But I Will Be An IRONMAN!!!

You know that feeling you get on Christmas morning as a kid, when you rush down to the tree and see all the presents Santa left? (PS, I apologize in advance that I'm being culturally incompetent right now to all of my Jewish friends but you all get 8 nights of presents, and there is something about instant gratification that us crazy Christian folk love to indulge in). ANYWAYS! That build up, the excitement.....it didn't really happen for me on Christmas this year, rather, it came 5 days later, on January 1st when my Ironman out-season training started! My coach had sent me my training almost two weeks prior to look over and ask questions but hell, that was like handing me a huge wrapped present and telling me not to open it. You can look at it, shake it up, and make guesses as to what's inside but you can't have it. Damn! Patience is a virtue Sam (eye roll). The funniest part was that she has me set up for Monday rest days, so my "first official day of training" was actually a rest day (face palm). Ok ok, it wasn't that bad but I was ready to start training. It's been months since I've been on a triathlon workout plan and there are some areas that have been neglected.

Like the pool. I have skipped out on the pool because it's a lot of work to get in there, do your sets, shower, get dressed, ain't nobody got time for that! At least with a gym workout I can skip the shower if I have to.....but I would never do that.....??? haha. So Tuesday morning, New Years day, I was up at 8am and ready to take on a 2500 meter swim. I had gone out with friends the night before but decided to be faithful to an early workout and turned in around 1am. As you can imagine, not everyone shared the same mentality as me, so I had a whole pool to myself in the morning. It doesn't get any better than that, really, I was beyond spoiled by this. The swim went well, but I noticed that I was pretty slow in my stokes and it took me the entire 700m warm up to get into my breathing. But heck after I got out I felt fabulous....gotta go jot that down in my training notebook....I feel fabulous!

Biking is probably my weakest link of triathlon. In fact when I raced Racine last year all I kept thinking to myself was, "Hot damn I wish I spent more time on the bike!" Word to the wise, DON'T skip bike workouts! So my bike and I are in a morning monogamous relationship since, with the help of my coach, I got a hold of a trainer to set up in my place and bike my little heart out.

Running is the love of my life, sorry bike! For the past few months I have become accustomed to just being able to run for however long and far as I want. I foresee this being something of a challenge for me, especially since I don't get to run everyday in the training plan, and most running articles/books have said not to run everyday anyways.....something about how it shouldn't be used as a "rest" or "light workout" because it takes such a toll on your body. pssshhh!!! Of course that would be the activity I love to do the most though. But so I did my 35 minute run, at about 8:27 m/m with steady increases towards the end. The only obstacle I faced with this was doing it on the treadmill. I HATE THE TREADMILL! But I know myself well enough to know that "One does not simply run outside for only 35 minutes....." haha I would definitely exceed that time limit and one of my personal goals for myself is to not over-train and not do too much  more than what my coach suggests. (With age comes wisdom Steph :))

So I am officially in training to be an Ironman. I'm looking forward to every part of training, as well as the changes I will see in myself physically and mentally. The people I will meet and the knowledge I will gain will help me along the way and each day will bring me closer to my 140.6 mile goal. This will be the hardest challenge I've taken on so far but I'm ready for it.....ready....set.....GO!