Emotional

A friend of mine completed an Ironman on the weekend and I am so happy for her. She wrote an amazing account of her race. Having experienced it before it brought a lot of memories and emotions of my first Ironman, from the apprehension I had at the start of the swim to the elation of crossing the finish line.

I'm looking forward to (hopefully) experiencing it all again.

I'm having a difficult time putting into words how I am feeling. I'm hoping that everything that I am doing, and that I will do will be enough to get there. I hope all the sacrificing will be worth it.

I want to have a good race this weekend. I want to race my hardest and do my best. I'm starting to get really nervous. This race is 8 weeks away from the big one and I am already feeling the knots in my stomach.

Taper!

Well, it's really a cut back week bit since there is a race this weekend I am calling it a taper. The race will be my 4th Great White North half Ironman. I am looking forward to seeing what my training is acheiving for me, and to see how sound my nutrition strategy is. I am going to race it to the best of my effort.

Peanut is done kindergarten and it made me sad. My first born is now in grade one. Soon he will be 6. Where has all the time gone. I keep starting at him and am amazed at the boy he is growing into. Of course there are the days when I am going nuts, but I love who he is and I don't want him any other way.

Do not compare thee to others!

Does everyone do it at some point? I am comparing my training to my friend who is also racing GWN next week and IMC. She is out training me big time and it's freaking me out. I am doing the best that I can, I think.

I look to some of my role models and see quality over quantity. I know that the less is more approach is what works best for me, I just need to reharness my confidence in it.

Pointing out the obvious

I am a terrible blogger. I don't have the time to do this so it doesn't get done.
I'm tired and hungry and feel like I can eat anything in front of me.
I'm feeling strong and I think I am going to have a good half Ironman next weekend.

The run I had on Saturday was very hard. I knew it was going to be difficult within the first 5 minutes. I don't like that feeling. My body felt tired and it was a struggle. I tried a different nutritional strategy and that didn't work, so that's good to know. I did try to motivate myself by thinking of what others in my age group would be doing (not slowing down). I know I will be racing tired and I did my best to maintain the race pace I want.

Ride of my life (so far)

It was a few days ago but I haven't had a lot of time to sit and write about it. Because of weather I rearranged my training and ended up doing a long ride on a Monday afternoon. The weather was perfect. I had about a 90km loop planned. I made amazing time to the halfway point and sent hubby a message that I would be cycling in to a headwind so I would be longer than I thought.

The wind seemed brutal, but it wasn't affecting me too badly. I saw a flag on a pole. It was hanging limply. Hmmm...maybe it's windier on the highway? The went was ripping past me, I was sure of it. Kept looking at my Garmin and saw I was holding a good pace. Saw another flag hanging limply and then clued in. I was the headwind!!

Once I realized this I kept up. There were times that I was working hard but for the most part it was a moderate effort. I wanted to keep the average pace as high as I could. I was at 40km at 1:19, 60km at 2:06 and 88.5km at 3:08. Seriously, I have NEVER had a ride like this. Ever.

I am noticing the difference with a compact crank. I am able to work farther down the back cassette comfortably. And I am able to stay in the big ring while climbing.

Click and also lap tanks don't have jets

Things have been feeling really good this week. I don't know what the magic is but I feel nourished and well rested. In fact. I am eating right now, even though I don't feel hungry, but because I did an almost 40km ride and need to refuel my body. See what I have learned?

Cutting the workouts seems to be the right thing to do. I'm training smarter, I think. I may even add another rest day since I have a long run and long ride to do this weekend. I am enjoying the bike and even got 3 rides this week, which is a treat and most likely won't happen again until July.

As for the pool. I thought that the lap tank did have jets along the edge. Until I realized that it was me. Who knew that a bowl of strawberries, blueberries and granola for breakfast would do that?? Haha!! At least I'm not peeing in the pool.

Goodbye Dot

Today was the day that I sold my bike. She fared me well: 4 sprints, 3 Olympic, 3 half Ironman and 1 full Ironman, plus countless hours on the road and trainer. I hope she is just as nice to her new owner (and that I won't see her on kijiji soon).

Rode outside again, and it is getting easier. I was able to give my husband a couple of quiet kidless hours in the house. He has been generous with our family's time that he deserves this kind of down time too. 

I ate a donut today and didn't share.

Battling the wind

Out here, the wind is a given. The only way I can prepare myself for riding in the wind is to, wait for it, ride in the wind. No one can predict what race day weather will be like so it is best to be ready as best as you can for anything.

That being said, I would be lying if I didn't feel a bit discouraged yesterday. Another day of an uneven ride. 42km out and the same back, severely unbalanced. I felt like I was working hard both ways. On the way out when it is supposed to be easier I felt like I couldn't get any speed and I even thought that a tire was low. On the way back I was battling the wind. My friend was breaking it for me (she is used to this route), but after about 10 minutes I would fall back. The only time I didn't was in the last 10km when I really wanted to be finished the ride and be out of the wind. 

She and I were talking about our respective goals for the race. We have had different experiences. I have yet to have a good long distance triathlon and I am hoping to improve both my half and full Ironman times. She is hoping to do the best she can, but doesn't think she will be close to either time, nor does she really care if she is. 

I was reflecting on this on the ride. Do I need to change my goals? Am I in the dark as to what I am actually capable of? Am I really working as hard as I can? And does is matter? This reflection was occuring on the ride into the wind where I was starting to feel a bit defeated. I know what I would like to achieve. I think I am working hard enough.

She also only swims once a week and that got me thinking that maybe I should drop one swim and extend the other. Drop the swim, but get on the bike more, if I can swing it. The bike is where I need the most work and where I have the greatest room for improvement. I am starting the second half of training and the best time to make changes is now. I will try it this week.