TRX circuit

Good: I'm back to working out 5-6x a week.

Bad: Not cycling enough.

I don't care about swimming until mid-late February. I think time is better spent strengthening my body and getting myself up to 50 miles again on the bike.

Coming up next weekend: Superbowl Sunday Half Marathon in Golden Gate Park!

Doug

I started doing some lunch time rides with some of the peeps on the third floor at work. Doug is one of those peeps. Doug is a really good cyclist, he is really fast. He races on a bike track on the weekends. He schools me on our rides.

Doug is super nice. He answers my questions, and even though I don't always understand what he's saying, it's nice that he's helping. He told me that I don't have a spin yet. Guess I need to get that down. He also told me I don't need to buy clip ons for my bike, I can just rest my forearms on my handle bars. I tried it - he was right.

After doing TRX on Sunday my core was sore. Riding today at 25mph on California hills, my Lord, my sides were aching. I'm actually not even going to ride home anymore. I have class tonight & I want to make sure I'm alive for it.

Final Countdown

It has been six months since I stood in line at the Olympic Speed Skating Oval in Lake Placid, NY. I was so nervous that morning! And I have six months to go until I'm back in that Oval, changing out of my wetsuit & racing off to bike 112 miles. I have no idea what's going to happen that day, and I hope that from now until then, I do give 100% in my training, and 110% on race day.

The most valuable thing I have learned since starting this - is that, if you put your mind to it, you can do anything you want. I honest to God, never thought I'd get registered for one of these events. But once I made up my mind to do it, and took it piece by piece, it wasn't too bad. It actually made me re-elvaluate other things in my life. Are there things in my life currently that I wanted to change, but hadn't because the task seemed too hard?

I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm scared shitless. And there's a hell of a lot of work to be done. And I know I'm going to be in pain, and be tired, and will want to quit at some points. And I do worry... I worry about over training, not training enough, training incorrectly, disappointing people. But I suppose the best cure for that is to just go for run or ride, or swim :)

TRX!

I went for TRX certification this Sunday. I passed! I'm actually a bit sore today. I loved the course, and I feel like I never would have had the 1:1 time with the instructors unless I purchased a $400 trainer package at a gym.

Suspension training originally started in the Navy Seals - and TRX was founded here in San Francisco. You're using your own body weight in resistance exercise. Form is incredibly important - and your core is engaged 100% of the time. It's also fun & different. Honestly, aren't we all just a bit tired of the same old weight lifting routines?

eek!

In six days, I will be six months away from doing the Ironman. I am so fucking nervous. I have not swam really since Tahoe, I haven't done a long ride over 35 miles in two months, and I just feel over all, so not ready to do this thing. I'm so scared of screwing it up.

It's hard because I reason to myself, there's no way you'd ever be able to ride 60-80 miles every saturday and run 12-18 miles every sunday for six months. It's not doable and not possible. And I know that, and I know I have six months to prep for this thing... But God it's a long day of grueling work and I want to do well. It's just a bit overwhelming.

As physically grueling as a long distance event can be, the mental & emotional part are often much worse than muscle soreness.

So Many Medals!

Just realized that I have completed 40 races. Most were trail runs with Envirosports. Here's how they shape up:

Hardest Race: Boston Marathon 2008

Worst Weather: Stinson 25k trail run 2008

Mile PR: US Half Marathon 2010

Most Expensive: Death Valley Half 2008

Best Weather: CA Int'l Marathon 2007

Best Race Start: Boston Marathon 2009

Most Competitive: Pac 10 10k 2009 (engaged in sprints at end to beat some chick, and yea I won)

First Place Winner: Woodside 5 Mile Trail Run 2010

Best Views: Angel Island 12k Trail Run 2008

Most Gut Wrenching, i-am-going-to-finish-even-if-it-kills-me: TIE - Boston 2008 & Lake Tahoe Half Marathon 2008

All Time Best: CA Int'l Marathon 2007 - First marathon. Best high ever.

If you ever told me in high school that I would compete this much - I would have laughed in your face in disbelief. Now I am literally running out of room for my race memorabilia!

First Week

Eh the first week is always the hardest, right? I really took it upon myself to rest and enjoy my Christmas vacation, so I was a little sluggish waking up Monday AM. I knew I had to get used to working out 5-6x a week again... But I also didn't want to over do it. Here's how the week shaped up:

Sun: Technically, this was a vacation day so my work out was ... Mimosa Brunch.

Mon: Bike to Work - 12 miles (45 min ride)

Tue: Bike to Work - 12 miles (45 min ride)

Wed:Bike to Work - 12 miles (45 min ride)

Thur: 6 mile run

Fri: Rest

Sat: 25 mile ride & 4 mile run

Confession: I haven't swam in maybe two months.