solid week

Training was good this week and now I have a day off tomorrow. I was finally able to establish a proper swim schedule which was long over due and so it looks like Tuesday,Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings wil be what happens for the next while.

Monday

I awoke at 5am all warm and cozy with the sound of rain belting the windows and the wind howling so obviously the thing to do is to go back to sleep, but not today as these are some of the mental battles that will take place and so I had some water and gatorade along with some light stretching and was out the door at 5:20. I returned an hour later soaked and very awake! There is something about running in the pissing rain and the darkness of the early morning that I hope to explain over these next few months. Anyway,tomorrow looks the same weather wise and I'll be running 15 minutes less but swimming in the evening for 30min or so.

Turn it up!

Entering the last week of October reminds me of a few things such as,it's been two months since I've registered for the race and time is going too fast so I need to turn up the training and increase the focus from focused, to pin point dedicated determination! So as a new week approaches I intend on utilizing every hour of the day.Starting tomorrow I'll see what I can accomplish in a 24hr day and where I can make improvements that will benefit my training for the next 10 months. I look forward to waking up ambitious and healthy and with a strong desire to be better!

summer over

So the 15 day's since my last post I've been training twice a day and have been very strict with my diet. Monday's have become the one day in which no training takes place but every other day starts at 5 o'clock with a run before work and then after work I'm on the bike to end the day. Now once again my swimming needs to increase but that will become the main focus over the fall/winter seasons. For now I'll be training between 4-5 hrs a week just to achieve a proper base without burning myself out because come February I'll begin my ironman training program which will see my training range from 6-11 hours a week right up to race day. Focused and having fun on this journey.

It's real

I'm back from my Penticton road trip as a registered participant for the 2011 Ironman Canada! I'm still soaking in all the excitement and the inspiration of that weekend and I have a better understanding on how that massive event takes place.
Volunteering at the finish line was quite the expierience as I saw people scream for joy,scream in pain and even collapse but I felt honoured to hand their finishers hat and t-shirt to them as they finally crossed the finish line. I also had a chance to scope out all the viewing areas,the transition areas and places to be and not be, but best of all I now can visualize the whole set up. The picture above is the start of the race and thats where 2800 athletes start the swim across Okanagan Lake and back, on the mountain in the picture is a highway that leads to either Kelowna or Vancouver but from where I'm standing the vehicles are the size of a grain of rice! quite the swim that is.
So now what happens? Well the first thing I plan on doing is sorting out my diet and that will begin Friday morning with the Wild Rose 12 day herbal cleanse which will immediately help me focus on nutrition and combined with some good runs and gym time I should fall nicely into form and a base training schedule.

Ironman Canada 2010

1 more week

Wow! what a month it's been. I've had a pretty busy August and it has'nt included much training but it has certainly been full of second guessing this whole journey of completing a full ironman triathlon. These eight months have been full of ups and downs and side tracks, and that's before I have even registered! However, I've managed to stay focused and remain dedicated to my goal.So the oil change has been done on the car,the hotel confirmation phone call has just been placed and the financial shell game continues but I'm all in for a road trip to Penticton to sign up and officially Ironmaninize!!!