Valleys and Peaks

Winter has finally set in here in Calgary and with it came some dark days for me.
Training week 7/8 have been the most challenging so far.

I came out of the previous 2 weeks on a high from hitting some really big numbers (230 km between swim, bikes and runs in 14 days) And getting my 3rd place podium finish for the MEC half marathon had me feeling on top of the world!

I knew that for week 7 I was going to have to scale down the numbers to give my body a rest and I did just that. The temperature dropped severely that week and running outdoor became out of the question so I continued to train indoors, lots on the treadmill and a few swims. The weekend of the 7th was dedicated to spending some serious time on Zwift.

I signed up for a few Tour de Zwift races and was super pumped. Saturday was going to be a full day of Zwift, stage 1 and 2 on the Tour and some shorter runs sprinkled through out. Sunday was meant to be Tour stages 3 and 4. Seemed simple enough! As soon as stage one of the Tour started I knew I was about to get a severe ass beating. I could not keep up with the group as much as I tried! I realized part way into the race that I'd accidentally joined the A group and there was no way I could compete at their watt ranges! It was a long and painful ride, I was pretty much going full out for an hour and a half. When I finally crossed the finished line the results read 101st our of 117 riders. UUUUF. I was so broken after that one event that there was no way I could compete in stage 2 and I was definitely not able to go for a run. I was broken! Needless to say, the rest of the day was a right off. It was pointed out to me later that I had a popped blood vessel in my eye. I thought back to the ride and remembered the exact moment it had happened.. obviously I was pushing a bit too hard!

Sunday morning I woke up determined to redeem myself on the stage 2 of the Tour. The night before I had spent some time of the Zwift forum learning about calibrating the settings on the Zwift app, my bike and my Smart trainer. I made a few adjustments and was back on the bike bright and early ready for stage 2. I double checked that I signed up for the women's group 'C" level, surely I'd be able to keep up this time. This was a smaller group this time, only 17 riders appeared at the start line. I was there on time and ready to roll! 15 mins into the ride I was holding my own, middle of the pack but still struggling to keep my watts up to match the efforts of the pack. I held 9th place for most of the ride but for the last 15 k I was totally gassed and couldn't hold the spot. Eventually I lost the pack and was hurting physically. My left ankle was not happy with me and my hamstrings had no power left to give. I finished that race dead last. Dead fucking last. As I laid on the floor nursing my woulds and feeling pretty sorry for myself, I wondered if I ever wanted to get back on the damn trainer ever again!

So, after getting my ass handed to me on back to back days last weekend I went into the week on Monday in a shitty spot. I was hurt, bruised and battered body and ego. It was quite a different feeling than I had the week before when I was on top of the word. Monday came with more frigid temperatures and I had a flat tire on my way into work. I stopped at the shop to get it fixed and with my luck wouldn't you know it, the mechanic found a whole bunch of issues with my jeep that needed to get fixed ASAP. Over two thousand dollars worth of repairs needed and I was advised that it was dangerous to drive the jeep in current status.

So, since Tuesday I've been stuck in the house. I couldn't get to my coaching all week, it was too cold to walk and I didn't have a ride to get my bike to the training studio. In snuck the depression and dark thoughts. And of course, it was a very busy week at work and I was unable to be there in person. Working from home now and then is great but as a Leader its important that I be there for my team. I was feeling hopeless, trapped, angry, and broke. I needed to scrape the money together for the jeep repair, which I still don't have. I had to cash in some WJ shares and my parents were kind enough to lend me the money in the mean time.

On top of the mental suffering I was going through, my body was not happy with me from the aggressive rides of the weekend. I was having a hard time putting pressure on my ankle and was limping around for most of the week. I also got an infected canker sore on my mouth and could barely put food past my fat lip. When it rains.. it pours... I was also stressed because I knew I had a big race coming up on Saturday. The dreaded Hypothermic Half Marathon - the one I crossed the finish line backwards last year.. I pretty much stressed all week about it knowing that I was injured and that it was going to be nightmarishly cold! All week the weather was calling for -39 with windchill. I hadn't trained for several days so I knew going into the race I could be asking for trouble, especially with a banged up ankle! I managed to get to the Doctor on Friday, where she gave me some meds for stress, a requisition for ankle x-rays and ultrasounds and antibiotics for my fat lip.

