Inspiration

Recently I happened upon a video that was one woman's story of her journey to an Ironman race. It followed her through the 9 months of training that it took to get her to race day. Seeing that made me realize that getting to the finish line is not the difficult part of Ironman; it is getting to the starting line.

While I remember the long hours I spent getting ready for Redman 2008, my first iron distance tri, I do not have it documented. I decided that this time around I want to be able to look back and see what really went in to preparing for Ironman Cozumel 2009.

So here we go. It is mid April; 7 months away from race day. I have not officially started a training program, although I have never actually quit training since I started 3 years ago. My plan is to follow the ultra distance program on opentri.com with some alterations made by coach Pete. He got me to Redman totally prepared and I had the most amazing experience, so I have all good expectations for this race as well.

My goal for my first iron distance was to cross the finish line with a smile on my face; not to be dieing from the events of the day. I far surpassed that goal, so this time I am making some real goals. The course in Cozumel should be very similar to Redman; not hilly, quite hot, possibly windy. The swim will be different. Only one loop, in the ocean, no wet suit. I really think the wet suit gave me an advantage last time, so I will have to swim faster to make up for the loss! As of right now, I would like to swim a 1:10, bike at 18+mph, and run a 4:30. I would also like to cut down on my transition times; they were quite long. As my training progresses I will reevaluate these goals, but that is it for now!

Should be a busy, interesting, tiring 7 months.