When are you most in your element?

When I do Ironman, I’m in mine. The long hours of training fulfill my need to be in constant motion, give me a sense of peace, and I feel a sense of accomplishment after each epic workout.

After my first three Ironman’s, Coeur d’ Alene in 2010, Lake Placid in 2011, and Arizona in 2012, I decided to spend 2013 improving my fitness. I began 2014 in good health, and continued to worked hard to strengthen my weaknesses while maintaining my strengths.

At my previous Ironman in Arizona, I’d placed sixth, largely because of some mishaps coming out of the swim. Mishaps always happen, some bigger than others, but this one really cost me and it was hard to recover emotionally. This time around, in Coeur d’Alene, my goals were simple: to get on the podium (top 5), stay in the moment, and race my own race.

Four weeks before IMCDA, I raced Raleigh 70.3. I hadn’t tapered well (intentionally) and was fighting a cold. I plowed through and kept my head up, but my workouts the next week really suffered. [Read more…]