Thursday and Friday I managed to drag my sad self out of the house and hobbled to the gym to try and get my body moving again, in case by some miracle, I was able to race on Saturday. On Thursday I was unable to run all together, Friday I managed a 7 km walk/run with some speed intervals to see how the ankle would hold up.  By Friday night I was convinced that I should not, could not race.

Cold Betty! #bettysquad19

Later Friday night ,I was looking at the race course set out for the half marathon and I got a surge of positive energy. I was torn though because with my string of bad luck, it was very likely that the race could end up being a very bad decisions. I really wanted to race though, I wanted to redeem myself from last year's backwards finish line debacle. I needed to get moving and try to shake off the darkness of the week. I decided I would get up early Saturday before the race, head to the gym and get a good stretch in and do a solid 1 km warm up, then decide if it was a go/no-go.
I woke up feeling hopeful and excited to get moving. I successfully ran the 1 km warm up and the ankle felt OK, not great, but manageable. I came home, wrapped the ankle, got bundled up in many, many layers and headed to the start line. Of course the top layer was one piece of my Betty Sqaud 19 Kit !! GO BETTY!

There ended up being close to 200 people in the early bird half ( there was a 2nd event later in the day ) . It was -30 degrees and -39 with the wind chill. It was not a fun race. I had a hard time breathing, my asthma inhaler was frozen, my energy gels were frozen, I could not feel my extremities, I had a cramp for a solid 5 km before the half way mark. It was too cold to worry about my ankle, I couldn't feel anything past my hips anyways! I held a pretty good pace of 5 min/km for the first 11 km but then hit a wall for the last bit. 14 km and on wards was painfully slow. I was super impressed with the improvements running room made for this years event. There was lots of sign and and even a few volunteers to make sure no one missed any of the turns. Also lots of positivity from the other runners and volunteers kept me going to the finish line, where I immediately collapsed.

In the end, I finished the 21.1 km in 1 hour and 55 mins. It was the slowest half marathon I've ever completed. Given the conditions and all the other SHIT I was dealing with before the race its a miracle I even made it to the start line. To my complete and utter surprise I somehow came FIRST PLACE in my AG for the early bird event! 6th place Female over all. HAPPY CAMPER!!!



Looking back over the past two weeks, there have been a few lessons learned.

• Life can just simply be a BITCH sometimes and it comes at you out of nowhere.
• I need quality people in my life to lean on through the hard days, I don't reach out often enough for help. I am very grateful for the small handful of friends out there who kept with me during my dark days this week. You know who you are. THANK YOU. I LOVE YOU and NEED YOU.
• Inside my head can be a scary place and I need to keep my body moving to quiet down the negative voices.
• The rewards of sticking through the hard days and finding the mental strength to keep moving forward are HUGE and all the more rewarding when you know you have overcome some tough shit to make it past the darkness
• I need to work on finding a balance of work, training, rest and fun. I'm still in the all or nothing mindset.
• My time, emotions and mental health are precious and can be fragile. I don't have time or energy to waste on people/things who don't contribute to commitments equally or wholeheartedly. I will be cleaning house and moving on. I have big plans for 2020 on this topic. Stay tuned!

So, another long ass post is coming to and end!! If your still with me, thank you! If anything, these posts have become a great way for me to recap my learning and share some insights to those that are interested. If I can help even one person through their struggles or inspire someone to keep moving forward, that's a bonus :)

Next event is the Repsol 10 Mile Tri and Together Tri. Its an indoor - thank goodness-  mini triathlon that I'm really looking forward to. I even get to compete with my Dad in one event! So stoked about that. Until then I'll be doing gentle training, following my Half Ironman plan and healing up the ankle.

Hope everyone is doing well and staying warm. 

Thanks again for following along and for all the support.

