The best of intentions

I had every intention of swimming at noon today but I had a meeting that literally went almost 2 hours over when it was supposed to end. I was supposed to meet Jennifer, luckily I had my computer in the meeting and was able to send her a note that I was going to be late (or completely absent.) I will hopefully be able to make it tomorrow, that would be a real drag if I didn't make it again.

I have decided not to buy a new bike before Ironman, my bike is not fancy but it is a good bike, I am comfortable on it so I think it will do. I think that the last piece of equipment that I need is a pair of split fins for swim training, that would be crazy if I didn't have to spend too much on training this year!

I went back and reviewed my training log from two years ago and WOW, I am way ahead of where I was in 2008. I HAVE to be more committed to swimming, I think having a swim partner as well as a much greater idea about what it takes will make a huge difference on race day. I am actually really excited to start training next week!

Magic number 200

Today I 200 hours of workouts for the year, yea!! I set a goal for myself that I would log 175 hours and I wondered if that was even possible, I guess it was since I still have 5-6 weeks left in the year, I wonder if I can get to 225, should I try? I think so!!

Side note, I have started taking probiotics in the morning and really stressing whole foods, I don't know if it is psychological or if it is truly happening, but I am feeling healthier, physically and mentally, something else I should mention is that I have really cut back on the wine. JP and I had a glass last night, it had been a hectic week and it was Friday night so we opened a bottle, I had a glass, it was good wine, but I really didn't miss it, no wonder it was so easy to cut it out of my diet :-)

I gotta get back to the pool next week, I sure hope I can remember how to do my flip turns!!!

improving my eating and some other stuff

So I have a new obsession, is has been brewing for about 8 years or so but it has reared it's ugly head and I can no longer deny it, I cannot bring myself to eat meat. It is actually going a bit further than that, I am having a hard time eating anything with more than 10 ingredients and it has to be organic. I have been doing too much reading (story of my life) and I just am believing more and more that this is the way to go. Okay, it is kind of a lie, I can eat things that are not organic I just want to eat the right things that are organic, apple, etc. and I really want to feed organic to my kids, now that my daughter is almost 8 I am fearing the early puberty thing and estrogen overload. I know, I am crazy, but this is serious stuff!

Moving on over to workouts, JP and I went out for a run today, it was AWESOME! It was nice to be outside, I definitely felt the pain of being on the road for two days and working two 15 hours days but I don't want to make excuses. Official training starts in 11 days, yikes!! I am so excited and so scared, I have a new motivation though, JP made me motivational videos and made me a hot pink bracelet that says my new motto "Pain is Temporary, Pride is Forever," rock on!!

Bad blogger, bad blogger!

I have been struggling to get the posts that I write in my head when I am driving to and from work, or when I am working out, on to the page. Believe me, they are good posts, but then I sit down at the computer and get distracted by the Huffington Post or some other news source that talks about politics and I get all stressed out, what a worthless use of my time!

Anyway, I am about 3 weeks away from the official start of my 30 week Ironman training program, Yikes!! I am really excited, I sooooooo want to cross that finish line! JP made me a couple of different inspirational videos to watch when I need a little push and he had a band made for my wrist that says "Pain is temporary, Pride is forever" it is an awesome daily reminder of how hard I need to work and that just because something hurts while I am doing it, I shouldn't quit (ie hill repeats.)

Lately, my pre-training has suffered a bit because of my job and all of the travel that I have been doing, I gotta figure out how to balance the work, family and training a bit better. What this really means is that I need to start getting up early to get my workout in first thing, OY! Oh how I wish I was a morning person but I am SO NOT a morning person, maybe my pink bracelet will remind me that even though it hurts to get out of bed and on to the bike it will all be worth it when I hear those wonderful words "...YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!"

How much wine is too much?

Seriously? Is a glass of wine with dinner, say 5 nights a week too much? How about a glass of wine with dinner and a nudge more after the kids go to bed, is that too much? Is a glass a wine with dinner 5 nights a week better than 5 beers on Friday night? I think so. Am I justifying my wine habit? Probably. I think in the grand scheme of things, I don't drink all that much, a lot more than some people for sure, but a helluva lot less than a lot of people. I guess it is like lattes for me, I go on a run when lattes taste so good and I want one everyday and then all of a sudden they don't taste as good and then they taste really bad and then it is like torture to have to drink one. I anticipate this coming with wine soon, lately sharing a glass with my hubby is plenty, soon I won't even want to drink any for a while, this will be good when I head into official Ironman training.

Damn, I am going to start training soon! Boy do I hope that my body changes, I want it to get leaner and for my legs to grow longer :-)

Well, I guess I better go clean the bathrooms now! More on my new homemade, green cleaning cleaning products later.

I learned how to do a flip turn!

So crazy, I was afraid to do it at first! But after a little practice and a few failed attempts it got easier, now we will see how it goes in an actual workout! On another note I was pleased when I was checking out my workout journal and I saw that I had swam the equivalent of 26 miles, I cannot even image when next year will bring, I am REALLY excited!!

I am back at it once again

Ok, so I really am working out, I just seem to post all of my work outs on Sweat 365, which is an awesome workout community, but I need to get back to my Tri-Fly roots. I read a really great article today on Ironman.com about "Ironman Realities" it was amazing. It helped me to come to terms with my failure at Ironman in 2008. I had actually come to terms with not finishing, but it made me realize that there are a lot of people out there with a DNF behind their name that worked as hard as I did, maybe harder, most likely harder, and still didn't hear the the words "Jane Doe, you are an Ironman!". It also made me realize that just because one of my friends who is signed up for Ironman is a kick ass athlete, it doesn't guarantee a finish; I personally don't doubt for one minute that she will finish, she is just that kind of person, but as Lee Gruenfield says "toeing the start line at Ironman isn't an automatic ticket to a lifetime of bragging rights." Man, I hope that toeing the starting line TWICE will give me the ticket to a lifetime of bragging rights!

I am really excited about training this year and while I know there are going to be times when I REALLY don't want to get in the pool, and the bike trainer in my basement is going to get the best of me, and my treadmill is not going to make me happy, and my kids are going to want to watch The Princess Bride when I want to watch the Lord of the Rings while I am on a 3 hour ride...indoors...in January...it is a means to an end, and that end will be crossing the finish line and hearing the words "B Sue Fly you are an Ironman!" And when I fall into a puddle of tears while my husbands helps me compose myself, it will all be worth it because my daughters will remember me crossing the finish line and that will replace their memory of my not finishing and they will know that no matter how many times you fall, you can always pick yourself up, dust yourself off, probably cry a little and get on with it. Because what you visualize is not always the way it turns out, and you can always learn from it, come back stronger and more determined than ever to succeed!