Hello all and thanks for reading our blog. It has been a while since I last wrote and kept you all up to date.
Since my last blog entree much has happened and we are about three weeks out of the big event.
Back in July I was able to participate for the second year in the NYC Aquaphor TRI. I was very excited to be part of it and also was anxious to see what has changed in my endurance while training for the full Ironman Distance. This year i also had two of my close friends as volunteers at the course and it was nice to have them be part of this event.
The NYC Tri has a very early start- but hey the earlier you start the sooner you are finished. Once I came close to the swim start I was beginning to get nervous- but once in the water I was in my zone. I felt confident during my swim and compare to last years race I swam the whole distance in freestyle. Coming out of the water I felt strong and ready for the long run to transition area. T1 went well and I felt better already than last year. I felt strong getting on the bike and started the ride with a lot of energy. My nutrition was well planned and I had more calories during my bike in order to also be strong and full energy for my run. Coming back from our bike portion I felt good and was anxious to get on the run. T2 was pretty quick and easy and off we went for the run. I have to say running across 72nd street and being cheered on by so many strangers is the best feeling ever. regardless of who they are you hear them scream your number and it motivates you. It gives you this extra push. During this years run I felt so much better. I heard my friends and coach whisper in the back of my ear "Keep running- don't ever stop running"....and that is what kept me going. The words of my friends, my coach and of course the spectators.
Coming close to the finish line I felt good. I had pushed myself and only stopped running during water breaks. Running into the finish it feels amazing on seeing so many fans cheering everyone on. During my run I even passed Adam who is one of our coaches as well. Its always great seeing familiar faces during a race like this. Anyways crossing the finish line I was not happy with my time. Last year I finished in 3:27:21 and my plan was to finish 30min better this year. Looking at the time I thought I did not meet my goal. Later that day I was more than surprised to see that I actually did meet my goal. Once NYC TRI had published the times I learned that I finished under three hours. My time this year was 2:57:12 which means I did improve my time by 30 minutes....yeah goal met!!!!
Now after that race it was back to training. Our hours of weekly training have increased by a lot and we are now up to about 17-20 hrs per week. By the end of my week I was certainly exhausted because I was working a 12 hrs day and then went straight to training. Not always was it easy to head out on a long run after a long day at work but I knew it had to be done. Overall I was surprised to see of what I am all capable in doing. week after week I run longer distance and biked further. And lets not forget all those hours inside the pool swimming 80, 120 or 160 laps. Def gives you lots of time to reflect on all sort of things happening in life.
I mostly did my long swim and runs by myself in order to get used to swimming and running alone. I wanted to get used to the fact that I will be doing the distance without anyone on my side during the race- so what better way to do so while training.
As for my long bike ride I have to give a HUGE shout- out to Alex, and Eline for lending me her husband, who got up early to ride all the long rides with me. He set up a route for us and took care of pushing me all the way to the end. It was great being able to have a partner in crime for the long rides and having someone to keep up with. I dont think I could have done this on my own. Thank you so much Alex and also Eline.
And last but not least. This past Sunday I participated in a quick all Womens Sprint Triathlon in Norwalk CT. I went to the event with not much confidence and didnt feel good about it. Starting the race I felt like I had a bad swim and getting on the bike felt rough. I could tell that my legs are sore from my long run the day before and I am overall a bit tired. I still pushed through and had a great transition from my bike to the run. Even though this was a great and ok organized event I was not happy about the organization of the run part. It got very confusing at some points. Anyways I did finish with a great run time and to my full surprise I actually finished 2nd in my Age group of 30-34. WOW what a day it was...as you all can imagine I cant wash that smile off my face.
Overall the training is getting less again and we are about to taper. We are almost there to the day of the big event and I cannot wait to see the final result!!!!
Thank you all for reading and staying through this with me. Special thanks to Pacific, Julie and Sean, my coach Jason, Alex for biking all these miles with me and of course my friends for always listening to me!!!!
