4 Weeks Left!

 

 

 It just seems like yesterday I was blogging about my first month of training for the ironman! I am so glad to be at this end now. It has been a tough, but fun; challenging, but doable experience. It is exciting to start receiving the athlete's guide and your race day number. This will be my first race with my name on my bib. I maybe a little too excited about this.

 

You know you are close to race day when you know your number!

It has been over a month since I have given an update and there are been ups and downs with the training. A week after my 70.3 race, I competed in an Olympic distance in my hometown. I had just started to come down with a cold and sore throat- just like last year. However, I still PR'd and had a fun race cheering on my family and friends that were racing. The week after the Olympic distance I ended up getting a virus with a fever along with the cold/sinus infection. I was down for a few days - just completely wiped out. Fortunately it was a recovery week. Once I started feeling better I gradually started back by to my training. It probably took another full week to feel fully recovered. That was really tough to get back in the groove again after resting so much!

I was finally able to start building my bike endurance back up. I was able to ride with my mentor with whom gave great tips on the bike. The Louisville course is hilly and somewhat technical. It would be easy to break a chain or get a flat on the course and wear yourself out before you get to the run. I have completed my first century ride on the Ironman course which was a huge confidence booster. I have met some super great people on these group rides lately. They are all looking out for each other on the course even though we just met at the start of the ride. We all have similar insecurities about getting through the race, but trusting all our hard work to get us there.

Rice cakes and boiled potatoes

I think I know my nutrition plan - making sure I get all the right calories, carbs, electrolytes, hydration. That is a great feeling since that was one thing I knew I needed to work out and will need to nail during race day in order to enjoy the day and finish. I am using water, SWORD, and Tailwind for my bottles and honey stinger chews and waffles along with boiled potatoes and rice cakes for my nutrition. At least one bottle and one food item is needed per hour on the bike. It will help pass the time, right?  It is an all day event so lunch and dinner are on the bike and run! I may pack a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on the bike for the special needs bag.

I still have race day planning to do - race clothes, special needs bags, making sure I have all the nutrition for the day etc. I need more open water swim practice with the wet suit, but I am gaining more confidence as race day approaches. I am hoping all my early morning workouts, double day workouts, and just plain hard work allows me to really enjoy race day and soak it all in this once in a lifetime experience. I still have 2 weeks of hard work and 2 weeks of taper to get through.

Be sure and let me know if you'll be coming out on the course race day so I can look for you! Or if you are racing hopefully we'll pass each other sometime throughout the day!

Again just want to thank everyone that asked about training, ran, biked, or swam with me. Or texts me while I am biking long to make sure I am okay and drinking enough during the hot training days. It is all greatly appreciated and means so much. I hope I can return the favor someday.

My tiny, but mighty daughter and I heading out for a training run.