<3

For fundraising details please visit:
http://www.gofundme.com/amy-im70-3-2019

Weeks 5 & 6 Catch up

Betty Squad 19 Kit

I'm a little bit behind on my posts for last two weeks as its been super hectic getting back into the full swing of life since the holidays ended. Attempting to find the sweet spot to balance the training, work and sleep that I need to fit in continues to be a challenge! I have lots to cover, so apologies in advance for the lengthy post. The biggest and most important news of the week is that I finally received the highly anticipated PINK PACKAGE from Betty Designs!! My BETTY SQUAD 2019 KIT finally arrived and I absolutely adore the bright colors!!! I cant wait to represent the Team and all the Bad Ass Beauties in my upcoming races. Keep an eye out for the bright pink racing suit, I promise you wont miss it... :)

#bettysquad19

Even with the hectic agenda, I would say that I am hitting 95% of the workouts I plan for the week and this is hugely due to the flexibility work has given me to log in remote two days a week. I've switched my coaching days to Tuesdays and Wednesday mornings, with swim sessions on Tuesday instead of Thursdays this season. Getting the big swim (over with) early in the week has proved to be beneficial to my training longevity per week. It has allowed me to have more power and focus in the pool. I can feel myself improving with each session. I owe this improvement mostly to my coaches Nick and Bart with 3433 Sports Performance Team. The fact that I can finish a 4000 metre swim without drowning is a miracle in itself!

The one area I've been trying to focus more time on is my running. Previous to the past two weeks, most of my training time was on either swim or bike and I was really missing my long runs. In order to remedy this gap, weeks 5 and 6 were focused on clocking some good distance. The goal was to do 60k total for week 5 and 70k total for week 6.

MEC half marathon warm up

Week 5 also included my first half marathon of the year. It was a brisk 21.1km around the river pathways for MEC Road Race ONE.  I was able to keep my training numbers for swim/bike/run at a decent level on the days leading up to the race and had a two-day taper before the event on Saturday. I also experimented with upping my food intake the day before and morning of the race. Im always concerned about eating too much and feeling heavy but understand the need for carbs and energy. Its such a delicate balance...When the gun went off it was -17 degrees and frosty but at 5km in I knew it was gonna be a good race. I felt strong and super focused, legs were fresh and I had my nutrition dailed.  I crossed the finish line in just over 1 hour 45 mins, 3rd female over all and 2nd in my AG. Not a bad way to start the season. I was very happy with the result! I proudly wore my medal for the rest of the day and was given a free MEC Race as a prize! Sweet deal!

3rd Place overall Female

I was frozen and exhausted post race. After a huge meal, I went to bed to warm up and slept until Sunday morning. I woke up feeling proud of the race results and I was determined to finish out the training goals for the week. So, off I went, back to Repsol Sports Centre to wrap up the week with a 15km run and a 25km spin around London on Zwift... then I was DONE. I hobbled over to my parents place for dinner where I ate everything I could get my hands on. Then another huge sleep on Sunday night.

Week 5 totals:

Swim: 3.5km
Bike: 80km
Run: 60km
Strength: 1 hour
Yoga: 1 session

Proud Betty

Going into training week 6 I knew I wanted to up the numbers again with the main focus to spend more time running. I set the goal for 70km. I also wanted to see if I could hit 100km on the bike.. pretty lofty but since I didn't have a race planned and no need for a taper, I figured it should be possible.

The week started off well, got in my long swim as planned. On Wednesday, we did a time trail on the bike with coach Greg at 3433 and I impressed myself with a power increase from 180 to 215 watts since September. Thursday and Friday were also great days where I was feeling good and hitting all the targets. Then Saturday came.. and I hit the wall.

I should have listened to my body when I didn't wake up until 7am that morning - usually I am up at 430 am like clockwork. I dragged myself to the gym to get to hot yoga for 830 am and just kept telling myself I would feel better once I got moving. Well I didn't. I suffered all the way through the class, couldn't focus, couldn't hold the poses and was hating on everyone around me. It didn't help that the lady beside we was actually taking multiple calls on her apple watch throughout the class. I honestly wanted to smack her... so I left the class before it ended. I've never had to actually bail like that. I decided to go get a nice hot drink while picking up a few items at the grocery store on my way home. BAD IDEA. I wanted to fight everyone at the store, the usually yummy hot golden milk latte tasted like shit and I couldn't decide on anything to buy for groceries! What a nightmare. I  ditched the latte and the basket of items I had collected and went home. Boo.

