Swam 12.6 miles, rode 250 miles, ran 54 miles...

Since my last post I have swam 12.6 miles, rode my bike 250 miles and ran 54 miles...so sorry I haven't posted, I have been busy :)

This past 3 weeks of training has been going really well. Along with doing all of the above I have also been making time for regeneration workouts including stretching and foam rolling, and I have been visiting an ART specialist. ART stands for "active release therapy" and is a type of massage that breaks up any scar tissue that may be accumulating. I haven't had any injuries just aches and pains especially after I finished my 15 mile run(now the farthest I have ever ran.) I have come to the conclusion that running is not good for you. My body feels like it has been beat up after I finish a long run. Will I ever get used to running 13-15 miles at once? We'll see...

I was originally planning to do the LA Marathon as training for my Ironman but I am also signed up for a Half Ironman 3 weeks after the LA Marathon takes place. After reading and talking to people about training for an ironman I have learned that doing a marathon doesn't benefit you at all in training for an Ironman because the intensity is so different. All I would accomplish by doing the marathon is losing a week of training before to taper for it, having the psychological edge that I have run 26 miles and losing a week of training following it to recover and hopefully I wouldn't get sick because something like 70% of people who complete a marathon get sick a week later because your immune system drops so much...told you this running stuff isn't good for you. The psychological part would be the only reason to do it but I don't think that is enough of a reason. I know I will complete the Ironman, there is no doubt in my head.

So I have decided I will focus on the first Half Ironman of the year which is the California Half Ironman, the same race I did last year. So I have to beat my time from last year of course. I am excited to repeat a race, I have never done the same race twice and I feel like I have an advantage going into this race already having done it a year ago. So last year I finished in 6:10 putting me in the top half(I was 37 out of 84 people). This year I want to get under 6 hours and ideally finish in 5:45! This would put me in the top 25 which puts me in the ballpark to qualify for the 70.3 world championships. Last year the girl who came in 26th at 5:54 qualified. Something to shoot for!