Categories
2013

Feeling “blah?” Find your Toughness

I pride myself on being a pretty positive person. I make a point to see the good in people, the silver lining, the excitement rather than the fear. I’m also a real person…and a girl. I’m emotional and passionate. A dangerous combination. On most days, I wake up excited and with a plan to live. Maybe that sounds like an exaggeration, but if you know me, you know that as much as I love spontaneity, I also thrive on making some sort of game plan. So, what happens on those days when I wake up feeling like this?
moving

Well, I’m still trying to figure that out.

Categories
2013

Dating Ironman

love
If you talk to anyone who has completed an Ironman, they’ll tell you three things:

1. It’s the best thing I’ve ever done.
2. It’s addicting.
3. It will take over your life.

Since I have yet to complete my first Ironman, I’ll refrain from speaking to the first two statements. All I will say is that simply committing to train for an Ironman is by far one of the best things I’ve ever done, and I can only imagine how I will feel once I cross that finish line. I can, however, speak to the third point. Training for an Ironman will take over your life.

For the past seven weeks, I’ve been eating, sleeping and breathing my training plan. I consult my training schedule and goals when deciding whether or not to go out drinking with friends, go on a trip, eat that candy bar, or stay up an extra couple of hours to watch The Bachelor. I get down when a training session doesn’t go well and I obsess about how I can make things better.

Basically, I’m dating the Ironman – and he is the neediest boyfriend I’ve ever had.

Categories
2013

Ramblings of an Ironman-in-training

I apologize in advance for the randomness and fragmented nature of this post, but since registering for Ironman AZ back in November, that is exactly what has been happening in my mind. All day, every day, a continuation of fragmented thoughts ranging from “OMG I’m so PUMPED. Cecily Fuller YOU ARE (ALMOST) AN IRONMAN!” to “OMG I want to cry, where do I go next?”

The thought of Ironman is always there. That M-Dot symbol is there when you wake up in the morning; you chase it during each training session; it’s the seasoning on your breakfast, lunch and dinner; and it’s that bitter flavor you taste with each sip of an IPA. Friends of mine who have completed an Ironman of their own warned me that once you take the plunge and officially register, it’s all you will think about for the following year. BooksThe reality of this hits me as I sit here with a pile of anatomy flashcards to study and it’s all I can do not to break into the stack of Ironman/tri training books I just borrowed from a friend. The inner turmoil continues. So, instead, I will do neither and I will sit here and pour my feelings into my Ironman blog. I call this a happy medium.

Categories
2013

Make a plan, be the sunshine

Each week of training brings something new. A new PR, new approach, new ache, etc., etc. The past two weeks have been especially full of take-aways for my own personal growth in training and I think much of what I’ve learned/decided to set in place moving forward can be applied to anyone at the starting lines of their own training adventures. So, without further ado, here are my key headlines from the past two weeks:

Make a planCalendar
Obvious, right? Of course it’s important to have a training plan set in place not only when going after a long-distance race like an Ironman, but even if you’re training for your first 5k, half-marathon or sprint tri. Regardless of experience level, we’re all starting somewhere. If your goal is to get off of the couch and complete your first 5k race, or you’re working your way up from sprint distance to Olympic distance triathlons, you have to have a plan for how you are going to get from point A to point B – and it can’t be something you just throw together day-to-day or week-to-week on a whim. Do your research. Map out each month. Set benchmarks. Set goals. And most importantly, establish your support system. We’re all going to have “down” weeks when we’re just not feeling into it and we need to be reminded why we’re doing all of this. Make sure you have someone to tell you “hey, you wanted to do this for a reason. Let’s get some ice cream, and then suck it up and push forward to your goal.”

Categories
2012

Dominate your 2013 New Year’s training resolutions

Ironman AZ finish line

We triathlon-folk love us some goals.

Crossing finish lines, breaking personal records, catching up to that 68-year-old lady who just whizzed by you on the bike – it’s all fuel for the fire.

And with a new year about to begin, our blogs, journals and training plans will fill up quickly with resolutions for 2013.

The passion is great and all, but we need a strategy to help us stick to these goals and make sure they don’t fall by the wayside, like my futile quests to stop biting my nails, become more flexible and eliminate frozen pizzas from my diet (Red Baron, you sir, will be the death of me!).

I’m not going to tell you what New Year’s resolutions to set; only you can do that. But here are some tips to help you approach the process from the right angle and stay on track to dominate 2013.