Ironman training is officially underway! I say “officially” because I’ve been quietly plugging away at building up my base since early November (inspired by the Oiselle Chase the Bird Challenge), but now I have a coach and a focused training schedule, so it suddenly feels real.

Originally I had planned to do this completely under the radar–not telling anybody about it, and just doing my thing, but then I joined Team Empower to raise funds for Smile Train, an awesome organization that gives free surgeries to kiddos with cleft lip/palate. As you can imagine, you can’t really fundraise without telling people about it, so I took a leap of faith, shared my big adventure with all of you and others (click HERE if you missed it), and believed it was going to be all right.

And guess what? The support has been overwhelming!

I have goosebumps just thinking about it. So much enthusiasm, so many kind words of support, advice, donations, high-fives, hugs (virtual and in person). It’s incredible. It seems everybody believes I can do this.

I too, believe I can do this, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that every once in awhile a tiny doubt or “what if” visits from a dark corner of my mind, spurred mainly from creaky parts of my body or memories of previous injuries. Each day I train though, I believe more and more that I can, and WILL do this.

I bought this BELIEVE training journal more than a year ago, but for some reason I felt like I needed to save it for something special. I can’t quite explain it, but last year it didn’t feel like the right time to use it. As it turned out, it ended up being one of the crappiest years of running I can remember (injuries–won’t bore you). After many months of storing it in the bottom drawer of my nightstand, I brought it back out and set it on top. There, it sat for many more months, prodding me, almost daring me to BELIEVE in myself again as my hamstring slowly healed.

Well, guess what training journal I’ll be using during this Ironman journey? Yep, you got it. The time is finally right!

As many of you may already know, this journal was created by two phenomenal professional runners, Lauren Fleshman and Roisin McGettigan-Dumas, and it’s not only well-designed, but creative and inspiring. I love it and would encourage any runner to buy one. I purchased mine at Santa Barbara Running.

As we ease into the long road ahead, this is what training looks like this week:

Monday: Swim 2000 y, core & stretching at night.
Tuesday: Run 35 minutes, Killer Kate’s pilates strength & stretch class at The Lab, and additional core & stretching at night.
Wednesday: Bike — two back-to-back spinning classes (unless the rain stops, in which case I’ll be on the road for 1 h 40 min), core & stretching at night.
Thursday: Run 35 minutes, Kate’s awesome pilates strength & stretch class, and additional core & stretching at night.
Friday: Swim 1900 y, core & stretching.
Saturday: Run 50-55 minutes easy, core & stretching.
Sunday: Bike 2:30-2:45 hours, core & stretching. Continue reading →