Thursday, August 1, 2013

Countdown to Augusta 70.3

I had fully intended to keep this blog updated with my training progress, especially as I began to up the ante. However, I guess I didn't consider the reality that more training means less time to blog about it. I'm going to do my best the next two months to get back to it. Why now? I am 59 days away from my first long course triathlon... Augusta 70.3 Ironman. (and yes, I have a countdown app on my phone telling me how close this race is)

It's been nearly a year since my last post, so a quick update is in order. I've been racing non-stop. I hired a coach to get me through this madness without injury or burning myself out. Plus, I only know so much about basic fitness...endurance is a whole new world to me. Now, what have I accomplished since my last post? A lot more than I would ever have expected, that's for sure.

December 2012 - I ran my first marathon in Tucson, Arizona.

I then spent time getting back into multisport training. I did a few half-marathons in the meantime. I managed to PR at the Thanksgiving Atlanta Half-marathon with 2:04:16, and I finished the Publix half this year in just a little over a minute longer than that. I've essentially improved my half-marathon time by 25 mintutes in a year. I also PRed in my 5k time with 23:56, which got me into Group B for the Peachtree Road Race this year! That was pretty exciting, especially considering last year I was somewhere around G. I also got to experience the feeling of placing in my age group for a couple of 5k races...placed 3rd in my PR race and 2nd in a Valdosta 5k.



 Running my half-marathon and 5k PR races... form definitely has improved this year.

  The Publix Half-Marathon was my first repeat race - got to really see how far I've come in a year!

So that's how the running has been doing. Not long after the Publix half, it was time to put that multisport training to good use. I started my season with a couple of sprint duathlons and schedule a few sprint triathlons (including a repeat of the Iron Girl) leading up to the Chattanooga triathlon in July. Unfortunately, the weather this year has kind of sucked compared to last year. My first few races luckily involved no swimming... it was way too cold for that mess! The Iron Girl was cancelled due to inclement weather (it stormed like crazy), and the Chattanooga race got turned into a duathlon. So, as far as triathlons go...no repeats from last year to really see how far I've come. That makes me nervous somehow.

 A few duathlon photos shortly before I walked away with my age group award.

On a more positive note, I got a great start to du/tri season. My overall time for the 2nd duathlon of the season was great, placed in my age group (of only a few people), but was also pretty high up overall. My first triathlon of the season, I won my age group and was I think 2nd or 3rd overall female (behind some Ironman finishers...that felt good).

 While winning at small races may not be all that impressive, its still a good feeling to have a couple of these things lying around now! :)


So, now that Chattanooga is over with, I am in full-on half-ironman training mode! I have had to accept that life is about to get really busy, and I have to be willing to make sacrifices - my social calendar needs to chill for a while. This is going to be a challenge, but I'm sure it'll be worth it in the end. Other sacrifices involve my diet... have to start cutting out the useless calories and junk and replacing them with solid, nutrient packed foods. In the past few months, I've been lenient with my diet, but I want to do it right now. Unfortunately, people do give me a hard time for eating healthy ("you'll get too skinny"). I eat a lot...so it needs to be healthy food. I love making smoothies - kale, spinach, frozen fruits, bananas, coconut water, tomato juice, almond milk, protein, even granola, etc... anything can be smoothie-fied!

Every morning, I've started beginning the day with whole grain toast (or low-fat waffles) with almond butter and some V8 fusion juice. Then, I make a smoothie at home and bring it to work with me, for my mid-morning snack. My lunch the last few weeks has consisted typically of something like tuna (w/ a small amount of light mayo), whole grain crackers, and an avocado and random veggies. My ideal afternoon snack is dried fruit, almonds, and sunflower seeds, and this usually carries me over into the start of my workout, which I'll still fuel up as needed. When there's time to cook, dinner is typically seared chicken, kale or spinach, and sweet potatoes (or regular potatoes). Luckily, as a creature of habit, I'm ok with eating the same thing over and over...until I run out, then I get lazy and substitute with popcorn too often.

Anyway, that's where I am now...hopefully, I'll remember to keep on track with not only logging my workouts and tracking my meals, but also w/ blogging/journaling it out. Right now, I'm fighting major back pain (may have pulled something hopping out of bed today, oops!), which will hopefully not slow me down too much b/c I really am enjoying my lengthy runs lately.

 Hard to believe the next time I suit up and run/bike/swim in a competitive environment, I'll be racing my first 70.3 Ironman in Augusta!!!


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