Wow! Have I ever neglected this blog! :( Oops! I will certainly try to do better in 2014. There are a couple of posts I would still like to write about and still plan on doing so. Luckily, I wrote notes on my Pacific coast cycling adventure and my Kilimanjaro adventure! Both were done in 2013 and were incredible adventures that I would like to share! Climbing Kilimanjaro was a goal of mine and I am so happy that I accomplished it! Truly, amazing!
In the past I have written a 'year in review' post, however, I kind of also failed to put one together for 2013. So here it is, better late than never! ;)
2013 ended up being a frustrating year injury wise. I had stopped running after my last race in 2012 in hopes that my hamstring would heal. No dice! Ended up getting an MRI late January after xrays and ultrasounds were done to confirm that I did tear my hamstring. With that news and the number of hours of rehab I have already went through, it was decided that I go the PRP route. Until then, I was focusing on just swimming and yoga. Got my first PRP shot at the end of February and I decided to also lay off the yoga. My 35th birthday present to myself was a PRP shot, haha! After that, I started getting back on the bike trainer and tried some running by mid April. I went on a cycling trip to Vegas in April with two fantastic athletes/friends and put in some great mileage! Running was still painful so in May, we decided to go for a second PRP shot, with the understanding I may need two more since my injury has been chronic. Getting the 2nd shot in May was putting any chance of racing in 2013 in jeopardy. However, I am a pretty stubborn and determined person and was not going to give up yet. So six weeks after the 2nd PRP shot I went and completed Mont Tremblant 70.3 on virtually no run training. I was pleased with myself for finishing it and then backed off the running again to try to give my hammy a break. I mainly focused on cycling and swimming. In mid July, I started to get more serious in running again and did the Toronto Olympic triathlon and followed that by the Calgary 70.3. I was actually very happy with my performance in Calgary. I used my time in Alberta for my last bit of training before the Ironman and managed to run 15km, 24km, and 25km in the last two weeks before my two week taper. That was it for long runs. Then it was time for Ironman Mont Tremblant. And I did it! I managed to gut it out and finished the Ironman on little run training. Not a personal best or anything but a definite accomplishment. After the race, I stuck true to the deal I made with myself of no more races for the year and to stop running again to try to get back to 100%. In the meantime, I traveled and went on some amazing adventures. I rode my bike from San Francisco to San Diego in six days! My friend and I may make this a yearly trip! So much fun! And then in October I traveled to Tanzania in East Africa and climbed Mt Kilimanjaro and went on a safari! A trip of a lifetime! I got back into yoga and by December, I started to slowly get back into running. Along the way I managed to get tendinitis in my right foot by June and sprained my wrist trying something new out in December. I am looking forward to becoming pain and injury free in 2014!
Here are some numbers for 2013:
Swim: 248.2km (Jan to the beginning of Aug - stopped logging after that)
Bike: 4243.08 km (March to beg of September - no trainer or commuting mileage included)
Run: 369.87 km
On tap for 2014? Well, after IM MT I had the racing bug in me and felt that after my cycling adventure I was in much better shape for an Ironman. I had a hard time not signing up for another race in 2013 so what did I do? Sign up for two Ironmans in 2014! Smart? Ha! Probably not! But I am up to the challenge and looking forward to it! I have a new coach and hopefully a better year in training. My previous coach had worked out well and he was great, but he just got picked up to race cycling at an elite level and decided he could not give me as much time as he deemed fair to be my coach. I need accountability and therefore, need a coach to achieve that. Hopefully, my new coach will work out well and I can get back into IM race shape (and lose some pounds I gained over the holidays)!. I have a couple of training camps on tap to kick my butt into shape as well as continuing with the rehab and getting my hammy back to 100%. I really hope to get back to training on the track sometime soon with the UTTC gang but I cannot do that yet. Keeping my fingers crossed! Slowly but surely...I hope!
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