So what have I been up to since Ironman Chattanooga and my last blog post? Let me get you up to speed on what has been going on the last few months.
Ironman 70.3 Waco - October 28, 2018
As I recovered from Ironman Chattanooga I was also ramping up for Ironman 70.3 Waco. I wasn't so sure how this would go, but I took it easy for a week before dusting off the bike trainer and setting that ridiculously early alarm clock again. The training itself was not so bad, minus one awful trainer triple brick in the pouring rain. Rain. So much rain. That seemed to be the theme of fall training, we were barely able to get in Lake Grapevine the week before the race because the water was so high. Which leads us to race week and an deja vu all over again. Swim? No swim? Short swim in cold water? There was a ton of speculation in the days leading up to the race; however, in the end there was no swim. How is it the year that I improved so much in swimming all of my swims would be canceled? Isn't that how it goes? I was really looking forward to doing a complete 70.3 because I felt like I had a great shot at a PR since I had improved at swimming and cycling since my last attempt in 2016.
I had a couple of goals for the race here in Waco. I had the best day ever on the bike in Chattanooga, but I paid for it big time on the run so my goal was to still bike strong but not suffer so much on the run. My second goal was to make a quicker transition from bike to run. We had another time trial start and I focused on settling in and passing people as I needed to. The result was 2:51:43 and an average of 19.57 mph - a 20 minute bike PR over my last attempt. I also had a goal to transition quicker and I got in and out in 4:17, which is a huge improvement over all of my recent long distance triathlons. As soon as I stepped off the bike I could tell that I was going to have a much better run. I knew that there were going to be some hills on this course and Cameron Park did not disappoint. I got hot and tired and slowed down a bit on the second loop and finished the run in - 2:20:32. In all likelihood, it would have been a PR race for me but I will never know for sure. I am so glad that I did this race, not only did I meet my two goals for the day, but I was able to practice some of the things that I learned in Chattanooga. That run was so hard, I'm glad that I was able to end the season with a better effort.
Dallas Marathon Half - December 9, 2018
Once I recovered from triathlon season, I focused on running. I thought long and hard about doing an ultra distance race sometime during the winter, but sometimes the body has other plans. I ran a lot in November, but always had a little bit of a nagging "something" going on in my foot. Honestly, it had been an off and on thing for much of the year I was just always able to stretch and roll and make it work. I ran three times the week of the Dallas Marathon Half and by Thursday my foot was super sore and I knew that it was not something I would be able to stretch or roll away. I felt better with a few days rest and set out to run the half marathon.
I love this half course and I love being out with all of my fellow runners in Dallas. It turned out to be a beautiful day - cold at the start with the clouds giving away to beautiful sunshine. I started out super strong and it gave me hope for the day, but I began to feel sluggish in the middle miles and by the end I felt like I was working really hard for the paces. I ended up running 1:58, but it didn't feel like the usual effort for me. My foot was very sore by the time that I left the race and I could no longer deny that I had a case of plantar fasciitis.
Cowtown Half - February 24, 2019
I spent all of December, January, and February working through plantar fasciitis - running about half my usual mileage, swimming a lot, cycling some, and doing more strength training and high intensity interval training. I signed up for the Cowtown Half at the Dallas Marathon Expo and it was a goal of mine to be healthy enough by race day to run.
Cowtown is another one of those races that I never want to miss because it is such a great day of running and friends. Thanks Glenn and Muscle Activation Techniques at Live Free Fitness and lots of stretching and foot strengthening on my part I made it to the start line. The weather has been pretty sketchy around here lately, but we were gifted with a beautiful, sunny, and cool race day. I ran about 15 minutes slower than my average half marathon time, but I had very little pain during or after the race. I consider that a huge success! Being there with the crowds and the hype was just the shot of energy that I needed to start me back on my journey to rebuild my mileage.
Sooo....what's next?
We are headed to Wisconsin! Ironman Wisconsin on September 8 is the Ironman race of choice this year. I'm really looking forward to training cranking up again, in the meantime I'm working on building a strong and healthy base so that I can reach some high goals that I will set for myself. I'll do a few fun trail races between now and then - Grasslands Half in a couple of weeks, Coyote Run in April, and maybe Possum's Revenge in May. Ironman Waco 70.3 is also a possibility as I had such a fun time at that race and I would love to be able to swim and get that PR.
So there you have it, the quick version of what I have been up to since Ironman Chattanooga. One of my many goals for the year is to blog more often - y'all hold me to it, okay?
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