June Goals

Um…so hey…it is June already!  How did that happen?  I haven’t had a lot of time to write lately, so here’s what I’ve been up to:

• We sold our house and bought a new home.
• I ran the BMO Vancouver Half Marathon.
• I’ve been training my behind off for Ironman Boulder.
• I’m in the midst of some ch-ch-ch-changes happening at work (can you say reorganization?).

There seems to be a whole pile of stressful things happening all at once which can make training a little challenging.  I’ve had some great workouts though!

• 4 x stair climbs at the curling club, followed by a 4 min tempo run.  I wanted to barf or pass out at the end but it felt so good to push hard!

  

• A 2 hour run commute in to work where my fastest mile splits were at the end of my run, not the downhill in the beginning half of my run.

  

• A 127 km bike ride through Banff National Park on my 36th birthday with my friend Shannon.  We saw 4 elk, 3 bears (one of whom was way too close for comfort) and 2 deer.  I had such a great ride that day!

  

• A lunch run the day after I rode hill repeats where I anticipated a bit of a slog but wound up running a sub-1 hour 10K.

  

I’ve had a few tough workouts too though.

• An interval run where my digestive system was 100% not on board with what I was doing.

  

• A 5 hour ride where the first hour my legs were so tired and so sore I wasn’t sure how I was going to make it through.  Luckily my legs came around so I’m guessing they just needed an extra long warm up.

  

I’m hitting that point in training where it feels like life is all about work, train, eat, sleep, repeat.  Mentally I’m struggling with the feeling that there just isn’t enough time in the day, but that is Ironman training for you!  Thankfully the number of good workouts far exceeds the number of not so good workouts, so that is good!

So how did I do on my May goals?

• Get my head in the game for Ironman training.  I’m doing a pretty good job of fitting all of my workouts in…although a brick and a swim may have slid here or there.  Mentally I’m having my ups and downs with training but I chalk that up to an increase in training volume coupled with a whole of bunch of stress outside of triathlon right now.
• Pay close attention to my nutrition.  I feel pretty good about this one.  I’m bringing most meals and snacks to work.  We’ve had a few nights where we’ve claimed laziness and have gone out to eat but I’m feeling pretty good about the quality of food in my diet.

June promises to be a busy month with the changes at work, a team training camp in Penticton and our home move.  For this month I’d like to:

• Keep a positive outlook!  Yes, Ironman training does take up a lot of time.  However I want to do well and that requires putting the time in.  Thankfully I have a supportive husband who wants to see me succeed.  I need to let go of the little things and remember that I love training and that having a great race is really important to me.

I only have one goal this month, but it is a big one.  My brain can be my biggest asset or my biggest enemy on this build to Boulder.  This is not the time to lose focus or determination!

What is your biggest goal for June?