IM Canada Recap

So much to say! Will write more later on this one but will give a quick overview:
Swim - 1:21, which is a bit slow for me but I had a very hard time getting through people. Very congested at the start and by first buoy. Had to stop several times. Water was clear and cool but not cold (probably around 67 degrees). Weather was perfect.

Bike - This is the part I was worried about. The IMC facebook page was full of comments on how hard the bike course was going to be and they were right. Extremely hilly with one hill of 10% grade! We climbed around 6000 total feet throughout the 112 miles. The good thing is that it was the most beautiful course I had ever biked and the weather was fantastic. I held back for the first 50 miles or so and probably held back too much because I ended up with a 7+ hour bike time. I was disappointed but had to keep going.

Run - Felt fairly good in the beginning but faded by mile 6 or so and started walking. Horrible heel pain from heel spur and plantar fasciitis. My spirits started to drop big-time. Had a come-to-Jesus moment at mile 12 and told myself to start running. Despite horrendous pain in my heel, I ran....and ran....and ran (jogged was more like it). Ended up with a 15:09 finish time, way slower than I had wanted. But still, so happy to have done the race. Loved it and would do it again if I could.

More details later!

2013 Spring Training

Before the actual blogging begins, here's a quick recap of my pre-IM spring training: I ran a marathon. Why? Because two of my friends told me that the best thing they did before their fall IM was run a spring marathon. I hadn't run "just" a marathon in 10 years and really had no desire to do so, but they had convinced me that it would help my run in IMC so I fell for it and signed up for the Colorado Marathon (5/6/13).

This is us before the race

and this is us after the race:

Overall, I had a great time. Finished in 4:25, almost an hour slower than my PR (3:32, Chicago) but I'm 10 yrs older too. Felt really good most of the way with a 2nd wind at mile 18 (oddly enough), started to fade at mile 22'ish, struggled but didn't stop running until the finish line.

The best thing about doing this marathon was the training - I really enjoyed it!  I followed the Furman FIRST training plan and really liked it. It's unique in that it requires only 3 days of running. Each week has a tempo run, interval run, and long run. The other days you cross-train. I felt great and would highly recommend it.

The plan called for two 20 milers and even though I ended up doing two 18 milers and one 20 miler, I felt good on those long runs. That was a huge confidence builder! I did a little speedwork but not much, mainly because my goal for this IM is to finish, not PR.