All you can do is tri

I’m in my 4th week of training for IM Canada and it’s been a good learning journey so far. Makes me wish I had taken the HR training thing seriously a long time ago. It kills me when I go running because I’m either walking or jogging really, really slow. It especially hurts when other runners are out and see me either walking or jogging at sloth speed. Oh well. I’m trusting my training plan from the SuperCoach Network or OpenTri (opentri.com) as they are now known. Mike Llerandi says in the plan that I’ll get faster as does every athlete he coaches every year. Trust the plan. It’s kind of cool to have a plan that I don’t have to pay for, but he does accept donations. I’m thinking at the end of all this I’ll send him a copy of my finishing pic and fat check in appreciation. Until then…trust the plan.

Swimming is going well. I’m getting a tad bit faster and my shoulders hurt less now. I do like the workouts. It’s nice to have some direction in the pool, albeit, from a piece of paper. It’s my bible right now though. Sticking to it. Line by line. Does anyone’s HR monitor work in the pool? Mine is always wierd so I’ve stopped wearing it.

Biking. I’ve spent a lot more time on the trainer than I thought I would be this winter. But I am ruling the small chain ring! After an hour and a half, I can’t imagine having to do a long 4 hour ride in prep for IMFL like Tribro did. Yowch! and NO WAY! But when it’s snowing out I guess you’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do.

Lessons learned: I’m learning that even though I think I’ve drunk enough water, it’s still not enough; that 7 hours of sleep a night is not going to cut it; I’m moody when I’m tired; having my HR not cooperate with a run can make me sulk for a few hours; it’s good to have 24 hours between workouts; positive thinking can conquer a lot; not wussing out on a workout is like building up a savings account for mental toughness. I’m sure there’s more, but this is all I can think of right now.

222 days until I become an IronWOman!