Yikes I’ve been so bad at posting! It’s been over 3 weeks since coming back from South Africa and now in full blown training mode! September is the month where I am starting to amp up my training and October will be the peak training month. We got back on Sept 9th and then got back into training but it took a little bit of time to really get the intensity back up. I used to swim on Mondays and Fridays but now have moved to the longer Wednesday endurance swims instead of Monday. Monday swims were always really nice and focused more on technique, but I knew that I really needed to build up my endurance and get some longer distances in preparation for my full. I was unsure whether I could keep up with the Wednesday sessions but finally gave it a go. While I still have a ton of room for improvement, I realized that I am actually a lot faster than I expected! My pb for 100 m was 1’57 before and suddenly it was 1’37 at the last time trial! I was totally not expecting that at all and it was a really great surprise. It also goes to tell me that I should probably push it a little harder at training and not doubt myself! I’ve also started doing Sunday morning swim where we do open water swimming of around 3-4 km. I used to not want to do because I felt that I would not be able to keep up with everyone but after going a few times I realized that people will always wait for you and that there are often people of all speeds. I really need to stop letting these excuses stop me from trying new things. Waking at 6 am to swim is not always fun, but I always end up feeling super refreshed and happy after a swim!

As for biking, this is always my weakest discipline so I was determined to make some changes. Riding in Haeco is always a challenge for me and I get freaked out by the giant trucks ripping by. Luckily, I have found a new Trainer program that I love and now I am able to spend hours and hours on the trainer and not feel like death! I used to only be able to ride around 1.5 hours on the trainer but last week I banged out over 4 hours! I also purchased a power meter and bike computer to make the most out of my training stats. I am now following a 8 week program leading up to the Ironman and will also add in some extra rides if the program isn’t assigning enough riding time. Right now I am supposed to do two shorter rides doing the week (1-2 hours) and a long time of 5-6 hours for the weekend! In September, my long ride was 4-5 hours and I was just starting to get used to that and now its time to UP MY GAME AGAIN. Everyone is telling me how I need to do one 6 hour ride so it will definitely be coming up soon!

As for my run, I also do two short runs in the week and a long run in the weekend. I have also started doing a short run after my long ride to get my legs moving a little. The T2 transition is always rough and my legs feel like jello… and it will be extra hard after 180 km of riding in the race! In September I was running 14-16 km for my long run and now it will be 16+. I initially had it at 16-18 km but I think I will probably need to have some closer to 20 km for Oct. The weather is getting a bit more brisk which is lovely! It instantly makes me feel so much stronger and happier when I am running.

As much as some of these trainings feel never-ending and grueling, the feeling of getting stronger and having the passion to drive myself to do these things is incredibly rewarding. Every time I am feeling tired on a run or suffering, I just think about how amazing it will be when I push myself to my limit and cross that finish line in December.