3.5 Weeks Out from 70.3 #2

Kokopelli 2018: 19 minute PR!

I know it’s been forever and a day since I’ve written anything on here but I did a relatively good job at blogging my first 70.3 and I really want to have some things written down for my next one coming up in 3.5 weeks!

How I’m Feeling:

Good for the most part! I dealt with some burnout a few weeks ago which felt pretty normal. I was ready to be done and a little tired/stressed about the volume I was putting in. Thankfully that passed and instead I’m starting to deal with the gentle hum of race anxiety kicking in. I feel like I’m in better shape than I was for AZ and that the varied workouts have done a lot of good in making me feel fit while still getting the miles/time in. When I trained for AZ, my workouts were super consistent. I knew that I was always doing hill repeats on Wednesday’s, running on Thursday’s, swimming on Friday’s and that I had a long run and long bike every weekend. This training is far more variable, but I enjoy it. Nothing has ever really felt like it wasn’t benefiting me and aside from some super long runs I’ve hit all the mileage needed to complete the race feeling good.

What are you worried about?

-The general timeline of getting to Indian Wells, athlete check-in, bike drop off, wetsuit drop off, food, hotel, relax, etc just feels a little rushed. Which is understandable given that we’re showing up on Saturday instead of Friday. I’m sure it’ll all work out fine but I can’t help but be a little anxious with the sped up timeline.

-The cold swim. Mentally, I know I’ve got the stamina to deal with a really cold swim but I’m a little worried about my body shutting down. I already get cold really easily and knowing that I likely won’t be able to feel my face, hands, and feet during the swim is stressful. However, the swim is such a short part of the day and the rest of the weather should be so nice that I’m trying to get a few more OWS’s in so that I can put this out of my mind and just enjoy the race.

-Not PR’ing the distance. Just a tiny worry that I’ll have put all this work in and feel like I’m significantly faster only to not end up being faster. However! Even a few minutes is a PR and I’m hoping I can hit it but we’ll just have to wait and see. And accept that I need to be comfortable being uncomfortable 😉.

Favorite part of training/favorite training moments:

THIS VIEW [praise hands emoji]

-Sunrise swims. Or sunrise anything really. I will forever love a beautiful sunrise over a sunset. There is nothing I love more than pausing during a swim/bike/run to take in a cotton candy sky. Funnily enough, the day that I consider my worst training day had little glimmers of beauty that I still think about. It was supposed to be a 45min OWS, 40mi bike and 30min run. But the weather just sucked. The water was so choppy that every time I went to breathe I got a gallon of water in my mouth and I couldn’t time my stroke with the waves, BUT the sunrise was absolutely breathtaking. And as I was out in the water feeling really annoyed that I was out there, one of the girls I was swimming with stopped and said “you guys, look at this, look at how beautiful it is out here. We are SO lucky to be seeing this” As much I was mostly hating every minute, it was beautiful and I was lucky to be out there doing something I love with people that share the same interest.

It was a better idea in my head lol. 3000 yards to celebrate 30 years!

-My longest swims since high school. 2 miles of swimming makes you feel UNSTOPPABLE. Also, celebrating turning 30 with 3000 yards was really fun.

-Feeling incredibly comfortable on my bike. One of the things I am most grateful for from my last 70.3 was turning into someone that truly loves cycling. When I first started riding I felt like there were SO many things to keep track of while riding that I had a hard time fully letting go. And now I feel so relaxed on the bike. My bike genuinely feels like an extension of me (which I know sounds cheesy but it’s true). Shifting feels like second nature, I know how hard to push and I pull more, and I’ve grown to not despise the trainer (which is BIG). I’m really hoping that this skill, in particular, pays off on a flat course.

General Thoughts:

This weekend Corrina and I are driving down to Indian Wells to complete the bike course with the Salton Sea Tri Club and I’m looking forward to it. It should be a lot of fun to ride the course at least once so that I know what to expect on race day. Plus, Corrina and I are perfect travel buddies so it’ll be so fun to have another quick weekend trip with her.

Next week should be my longest run and I’m looking forward to see the kind of pace I can put in. I’ve done really well on my bricks and I’m hoping this means a faster run time at the race!

Overall, I'm really excited for this race. I'm excited to not feel like I'm dying on the run because the weather should be in the 70s-80s (vs. the 90s for AZ), I'm excited for a flat-ish course and hope I can pull off faster than 15mph (what I did for AZ) and I'm excited to see Palm Springs!