ironman canada… done and done!

Wow. What. A. Day!

Three days out, I’m still a little shocked that Sunday happened. The day’s a blur – it went by so fast! – but the pieces I do remember were awesome!

I am an iron{wo}man!

Official results: 11:51:29 / 12th AG / 108th female.

Thank you, THANK YOU, for all the support, well wishes and kind words! My heart is full of gratitude! I couldn’t have made it to my first ironman finish line without all of you. Sunday was an incredible day… when can I race 140.6 again?! 😉

Race recap to come soon!

infograph | my training stats

It’s been more than 200 days since I started this journey. I had an inkling of what was in store – the early morning swims still half asleep, seven-hour Sundays, an outrageous co-op bill – but never did I imagine just how wonderful it would be. I’m completely serious when I say I loved almost every single second of swimbikerunning to the starting line of my first iron{wo}man, Ironman Canada. And, I may already be scheming next year’s race calendar… #addict

With that, some stats from my road to Whistler…

ironman canada | week 25

You know what’s really fun? Seeing progress.

A mere 16 months ago, I struggled to even run five miles. And, in the year before that, a couple MRIs, a cortisone shot and months of physical therapy did nothing to help my hip + hammie pain. The only thing that fixed that were six solid months of no running and plenty of frustration tears. Fast forward to now, and running couldn’t be any better. Rocking a pain-free 21-miler takes the cake.

I’ve also been training on heart rate all year, and it’s been incredible to see the gains, especially lately. When I started this journey, my HR averaged around 160 or a bit higher for most of my runs, even on the short two- and three-milers. On Saturday’s long run, all three hours of it, it averaged 148 (and, 144 on last week’s 19-miler). I’ll take it.

My week…

ironman canada | week 24

So, here we are, six weeks out from Ironman Canada! I’m not quite sure how that happened because it seems like yesterday it was cold and snowy and I was just starting this journey. This little 140.6-mile race is fast approaching, and I couldn’t be more excited!

My top two takeaways this week:

1. It’s all in your head. Yes, you need to train your body, but training your mind is just as important. I’ve been doing some visualization during the 7.9 seconds between my head hitting the pillow and falling asleep, and I can see that start line on the shore of Alta Lake, the thousands of swim cap clad triathletes ready to race, and I can see that magical finish line and almost feel the emotion that comes with it (I’m not kidding, I’ve welled up several times this week just thinking about it). Keeping your head in the game, during each training session, during the race – stay present and positive – it’s so important to getting through. Because when you start to compare or when the self doubt creeps in, nasty things manifest. Thank you, Johnny, for helping me get and keep my head in the game!
2. It always seems impossible until it is done (thank you, Nelson Mandela). This was my mantra during much of my training this week – the hilly 2.5-mile intervals, the 19-mile long run, the solo century – and it powered me through the last little push of each session. Because, really, not much seems more daunting that seeing all zeros on your Garmin right before you start that three-hour run or 5.5-hours in the saddle. But, then… suddenly… you’re done, and it wasn’t as tough as you first anticipated.

ironman canada | week 23

Such a great, confidence building week! Highlights included an open water swim, long run and a solo almost-century ride – all were awesome. With each mile of swimbikerunning, I feel more ready for Ironman Canada (though my open water swim confidence still needs a boost).

Other big news this week… I changed coaches. Yeah, yeah, I know ironman is just seven weeks out, but I had to do what’s right for me, and that meant changing coaches. Training has been great, and I have a fantastic base thanks to Joe. But… but, I need more support during this last big push to my first 140.6 start and finish line. I need someone to push me a little bit harder and outside my comfort zone, to challenge me to do more than I think I can do. So, my new coach, Johnny Surprise… he.is.awesome (Nick and I have known him since last summer when they met randomly while both training for Ironman Florida). I can’t say enough good things. He’s pushed me outside my comfort zone on nearly every workout the past 10 days and has even joined me on a few of them. Between hill repeats and sprints and track workouts and long runs, I couldn’t be happier with my decision. Bring on the last big weeks!

With that, my first week training with Johnny looked like this…