40 weeks till IRONMAN - my miracle

Well, you know what else you can do in 40 weeks?

You got it - have a baby!  I know what an amazing miracle having a baby is. . . and I have to say, I think that being ready for IRONMAN is going to be my baby this year, my miracle.

With the Lord I can do ALL things - - even have my own miracles. . . can you believe that 5 years ago this was me. . .

 then. . . .

and now . . .  

And some people say that miracles don't happen anymore - - those 2 pictures are proof that they do.
Let's get at it and make this next miracle happen!

I am so grateful for the people who are helping make my next miracle happen.

Duane  my husband who believes in the miracle before I am even close to 'getting  it'.  He keeps me believing...
Emma, Jack, Clara, Mary, Kate  My Awesome Kids - For taking care of things at home while I train, train, train and reminding me that I am awesome when I forget!
Bruce owner of Fit Physiotherapy who helps me figure out this body of mine and all it's quirks
Connie Sports Massage Therapist - oh my what a massage that was - can't wait till next time!
Erin Coach and owner of Runner's Soul - helping me 'figure it out' and getting me ready - godsend!
Megan Partner in crime, I mean partner in Ironman - you gave me that little push that put me here
Mom and Dad The best babysitters for training time - lifesavers - thank you!
Linda Lifestyles nurse and nutrition support that I need so desperately
Chris Mental Health for that extra mental training that I need to do
Dr. Leslie chiropractor that keeps me in - line - in more ways than one!
You my cheering squad - thank you!

I have the BEST team -  We all need a team - no matter if we are doing IRONMAN or LIFE . . . .

What does YOUR team look like? 

Training report from the week:

Swim - got a swim in!  YAA!  I LOVE the swim. . .
Bike - mmm - still avoiding - my goal is to get on the trainer this week - just get on!!
Run - got my running in this week, the Marathon Club is really keeping me motivated as well as my 1200 mile club.  I hit 101 miles today (that is miles for the year 2012)!  Yaaaa!  I'm on track - and that feels good.  Do you want to join the 1200 mile club - you still can if you want - check it out here.
Nutrition - I was able to attend a Race Nutrition Clinic through the Marathon Club that I just joined - it was great!  I learned a lot of things, but mostly how important recovery is - it really hit home this time . . . glad I was able to attend this.  I also kept my weight in check with Linda - starting to feel good, and sometimes even great!
Mental - Chris found me - I have been a bit lost in the last year -  He actually called me this week to see if he should close my file because it has been so so long since I have been there, "oh no no no" I cried " I'm not 'better' YET!  Ha Ha!   I am headed back for some training and support.

I saw this little poster this week, and I thought it was a great thing to remember:

Tell Yourself:

Everything will work out.

Things will get better.

You are important.

You are worthy of great things.

You are lovable.

The time is now.

This too shall pass.

You can be who you really are.

You are strong.

You can do this.

For we believe what we tell ourselves!

And so - - - to help make my miracle happen,

 this is what I will tell myself every day . . . 

YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!!

41 weeks till IRONMAN - does cold freeze time?

So those of you who may have just fumbled across this blog - I live in Canada - right next to the Alberta/Montana border. . . . and NO we do not live in Igloos or travel by dogsleds - I have actually never seen a dogsled or an igloo in real life - although I think it would be really cool (literally) to have that experience.

But this week - only two weeks after being in Arizona - - - the temperature got down to -47 degrees Celcius - which for my American friends out there  . . . . that would be . . . . -52.6 degrees Farenheit - - - BRRRRRR!  and can I say RIDONCULIOUS!

Who lives here?  And why???

I just shake my head - because I live here with a whole bunch of other people who I think are sane reasonable, smart people . . . . most of the time - - sigh. . . .

Anyways, it literally felt like time stood still this week - I think maybe it froze . . .

But, no, it kept ticking, and I am one week closer to Ironman . . . .but my training kind of froze. . . not a good combination...

I am meeting with my new friend Erin (she doesn't know she is my new friend, but I think she is going to be!) on Tuesday to come up with a plan - a training plan!  I am super excited!

What did I do this week??

SWIM - I got in 1 swim in Lethbridge (45 minute drive) - but I did buy a 6 month pass - now I just need to get my butt in there and swim a couple of times a week.  I love the swim - - it does amazing things for my outlook on life - it's my happy place!  I need to remember that when I am in the salty ocean with the tide, and the waves and the sharks. . . . .

 if you are lucky enough to go for a swim - you are lucky enough!

BIKE - - - like I said, I think that time froze - - - I didn't get on my trainer at all this week  . . not once. . I really need a schedule - - - I do WAY better on a schedule!

RUN - got some good runs in this week - mostly on the treadmill except for today - when the temperature skyrocketted to a balmy +4!  You can imagine what the roads looked like ( unless you are from Arizona - you lucky duck)  Not sure if I can explain my 8 mile run that I went on this afternoon after I took an Advil Cold ( I was in bed all day yesterday with a nasty sinus, cold, flu bug - - - got out of bed today before I went crazy - knew a run out in the Canadian Sunshine would help).