When I got home I tried to make some food then went to bed. Before I passed out, I was plagued with stress, anxiety and guilt. It really came out of no where... I was beating myself up big time for failing my plan. It's scary how fast that switch can come on. Thankfully, I had some great people reach out and talk me down off the ledge. After a long sleep - like 13 hours- I had some clarity and time to reflect.

I know we as athletes, talk about how important rest and recovery is but do we actually practice it? Most endurance athletes I speak with all have the same thoughts on recovery days, and that is that they are harder than any training or race day. Most of us have this 'thing' about sitting still, becoming stagnant and missed training. Recovery and rest can be like the worst type of torture for us. Obviously we need to rest, but why is it such a hard thing to do? Why do I feel guilty when my body is telling me to stop, why do I continue to push myself and then end up at the bottom of a pit of despair and wonder 'why?!' and 'how?!' Now looking back on the events of Saturday, I can laugh a little at how dramatic I was being, but in the moment I was really struggling.

I continue to learn with each passing week how important the mental part of endurance training is. My brain can be my biggest advocate one day and my worst enemy the very next. Anxiety, insecurity and depression can be lurking behind any corner. When I'm fatigued, stressed and emotional I am at risk. I am grateful that I've learned enough to know I need to reach out for help to get through these moments.  Each week, I learn more about my body and what its capable/not capable of and I continue to learn that I have SO MUCH MORE to learn. This weekend was a humbling experience that I hope doesn't happen too often, which means I need to pay better attention to what my mind and body are telling me.

Sunday training schedule

On Sunday morning, after a long sleep, I woke up feeling much better. I felt good enough to get back to the gym and try to complete the workouts that were missed on Saturday.  After a slow treadmill session at Goodlife I was feeling pretty good, good enough to get on the bike and do some training on Zwift at home. I managed to complete both workouts and was feeling so good for getting moving again. I looked at my numbers for the week and realized I was very close to hitting the targets.. I decided to take a break, eat and then get back at it. I managed to fit in the last 10k outside. The pathways were slick, slushy and the wind was a nightmare. I was slow but I got it done. The final 11.5 km on the bike went by fast and I loved every minute of it. Time on Zwift doesn't feel like training at all..

So, after a weekend of highs and lows, I did manage to make my targets for the week after all! It took some support from you guys and pretty much the whole day on Sunday but here is what the week came to:

Week 6:

Swim: 6550m
Bike: 100k
Run: 70k
Strength: 2 hours
Yoga 1.5 sessions

YEASSSSSSS.

Now it's Tuesday. I've caught up on sleep and I'm taking it easier (got in 4.2km in the pool this morning tho ), no guilt, no stress, no anxiety! One of these days maybe I'll figure out some balance.... maybe. Until then, I'll keep learning and moving forward, little by little.

Have a great week!
Amy

For fundraising details please visit:
http://www.gofundme.com/amy-im70-3-2019

2019 Event Planning

Many of you have been asking about what events I plan on competing in this year... this post is for you.

It's taken quite a bit of thought, planning and compromise but I've finally narrowed it down to 16 races. That does not include the Worlds event or anything past October... but regardless it looks like another busy year ahead!!

As it stands, this is the plan:

Jan 19: MEC Road Race  - Half marathon
Feb 9: Hypothermic Half marathon
Feb 24: Repsol 10 Mile Tri & Together Tri
Mar 17: St Patricks Day 10k
Apr 27: MEC Road Race  - 30K
May 4: MEC Trail Race - 10k
May 19:Airdrie Sprint Triathlon
May 24: YYC Jugo Juice 10K
Jun 2: Ironman 70.3 Victoria BC
Jun 30: Ironman 70.3 Couer D'Alene
Aug 11: Ironman 70.3 Calgary
Sep 14: MEC Road Race - 15K
Sep 28: MEC Trail Race - 12K
Sep 29: YYC Wild Run - 16k
Oct 19: MEC Road Race - Half marathon
Oct 26: YYC Dash of Doom - 10k
Nov: ?
Dec: ?
________________________________
Pending qualifications:
*Aug 27: Burning Man 50K Ultra Marathon*
*Sep 7/8: Ironman 70.3 World Champs: Nice, France*

There were several local races I wanted to participate in again this year ( Wild Rose Tri, Chinook Tri and Calgary Marathon ) but unfortunately the dates just didn't line up with my big events. Hopefully I can get them into the plan next year and I'll be looking into volunteering where possible this time around.

