Monday, November 22, 2010

Ironman #3

Ironman Arizona sign-ups were this morning.  Oh yes, I did.

Dear Sarah,
Congratulations! You are now registered for 2011 Ford Ironman Arizona. Please check the event's official website for updates: http://www.ironmanarizona.com/
The race barely made it to online registration, and then sold out in 31 minutes.  It took me over 5 minutes of reloading the page over and over again before I was able to get through.  Based on informal polling of the interwebs, some people kept getting error messages and never got in.  Just another thing to be thankful for this week!

I'm racing Ironman Coeur d'Alene in June for the American Cancer Society.  Donations can be made here.  I will also be fundraising for Ironman Arizona, but for a different cause.  Last week a family member was diagnosed with ALS.  I thought of Jon Blais at the 2005 Ironman World Championships.  He completed the race that year.  In 2006 he came back, but this time as a spectator in a wheelchair.  In 2007 he was gone.  As soon as I get registered with Team Blazeman, I'll post details here.

"Live, more than your neighbors.  Unleash yourself upon the world and go places.  Go now.  Giggle.  No.  Laugh.  And bark at the moon like the wild dog that you are.  Understand that this is not a dress rehearsal.  This is it.  Your life.  Face your fears and live your dreams and take it all in.  Yes, every chance you get.  Come close.  And by all means, whatever you do, get it on film."  ~ Jon Blais

Weekly Update

A year ago last night, I became an Ironman.  A lot of people look at it as another race.  Just a day where you are exercising and moving your body for a really long time.  But it's a whole lot more than that.  I will be forever changed, not only because I crossed that finish line, but because of what it took to get there.  And I can't wait to do it all over again!

Memorable training moments from the past week
- An early morning track workout in icy sideways rain.  Not fun, but it meets the "memorable" criteria.
- The most brutal TRX session I've experienced so far.  There were tears, grunts, and cries of agony involved.  I'm sure it wasn't pretty.
- Getting in the pool again.  Only once, but it's a start.

Volume

I took 2 mental health days off from training this week.  An overbooked schedule and a string of bad news/bad days warranted some extra sleep and sloth-like activities.  Which means that my weekly volume is short by about 2 hours.  I don't even feel guilty about it, which means I truly needed the time off.

Swim: 1300 meters
Bike: 28.75 miles
Run: 4.71 miles
Strength, etc.: 1.75 hours
TOTAL = 5.12 hours

Body Numbers
Weight loss: 2 lb gain, thanks mostly to those 2 days of couch sitting, napping, and binge eating.  Ugh.  Hopefully it's mostly sodium related and will be back to normal in a day or two.  I'm down 1.2 pounds total.  23.2 to go!
Measurements: Nope, still haven't taken any...