My First Marathon (x2)

This week is the beginning of a new challenge on the nutrition front (more in another post coming soon), but a fairly normal training week aside from some super crazy temperature swings in central Indiana. Monday  – 2,200 yard swim at the downtown Y after work. No one was obnoxious and I ended up splitting a lane with someone I know and then I got to hit the hot tub. Solid day. Tuesday  – New speed workout for the team. I had the “toddler” version of the workout and it still kicked my butt. 2 miles warm up with striders, 1 mile at 80% HRR, 1 mile at 85%, 1 mile at 90%, 1/2 mile at 85%, 1/2 mile at 80%, 1 mile cool down. Yeah, I didn’t get all the way to 90% or 5K pace and my pace actually went down for that third mile of the workout. HR flatlined and I was working harder, but getting nothing. 7 miles. 12:07, 12:10, 11:30, 10:59, 11:07 (oops), 11:37, 13:54 (I died). Wednesday  – 3,050 yard swim. It was supposed to be 3,100 but I missed one of the 50s. I should have ...

You know that interesting feeling you got in high school when the year on the calendar matches the year on your letter jacket? That combination of anticipation, fear, anxiety, and excitement. Yeah, that’s where I am. When your big goal is three years out it feels even keeled working toward it. When it is less than a year out and in the year you are currently in…it feels very real. Ironman is this year. OMG! Monday  – Let’s start the year with a 5K in the -6 degree (real feel -23 degree) Arctic cold. And because we are a coached athlete let’s not just run the race, let’s also do a 2 mile warmup. I almost told coach where he could stick his one mile cool down, but I did that too. 6.1 miles. Freaking cold. And I had to stop twice during the race to tie my shoe. Not going to be a fast time. 33:44. Whatever. Then I went and got in the pool. It felt like a hot tub to my frostbitten skin. 3,100 yards of fun. Then I got in the actual hot tub for a few minutes. Tuesday  – Sin...

I’m training for  Ironman  Louisville in 2018, working to finish the race approximately 10 years after being diagnosed with  Type 2 Diabetes  and getting off the couch. I started working toward this race in 2016 with the support of family and friends (even when they think I’m crazy). But outside of that, I’ve assembled a team of professionals who are helping me get to the start line in October. In 2015, I told my  run coach  that I wanted to do an Ironman in 2016, when I turned 40. He had the chutzpah to tell me that I had a math problem — I couldn’t make the time cutoffs along the way. After a brief temper tantrum, I refocused and decided to pursue 2018, the 10th anniversary of my diabetes diagnosis. An Ironman triathlon consists of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike and a 26.2-mile run. You must finish within a 16 or 17 hour timeline depending on the race. Those who finish in the top few slots in their age group qualify to register for the Wo...