Interval training at Repsol Centre

Training over the past week went OK but I did find it quite challenging to squeeze it all in while adjusting back into full-on work mode. I got enough swim time in and a reasonable amount of time on the bike, but I really wanted to find more time to run. I've managed to incorporate more core strength into the plan but only did one yoga session. Journalling my work outs has been a huge help in being able to find the gaps in my training so I can adjust for the next week.

Training Week #4 Totals
Swim: 4500 metres
Bike: 100km
Run: 38km
Strength: 2 hours
Yoga: 1 hour
Total training hours: 13
Total distance: 142.5km

Brick training session

My current weekly plan outlines a minimum of 9 hours of training per week. I'm definitely hitting those numbers. The plan does not provide requirements for yoga/strength so I'm not too worried about going over. You guys know me well enough by now that its not a surprise that I'm doing more than I need to. I am however, being mindful of pushing to hard too early in the program  - as that will inevitably end with injury.

Heading into training week #5 now, and the plan is to go easy-ish - as I have my first half marathon of the year on Saturday! I must have fresh legs for the first big event of the year! It's been a while since I've done a half, so it will be interesting to see how my progress is going. Excited to get out there!

Tacx Smart trainer

Until then, I'll be spending some time on my new toy... I was very fortunate to find a used Smart trainer for sale and I'm delving into the world of Zwift! What a time to be alive!! I have loads to learn about how it all works, but I had a great time on Saturday figuring it all out. I put in a good hour on hill training with a super fun crew and then hit the road for a brisk run to wrap up my brick session.

It's so handy having the set up right at home..there are no excuses now! This is a game changer.

Moto for this week is: Time to level up. More Bike. More Run. Race season is coming.

Have a great week everyone!
Amy

For fundraising details please visit:
http://www.gofundme.com/amy-im70-3-2019

100 Days

100 days.. it went by so fast this time around. I remember the first 100 day clean living challenge I did last year.  Did I ever suffer .. and it felt like it took forever. This time it blew by. Now that is progress.

I remember wondering what I was going to do after the challenge was complete. I also remember being super stressed when the end was approaching.. What would I do? How would I feel? This time around though, the picture is crystal clear. I'm going to keep going. CLEAN 2019 . This approach to the year lines up perfectly with my training plans and racing goals. Its a great feeling to start the year off with an already strong foundation. I feel like I'm starting off strong and hitting the ground running. The time off over the holidays really helped solidify a plan for a very structured and focussed year. I've taken the time to build a routine that I'm committed to, now I just have to layer work back into the fold and find ways to keep the motivation going.

3433 Sports Performance Centre at Repsol here in Calgary has been a huge factor in keeping my motivation going during the off season.  I'm super grateful to have the support system offered by the facility and the coaches. Yesterday a group of us were fortunate to participate in full day Triathlon Clinic put on by 3433 and hosted by Canadian Olympic gold medal champion Simon Whitfeild!! We spent 2 hours in the pool practicing drills and open water simulations, ( this brought back all the stress and anxiety I experience during the swim portion of each race  - utter chaos rounding those buoys  **Boo :| ** ), a very informative and in depth discussion about racing, and his experience over the years as competitive athlete followed by a couple hours of running drills/interval pace training.

Training run in 3433 Team gear

I took away so many great tips for training and race day. From race day warm up rituals, closed eye training drills, breath focus, humility and patience,.. I was blown away by the knowledge held by an athlete of that calibre. What an inspiration!! One of the statements that stood out for me the most was 'You have to earn the miles'. This resonated with me the most as its something I've always got to remember and I think it's important for athletes of all abilities to take into consideration. We really do earn those results on race day. You get out what you put in. Put in the training miles in the pool, on the track and on your bike. Train in the heat, in the rain and snow. Dedicate yourself fully to your craft. That's when you can go to race day and simply flow in the magic moments. Powerful stuff. Big thanks to 3433, Repsol and Simon for organizing such an incredible event.

