Meet my new "Tri" Bike AKA My Tricked Out Cannondale Synapse

I met with Dave at Pedal on Friday to buy yet another set of aero bars (3rd, but who's counting?). TO KEEP this time around (the other two were returned, barely used). We spent about an hour and forty five minutes adjusting and tweaking, lowering and measuring and I think we did it. I was pretty comfortable on it in the shop but time on the trainer will be the tell-all. Once we return from AZ after Thanksgiving, I will start spending some quality time with my precious Sea Breeze (my bike).

 

Here are a few more awesome items I received this week to keep me, well, "Moving Forward"!

 

 

I needed some new gel, anyway, and Huma just released their newest flavors: blueberry and mango. The blueberry was a bit sweet for me; I can't wait to try the mango. And a big shout out to SwimBikeMom on the packaging. Cool!

My old SBM visor spent too many days in the swimming pool with me and the kids this summer so I needed a replacement. This one was on clearance and I really do like the blue. It brings out my eyes!

Chattanooga CHOO CHOO 140.6, baby!!!

 

 

Excuses.... Excuses...

I'm slowly coming out of my end-of-the-tri season fog, I think. The fall season is hard for a few reasons, but honestly these are just excuses:

1. We flipped our clocks back which means it's dark at 5 p.m.
2. It's cold(er) outside!
3. IMChoo is 100 years from now (319 days); how am I supposed to think about training?  It's way too early...
4. It's cold(er) outside. which means our bodies need more insulation, see how I accomplish this here: http://smithfamilyadventuresco.blogspot.com/2013/11/cindys-kitchen-adventures-aka-why-my.html
5. #4, AKA, too many treats, inevitably turns into lethargy and me being not so much fun to be around.

Enough of the excuses. Here's how I turn things around:

• Sign up for a winter half marathon in Arvada on Feb. 9 with Angie:

• Then sign up for a holiday 10K to stay motivated for the half, Dec. 21st, with Jenn Lundstrom:

•  Pull out all my cold weather running gear and stop complaining. It's really not that cold outside (yet). And find my headlamp for added saftely in the dark. Or run on the treadmill at the gym.
• Convince Jason that I should set up my bike trainer in the living room. I've cleaned out and organized the basement so we can move one of the toy bins and the train table downstairs. Sea Breeze gets lonely even though the Baby Tender is there to keep her company.

 

•  Get back to the pool and start rebuilding endurance. 2.4 miles is a long way to swim even if I had webbed feet like these guys do. Which I don't, obviously.

• And finally:

It's not quite time for this, but it's getting close:

 

 

In the meantime, I will try to do this every day:

 

.

 

 

 

Why 140.6? And How it Begins.

Well, as I sit here at my desk on this sunny and chilly November day with 327 days to IM Chattanooga, I am pondering this very question. Not because I question my motivation to do it, but because I want to put the reasons on "paper".

Ironman Vineman 70.3 is now almost 4 months behind me and I look back on that race with pride and immense happiness. I followed my plan, trained hard and finished strong. I was strong. And I love that. I've never felt this strong in my entire life.

Tears of joy, hidden nicely behind my Oakleys.

I've read about countless other women, men, moms, ordinary and extraordinary people doing it and think simply, I can do that, too! I did 70.3, why not double it? I have the desire to test my body and see how far it can go. I don't want to break it down, I want to build it up.

I am taking this opportunity now in 2014 after serious thought and discussions with my family. While the kids are still young and their schedules aren't dictating our weekends is the perfect time. In a few years from now, our weekends will be filled with whatever activities they choose. And that is how it should be. So, this is the time. 2014 is the year I become an Ironman.

Sometimes I think I am fooling myself thinking that I can or should be doing this. Marathon training isn't appealing to me, but start with a 2.4 mile swim and a 112 mile bike ride and I'm in! WTF? Well, seriously, I don't want to just run. Cross training, friends. Swim/Bike/Run/Lift=Fun for me. Yes, lift. CrossFit is strength training and if I want to look like this (in my dreams, maybe)...



Miranda "Rinny" Carfrae at IM Florida (IM World Champion, 2013)

... and reap the benefits of being strong come race day, I must continue my work in the gym. That's where my 70.3 training started, so it makes sense that IM training does as well.

No, there are no box jumps or tire flips in the Ironman, but I will need a ton of strength, determination and mental toughness and that is built in the gym every time I walk through the door.

So, off-season training focuses on 2x per week at CFL, 2 days of running and one day on the bike. For now. It's still nice outside so I've been able to ride on the weekends. Soon, the bike will hit the trainer in the basement and I will shoot for at least an hour a few times per week. Netflix here I come. I will also start pool swimming once the weather turns cold and biking outside is no longer an option.

 

Ironman training will make me feel strong, hopeful, weak, hopeless and everything in between. There are a lot of miles between here and the finish line at Chattanooga, TN on September 28,2014.  I am excited for the journey!



 



140.6...

140.6??? Who's idea was this?? I don't remember and that doesn't matter. What does matter is that Kelly and I are signed up for another crazy endeavor. Yes. A. Full. Ironman. WHAT???

I guess I've been INSPIRED. 70.3 wasn't good enough, apparently. We weren't bad-ass enough just going half the ironman distance, which was a feat in itself: 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike and 13.1 mile half marathon. In Sonoma County, CA. Not a bad venue for our first. It was awesome and we both felt great at the finish!

Actual finish time 6:37

 

You better keep working on those guns, ladies, because as of today, there are only 334 days to prepare for the longest single day journey of your life. (However, I do remember a journey to 14,000 feet once that lasted all day and ended with me dry heaving once we returned to the base, but that's another story. I'm hoping this one has a better ending).

So, Chattanooga, Tennessee, here we come! September 28, 2014.