Well, after my last post in November, I did a few trainer rides here and there, but mostly focused on running so I wouldn’t die during the St. Jude Half Marathon the first weekend in December.  I didn’t die, but it felt pretty close to it.  It was my slowest half-marathon ever (by mile 6 I was done) but I got it done and was able to hang out in the finisher area and wait for JMR to finish the marathon.  He had yet another PR, finishing 3:27:21.  Damn he’s fast.  He was happy with the time but also pretty bummed he didn’t go sub 3:20 (which was his goal) as he was on pace and feeling great until mile 18 when the wheels fell off.  Despite his disappointment and my ridiculously awful half, we managed to have fun the rest of the afternoon hanging out around Beal street, eating good BBQ and watching a local Christmas parade.  That night we had a fancy dinner at one of out hotel’s restaurants to celebrate JMR’s PR and called it a night around 9p.

After the race, I turned into a slug.  The following three weeks all I did was run one day a week, and that was only because I signed up for the Frostbite Series, a 5-part race series which started on December 16th.  I think I rode my trainer a couple of times, I did zero swimming and then around the last week of December I came down with a stomach bug and was out for the count.  Quite the productive December.

Finally (finally!) the motivation came back around the 29th of December when I ran the 2nd race in the Frostbite series, then that Sunday I rode my trainer for an hour, and on New Years day, I got my butt in the pool and swam for 40 minutes.  Now a little over two weeks later I already feel like I’m getting in a groove, slowly improving with each workout and getting a little bit more in shape.  AND I’ve been swimming 3x a week.

I think what has helped me get into a routine (especially one that has involved many early am workouts, which in the past was a very rare thing) is the mentality of ‘no more excuses’.  It’s not really a 2018 resolution, but just one in general to try to really follow through with what I say I will do, not find excuses and just do it.  Also that ‘goal’ or ‘resolution’ isn’t just regarding workouts, it’s all areas in my life.  I know that things will come up and I won’t be able to do everything all the time that I had planned to do or said I would do, but at least it’s a way to start getting into a better mentality and push the excuses to the side.

Another reason or motivation for me getting my workouts in is that my first big race, St. George 70.3, as of today, is 15 weeks away!  So I think that has also helped me focus on my workouts because they are all geared towards getting me ready for that race- the potentially choppy swim, the very hilly bike and also a hilly run.  Not an easy race!

We are also extending the trip to stay a few days after the race to hike in Zion National Park, which I am SO excited to do.  We are still figuring out which hikes we will do as one goes through a ‘lottery system’ since they only allow 80 people per day to go through that specific hike, and the other depends on the weather as they close the trail if rain is the forecast due to possible flash floods.  Regardless, it’s our first real ‘trip’ since our honeymoon three years ago so I think we will have fun however it turns out 🙂

I have declared this year as ‘The Year of 70.3’s’ as I’m going to focus on that distance and maybe consider long course in 2019.  So far the plan is to do St. George on 5/5, Route 66 70.3 on 7/29 and another 70.3 early September (race TBD).  I also have a few half marathons planned and some shorter tri’s, but 70.3’s are the main focus with the goal to finally break 6 hours! 🙂

Ok! On with the past two weeks of training:

Week 1: January 1-7th

Monday: Swam 2025y in the am

Tuesday: Speedwork on the treadmill: 1 mi warmup, 2×800, 4×400, 8×200 w/ 1min RI, 1 mi cooldown

Wednesday: 2550y in the am, 67 min trainer ride after work

Thursday: 5 mi run in the am w/ 6×2 min at 5k pace

Friday: 2400y swim in the am

Saturday: 1 mi warmup, 30 min at marathon pace, 10 min at half-marathon pace, 1 mile cooldown

Sunday: 70 min trainer ride

Total Hours: 7:24

Week 2: January 8-14th

Monday: Swam 2300y in the am, Hot Yoga after work

Tuesday: Speedwork on the treadmill: 1 mi warmup, 4×800, 4×400, w/ 2min RI, 1 mi cooldown,  10 min abs before bed

Wednesday: 2550y in the am, 67 min trainer ride after work

Thursday: 5 mi run in the am w/ 6×2 min at 5k pace

Friday: 2450y swim in the am

Saturday: Frostbite Series race #3: 5k!  I had been using 8:34 as my 5k pace for speedwork since I have lost some speed since early October, but I surprised myself with an 8:14 avg pace for this race!  Hopefully I’m still getting my speed back and the numbers will keep dropping

Sunday: 70 min trainer ride

Total Hours: 8:18

Ok, that’s it for now, Happy Monday 🙂