Now that 2019 is underway, it's time to focus on levelling up my training and looking ahead to upcoming races. Coaching sessions are booked from now until race season starts and I managed to find a used bike trainer for sale! Im picking it up this weekend and cant wait to get set up on Zwift for virtual group rides with Team Betty!!

I managed to pack in quite a bit of training in the last few days of holidays and competed in the last race of the year on New Years Eve.

Dec 31 - RACE DAY - Resolution Run 10k  - 2nd Place - 48mins 10sec.
Jan 1 - 4500 metre swim - Biggest swim yet!
Jan 2 - 56km on indoor bike trainer & 10km Run on treadmill

Post race warm up w/Nicole V.

Jan 3  - 1 hour easy spin session & 1500 metre swim
Jan 4 - 11km outdoor run
Jan 5 - 45 min Zone 2 bike training & core strength session
Jan 6 - Simon Whitfield Tri Clinic Day

My first half marathon of the year is already in sight. I'll be racing the first of the MEC Road Race series Sat. January 19. Should be a slippery and frosty 21.1km !! I've also almost got the entire race plan nailed down for the year and will be sharing the events in my next post.

For now though, time to settle back into the routine of the daily grind...wishing you all a smooth transition back into regular life.

Thanks again for following along and Happy New Year.

Amy

For fundraising details please visit:
http://www.gofundme.com/amy-im70-3-2019

Holiday Edition

Merry Christmas/Happy Holiday to each of you!! This entry is coming in a bit late as the holidays have been a whirlwind of activity! I hope everyone has had a chance to spend time with friends and family - eat some good food and get in at least a little bit of relaxation! I know for myself I've had a little bit of everything... well maybe a lot - especially in the food/treats department! Its so hard to show any self control with all the delicious chocolates, candy and fancy feasts that are so readily available at this time of year.

Now that things have settled down and bit and I'm totally filled to the gills with treats, its a good time to look back and reflect on the past couple of weeks. I'm just about 2 weeks into my 24 week half iron training plan. The workouts have been good, there are so many though...I definitely missed a few while trying to tie up the last loose ends of work, get things sorted for Christmas and wrap up the fundraising for the year!

Those of you who are following along on Instagram will already know that I'm spending huge amounts of time at the gym - for example yesterday I was there from 630am to 1pm! That was a full shift, and not the norm of the training program. I had to make up a few hours for what I missed over Christmas/boxing day. In the training material I'm reading, it says that its important to not miss too many consecutive workouts and to try and make up time where possible. What I'm learning is that since my program is so aggressive, it really is best to just do the damn workout on the correct day because make up sessions end up being quite long and exhausting!

I have however, been diligent in keeping my personal progress journal up to date with training details and I hit some OK numbers since day one of the plan.

To give a general idea if the numbers here is what the last 7 days looked like:
5 runs - 50km total
4 bike rides - 200km total
2 swims - 6000 metres
3 hot yoga classes
2 functional strength training sessions ( 30 mins each )

To fit in these work outs I'm usually waking up at 430/5am to make it to the gym before work. On some days I have to sneak in a session after work also. Now that its been almost 2 weeks, I'm starting to get a feel for what the routine and the level of commitment is going to be for the next few months! It too overwhelming to look at as a whole so I literally focus on one session at a time. I've actually found a way to compartmentalize each section of my day in my mind. Once one session is done - I block it off mentally and focus all energy on what comes next, like trying to trick my mind into forgetting what happened previously so I can focus fully on the next activity.

The battle between mind and body is such an interesting thing. As I previously learned while completing my first 100 day clean living challenge - my mind is the greatest enemy. That voice that tells me to skip the workout, sleep in, quit the session early or tells me that this is too hard. That's the enemy. My body is strong. I want to listen to my body, not my mind. Once I'm deep into a session and I'm in my zone, that's when that voice in my head is finally quiet. That's when my body has taken over and I can just go. That's my happy place. That's why I do this, its my meditation. Its my Zen.

