Welcome to 2012! It is the year of the Ironman! I am less than 20 weeks away from crossing the finish line. With school, training and life in general, I have been a bit lax on my blog but I am going to strive to update at least once a week between now and Ironman.
The training program I am using is a 30 week program called Be Iron Fit by Don Fink. I love it! Everything is time based, not mileage. This is great as it helps me budget my time everyday to make sure I get my workouts in. The 30 weeks are broken down into 3 - 10 week sessions. The first 10 weeks was the Base Phase. The first day was right after Longhorn 70.3 (which went pretty well considering the windy bike ride and 90 degree run!). I have noticed as I focus on time in zone (heart rate), I have actually gotten faster. Nothing has been too hard and I ran the RunGirl Half Marathon on Dec. 11 with Donna Settle. I was only supposed to run 1 hour and 15 minutes that day but since running is my weakest leg, I don't mind pushing that every now and then. I was really happy with my run. I kept a perfect 12 minute mile pace and I rode 3 hours the day before. I felt great the whole race and recovered beautifully. As I am going through this training, I am finding that recovery is key. It doesn't matter how hard you push in a workout if you are spent and can't get another good workout in the next day. Lots of recovery drink/food, stretching and ICE!!!
I have now started the second 10 week phase, the Build Phase. Obviously, as the name implies, its building up the time. But I am also starting to add some anaerobic intervals to my workouts. Not a lot as Ironman is an aerobic event but just enough to help build strength and endurance. I have two more half marathons in training this phase- 3M Half Marathon in Austin on Jan. 29 (an all downhill course!!!) and the Livestrong Austin Half Marathon on Feb. 19 (hills!). I will ride my scheduled time on Saturday before these events and then aim for race pace the next day. Compression socks help A LOT!
My only complaint through my training is the never ending cold I have had since Halloween! It comes and goes. I have had to miss about 5-6 workouts and cut some others short since I am not feeling 100%. I never feel horrible but I can't say I have been operating at 100%. Hopefully the new year will result in the exodus of the crud!
I know all this talk about hours in the pool, on the treadmill and on the pavement have got you excited! How can you get involved? Two ways:
1. Check out my donation page. www.active.com/donate/texasironman2012 Forward it to as many people as you can. Post it on you Facebook page (Thanks Donna and Ingrid!). My bigger goal is to raise money for the Arthritis Foundation and to date I have $480 raised. A good start but still a long way from my goal.
2. Sign up to volunteer on race day! Volunteers are SO important to race success. We can't race without your help! As a volunteer you'll get front row seating to all the action-including the pros, you'll get a snazzy t-shirt, and you'll be taken care of with food and drinks! http://www.doitsports.com/volunteer2/jobs-by-date.tcl?event_id=212474 Check out the volunteer page. If you have any questions on a job, just ask me! I can probably help you out! My dad has already signed up for the finish line during the time I think I will be finishing so he can give me my medal! I am SO excited for this. I know that will keep me going when I want to give up. I have to get to the finish line to see my dad! :)
So that's all I know for now...other than I know I still have a 1 hour ride left today...got my swim in at 4 this morning *yawn*.
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