February in review

February Stats:

Running: 87.2 miles, 12:39 hours, average pace of 8:43 min/mile

Swimming: 26,000 yards, 9:20 hours, average pace of 2:07 min/yard (debatable, includes extra resting.  I don't wear a watch at Master's and always just use the whole time I'm in the pool to log, not just time moving. 100s are comfortable on the 1:40ish for me now.

Biking: no mileage since it's all indoor, 16 hours

All of these are sure to increase in March. I'm feeling pretty good this month though, didn't miss any workouts. Nailed my tempo run yesterday (6 miles with 4 at 7:43, 7:32, 7:30, 7:30). My legs surprised me when they showed up for that run since my 12 miler a few days before was a huge struggle (average 9:10, so not awful). I felt like crap and just got through it. Those are the runs that make us stronger though. And then my run just 13 hours before the tempo, on Tuesday evening was 9:48/mile which was the slowest I've been in awhile, so I thought I was sure to struggle with Wednesday morning's tempo run but I actually didn't at all and my legs felt great.

We also did one of my favorite swim workouts at the pool this morning, so that was good too!

Not too much else going on ... most of the wedding planning is done. I need my bridesmaids to pick their dresses, our Save the Dates to be finalized and sent out ... and a few other things but we have all of our vendors besides transportation so we're doing pretty decent.

Dash is awesome as always, she's getting so big and so smart. We've been doing puppy training and she's doing really well, graduation is on Saturday!

That's about it these days ....

2012 Schedule

Yep, I know it's the middle of February but I just finished figuring out this years race schedule

March 31 - Cooper River Bridge Run (10K)
May 20 - Columbia Triathlon
June 16 - Patriot Half
July 21 - GETTING MARRIED
August 18 - Age Group Nationals
September 9 - Pumpkinman Half

October - Honeymoon and buy a house

Looks like a low key, relaxed 2012 is ahead ... yeah right. 

As if we weren't crazy enough by getting a puppy, getting married and having me do 2 half distance triathlons and 2 Olympic distance triathlons, now we're looking into buying a house this year. 

We are insane. But might as well get it all done at once, right? 

All I know is 2013 better be relatively calm in comparison.

And now that I have my schedule decided, it's time to buckle down and lose some weight both for racing and the wedding. I need to be accountable, so here it is. I currently weight (as of 2/13/2012) 134.8 and my goal weight for 06/16/2012 is 120. ~15 pounds in 18 weeks ... may be a bit difficult with training but it should be do-able. Just need to cut out the unhealthy snacks and soda once and for all and focus on eating real food, which I/we do most of the time anyway. And Dave is on board which always helps.

2012

2012 is going to be a big year for me. I'm getting married. As if that's not enough, I'm also going to be training for my first (and second) half ironman. I think a lot of people think I'm crazy to do this but for me, I need more than one big thing to focus on. That doesn't mean I won't get stressed out or everything will go perfectly smoothly but I'm pretty sure I can do it. I have a lot of help, my fiance especially. He makes us dinner every night so that I can just come home and relax. He doesn't care that I go to bed before 9pm most nights of the week and he does a lot of the cleaning too. I'm very blessed to have him. I also only work 4 days a week, so I have a whole extra day to rest and work out. So while the next 7+ months will probably be crazy, they'll be manageable and fun too! Of course, we're adding a 4 month old puppy to the mix on Monday so we must love the crazy!

Isn't she adorable?

But before Dash comes home, we're off to Houston for a race. Dave & I are both racing the Houston Half Marathon on Sunday. I have a pretty big goal. When I got my schedule for this month from my coach, I freaked out a little when I saw the time goal. But she knows I can do it and so do I. I'm going to have to be mentally tough for sure. Being mentally tough is definitely harder for me than being physically tough. I mean I was a figure skater for years, and I fell so many times everyday. My body is used to pain, it's used to falling and hurting. But my head has always held me back and it's time for me to fight that. I posted this on facebook yesterday:

“The greatest battle is not physical but psychological. The demons telling us to give up when we push ourselves to the limit, cannot be silenced for good. They must always be answered by the dignity that simply refuses to give in: Courage. We all suffer. Keep going.” — Graeme Fife

I'm going to be courageous this weekend. Yeah, I'm going to suffer but that's a part of racing. I'm ready to push myself out of my comfort zone. This is my year.