I feel I am learning slowly to control that dangerous voice in my mind. To prove this point, I can proudly say that I'm nearly at 90 days clean! I was a bit skeptical of how this would go over the holidays but I managed to stay true to the plan. I've been to several holiday parties and didn't touch a drink. I even abstained while on my mini vacation to California to volunteer for Ironman Indian Wells. That was the first vacation of my life where I didn't have a drink - now that is progress. Now Im not saying it been easy, there is always the temptation. Especially on the days that I'm tired, grumpy and stressed. I've been getting better at playing the tape all the way through when I'm close to giving in. I remind myself of what I risk by making that decision. I know where it leads for me - late nights, missed workouts, poor eating and ultimately a whole lot of  guilt. Its just not worth it at this point! I'm too far into this plan and have so much more to go.

With the New Year on the horizon I'm happy that Ive got my plan for 2019 pretty much laid out. I dropped the big races into the calendar and filled in the gaps with training plans and smaller events. The goals are clear - now I just have to stick to the plan and execute. I even managed to sneak in one more race before the end of the year - on advice from one of my coaches with 3433. I'll be doing the 10K Resolution run on Dec 31. I'm interested to see if the past four months of training with coaches will result in shaving off some time on the course!

I think I've babbled on long enough for now, so I'll leave it at that for today. I wish you all a Happy New Year full of happiness and health! Thanks again for following along and encouraging me to keep going. Cheers to you!!

<3

For fundraising details please visit:
http://www.gofundme.com/amy-im70-3-2019

Here we go!

Its the night before the 24 week Half Ironman training plan begins and I'm feeling ready to climb this mountain in front of me. Over the past few months I've been laying the foundation for this aggressive plan by absorbing as much information as possible about the Half Iron event.  I've researched training and nutrition plans, I've started fundraising, I've joined a tri club and immersed myself in training. There isn't a moment in the day that I'm not thinking about racing and training. Some might say I've become obsessed. I would have to agree.

I believe the only way to achieve the lofty goals I've set, is to become 100% immersed and dedicated to the plan.

I have committed to completing three Half Ironman events in 2019 - with the final goal being to qualify for the World Championships in Nice, France. I know this sounds crazy, especially considering that I've never actually raced in an Ironman 70.3. I am out to show the world that amazing things are possible if you dedicate yourself and work towards your goals.

This will be one of the biggest challenges of my life ( and believe me, there have been many ) and it will take a lot of time and sacrifice. Friends and family, please understand this - it will be hard to work a hectic full time work schedule while balancing a 15-20 hour per week training schedule.  Social events will likely not be high on the priority list, but know that I haven't forgotten about you and I thank you in advance for understanding my commitment to this endeavor.

This blog will serve as a condensed weekly report of my training and racing progress. I don't want to  bore everyone with all the little details of food and workouts - although you will still see all of that posted on Instagram. ( You can follow me there @sinbin.tri ). I am keeping a much more detailed hand written journal of my training etc. for personal progress documentation - this blog is for my fans and supporters and for those of you amazing humans who were kind enough to donate to my fundraising campaigns. I want to keep you, my supporters,  involved in the process as much as possible along the way. I cant make this journey a success without your love and support.

This past week was lighter on training as I was out of town volunteering for Ironman 70.3 La Quinta, California, but here is what what accomplished in the days I did get to train.

5 treadmill runs - 40 km total
2 stationary bike training sessions - 2 hours total
2 swim sessions - 5000 metres total
2 hikes ( California ) - 24 km total
3 hot yoga classes - 3 hours total

Total training time: Approx 18 hours

Its overwhelming to think that these numbers are going to increase over the next 24 weeks, but my goal is to simply focus on one session at a time and keep moving forward.

I do plan on competing as much as possible in smaller local events this year, just to keep the racing mindset in the front of my mind, but the first big race is Ironman 70.3 Victoria, June 2, 2019. It seems a ways out at the moment but I know once I'm deep into the training plan, the days are going to fly by.

I will leave it at that for this first post.
Thanks again for the support, I'm excited to share this journey with you all.

For fundraising details please visit:
http://www.gofundme.com/amy-im70-3-2019