Picture this - sun is shining just a light breeze - sidewalks are mostly clear - except where some people don't shovel - - but I don't really like running on the sidewalk, but the road - oiyvey!  Slushy, slidy, wet, puddles, icey, messy - - - don't fall, don't fall don't fall!!!  Till I got to the highway - ahh - dry roads - - - but on the way back through the neighborhood at the end of my run, the sidewalks that were even just a little bit wet, were icing up - slippery!!  Once again,  don't fall, don't fall, don't fall!  with only about 1/2 mile left, I had to walk in the 2 feet of snow because that was easier than trying to manouver through the two feet of slush and ice on mainstreet sidewalks as I tried to climb the big hill by my house ( where the sidewalks were wet - remember what I said about wet sidewalks??  now it was pure ice - - - )

Success for me - I did not fall!!  Phew!  It is supposed to be a warm week hovering around zero - which will feel good, until I go for another long run and try to keep the slush out of my shoes!!

Oh, I also signed up for the Marathon Club at Runner's Soul, and Duane, Emma, Jack, Clara and myself are going to do the Moonlight Run on March 10th in Lethbridge - I don't love the Moonlight Run - there are too many people there for my liking, but I am excited to do it with almost all of my family . . . someday - we will all run/walk it together.  That will be a GREAT DAY!

NUTRITION/WEIGHT-  I have been back to Linda and back at it with the Lifestyles Program - I lost 3 pounds this week - thank heavens - I am almost back to pre-holiday weight!  

42 weeks till IRONMAN - felt like the bionic woman!

So I got 'fit' on my bike this week and got my gait analysis done. . . . I learned quite a lot although I came home with a booklet of papers that I haven't had a moment to look at (grrr), and I am afraid if I did look at them I would feel like I was looking at Greek. . . . 

sigh  . . . . 

But the bike fitting was good,  As you can see in the picture below, they put little computer things on my body to computerize me. . . it was cool, because I suddenly became a stick man running, and a stick man biking on the computer.  I have always wanted to know what I looked like as a stick man!  I think I looked cool.

So, I now have some exercises and drills to do on my bike trainer - - - and I have a follow up appointment next week to talk about my running.  We are moving in the right direction . . . a good week. . . even though I am no longer in the perfect environment to train for Ironman ( Tucson ) - - but this is do-able . . . and I need to remember this quote:

with Ironman, training will only get you so far - the rest is inside your heart and mind.  

43 weeks till IRONMAN - a little triathlon shopping trip

What a week in San Antonio Texas and then in Tuscon Arizona

While in Texas, I was able to run every day, the weather was perfect - We then jumped on the train on Tuesday morning EARLY, and rode all day on the train arriving in Tuscon about 10:30pm - and it was lovely out - just lovely.

Wednesday morning I went for a run - and the weather was perfect again.

Then we went to do a little shopping (ha ha).  We first went to trisports.com warehouse - and that was cool.  We were going to try on wetsuits, but their pool was down ( they have a pool in the store, so you can really see how the wetsuit fits and feels in the water - supercool).  But, pool was down, and they didn't know when it would be back up, so I picked up a couple of biking videos for my long cold hard Canadian winter riding season ( can you tell I am NOT very excited about that?)  It is perfect weather in Tuscon for riding right NOW!  Sigh.

We then stopped at a bike shop called "Sabino Cycles" and Jason helped me understand my feet like no one else ever has - I was amazed!  I came out of there with my bike shoes from my dreams. . .
I'm a little embarrassed to even say it out loud - but I am now sporting a pair of Specialized S-works road shoes.  I feel LUCKY.  Oh, I got a new helmet too - completely spoiled now!   Jason then referred me to "Fleet Feet" to look at runners.

I have been having this internal debate about runners for my Ironman. . . don't get me wrong -  I LOOOOVE my Vibrams - but I am just not convinced that MY body can handle those kind of distances in Bakilas. . . . I am so TORN - but because Jason rocked my world - I took his advice and checked out Fleet Feet, and I was almost as impressed there ( you don't understand how GREAT he was!)  I came out of fleet feet sporting a pair of Newtons - interesting - - - - I am still a bit nervous about the whole runners thing  - - - but I do feel good about my decision - I think. . . .

I loved their video -



Some great quotes from the video:

It's about helping people accomplish their goals

It's about promoting health and fitness and making you a better person!

It stopped being exercise, it stopped being work it started being fun, a lifestyle for me!

Summary of 43 weeks till Ironman . . . .

swimming - failed in the wetsuit department, but I am not too concerned about that yet - cause it is snowing at my house today!

biking - new shoes, helmet and videos - lucky me!

running - new runners that supposedly should help with my morton's neuroma ( the thing with my toes falling asleep and seering pain after about an hour of running - just a little problem - ha ha)

Oh, and mental work - I read the book "You are an IRONMAN - How six weekend warriors chased their dream of finishing the worlds' toughest triathlon" by Jacques Steinberg - very inspirational, scarey and tear-jerking at different times.  Loved it - helped me believe that I can do this. . . which is very important!

All in all, a fun week on my journey to IRONMAN!  I know, the hard work is coming. . .  quickly . . .