Lost Focus

Two months ago today was August 2…I was racing Ironman Boulder and having the time of my life!!

This smile sums up my race day experience!!

Since Ironman Boulder, I have been lost. Lost without a big race on the calendar. Lost without a regular training routine. Lost because it hurt to run. Lost mentally. Lost physically. Lost. Just Lost.

I temporarily lost focus on my #1 dream and goal. While it is good to give the body a break from time to time, it is also good to find my focus again!

Ironman drives me, motivates me; it provides me with a structured routine and exercise that keeps me happy. In order for me to feel like I MUST be training, I need to have a big race or big goal…maybe that makes me weak, because I won’t just go workout for the sake of working out, but I know what drives me. Maybe I’m addicted to this sport…if so, there are far worse things that I could be addicted to 🙂 I have spent the last 2 years really building my Ironman fitness and want to continue to build that Ironman fitness…I want to see just how far I can go and continue to #pushmylimits at the Ironman distance.

So…Bring on Ironman Wisconsin 2016

Yes, both my husband and I officially registered for Ironman Wisconsin 2016!!

The Iron Hippie and I are both excited to be racing Ironman Wisconsin again on September 11, 2016. This race will mark the 5 year anniversary of our first Ironman, which was on September 11, 2011 in Wisconsin. It will be fun to race again on our home course!!

The Iron Hippie and me after crossing the finish line of our first Ironman race at Ironman Wisconsin on September 11, 2011 🙂

What motivates you to get out the door and train/workout? Are you “addicted” to a particular form of fitness or an active lifestyle?

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Adjusting Goals

This coming weekend I am registered to race Ironman Kansas 70.3.  My original goal for this race was to break 6:00:00.  Unfortunately I am going to have to adjust my goals for this race since I am just coming back from an injury.

I am hopeful to have no problem with the 1.2 mile swim and the 56 mile bike portions of the race.  The run is where I am going to have some decisions to make.  While I ran pain free for the first time on Saturday since May 5 (nearly 4 weeks), my left knee is still not “normal.”  My knee feels relatively normal while running, but afterwards, it feels wonky…not painful, just not normal.

After having a successful 3+ mile run on Saturday and another successful 1 mile run off the bike on Sunday, I decided to run for 50 minutes yesterday (Wednesday).  I had no pain at all while running, but my knee is still not healed and back to normal.  I am continually icing, stretching, elevating, getting ART treatments and resting when I can to help with the recovery process.

My “A” race this year is IRONMAN Wisconsin on September 7.  I know that I want to be 100% for IMWI and because of this, I am going to play it smart and not push to regression or further injury.

How does this impact my upcoming race?  Well…I am planning to start the race on Sunday, hopeful that I will successfully finish the swim and bike, but knowing that I may pull myself from the race at some point during the run to prevent further injury.

This does NOT mean that I am giving up on my goal of breaking 6:00:00 at 70.3 distance race.  I WILL continue to work hard and achieve this goal someday…just not this weekend.  My goal for this weekend is to not regress and set myself up to finish this racing season strong!!

Have you ever started a race knowing you may DNF?

Hibernation vs. Exercise

With the changing of the clocks due to Daylight Savings this weekend, it gets me thinking about the time of year when some people have more problems finding motivation and symptoms of depression spike…due to fewer daylight hours, the anticipation of winter, confinement during the colder weather, the stresses of the Holidays, midterm exams, too many hours at work, deadlines at work, financial stresses, etc.  When the symptoms of depression start to rear their ugly heads, some people hibernate.

Working out helps combat symptoms of depression.  When I swim, bike, run, strength train, sweat, push my body to its limits and beyond…the endorphins kick in and I am happy 🙂  I feel better about myself, my mood is 100 % better than when I started and life is great after a workout!!

Many of us race so we can experience that “race high” at the start of the race when the gun goes off, the adrenalin kicks in and we get to enjoy what we have been training so hard for.  We also experience that “race high” at the finish line knowing we have pushed our bodies to their limits on that day, overcome challenges, conquered another goal, completed another journey in our journey of life…Oh, the euphoria!!

When we get into a slump, it is easy to just hibernate and let the emotions take over, but the best thing we can do for our mind, body and soul is to exercise.  What choice will you make…hibernation OR exercise????