It is game time people! After talking about, blogging about and training for months…my Ironman 70.3 is almost here! The race is this Sunday and I am very excited about it. If you’ve been following along, you know that I might not be the most on top of my training game, but who cares! I’m going to go out there, do my best and enjoy the ride. While of course I’m going to push myself, I’m going to heed the warnings of fellow athletes and not push myself too hard as this is a really long race and who knows when my energy is going to run out.
Speaking of my fellow athletes and people who I talk to about this race, when I tell people I’m doing an Ironman 70.3, why do people feel the need to respond by telling me about their friend who once did an Ironman and almost died? Or the friend who passed out, or the friend who crashed their bike? While I’m all for knowing what’s ahead of me and being given information to make smart choices, stop scaring me everyone! I promise I’ll drink water and eat during the race!
Excuse that side rant, let’s get back to the race. This is the longest race I’ve done up until this point. I ran a marathon in just over 4 hours, this race I predict will take around 6-7 hours (although honestly I have no clue). Because this is a hefty 2+ hours longer than my previous longest race, nutrition and keeping myself in check are very important. I need to make sure that I drink plenty of fluids and have food (in the form of various sports products) to keep me going along the way.
One more thing that suddenly occurred to me this weekend while I rode a measly 18 miles and got bored along the way, is this race going to be boring? I know that when in race mode there are tons of things to distract you along the way and keep you motivated, but 7 hours? This race strictly forbids headphones which on the bike course I completely understand for safety reasons, but what about during the half marathon? No tunes?! No Taylor Swift to keep me going? Guess I’ll be looking at a lot of nature. Fortunately this race does look to be very beautiful so I hope that I find some zen-ness on the course. Does anyone have any advice for staying entertained and motivated during such a long race?
[view from the turnaround point during my weekend ride]
As for my “meh” training, this year I don’t think I’ve done a swim as long as the course (1.2 miles, I think I’ve tapped out around a mile during training swims) and for the 56 mile bike ride, my longest ride this year was only 40 (although in the past I’ve ridden up to 100 miles). For the run, 13.1 miles, I’m feeling confident, I ran 14 miles this weekend and 15 last weekend. Because I’ve fallen short of the total distances in single workouts and this race is having me do all 3 in a row (ok I’m kind of freaking myself out as I write this), I’m going to push myself to a reasonable limit, but I’m also going to allow myself to save energy and coast during the bike if I must, and walk during parts of the run. Never have I entered a race knowing that I’d walk part of it, but for this race I see myself doing some walking and am setting myself up to know that it’s ok and very normal for a 70.3.
[view from the turnaround point in this weekend’s long run. even in training runs I’m allowing myself to slow down and take a beat if I want to snap a pic. I used to not allow this and would force myself to keep running until the miles were complete, but sometimes you need a second to take in the scenery and enjoy, basically my game plan for the race]
This week I’ll be doing some light workouts, packing my bag, checking to ensure I have all necessary gear and will be eating clean. Check back in later this week for more info on what gear I’ll be bringing. Friday we’ll pack up the car and head north for New Hampshire! To follow my adventures heading into the week, be sure to follow me on Instagram and Twitter.
[this week calls for lots of stretching, especially for my oh so tight calves]
And one final reminder! My special 15% discount on Yoga Design Lab mats ends tomorrow. Visit Yoga Design Lab and use code SHAPINUP before 8/11 to buy a mat like the one above, or chose from tons of other beautiful designs.
