2012 "Goals"

One of my 2012 goals is to blog a bit more regularly!  I am NOT off to a good start!  January is a tough month for the Ford household.  The girls are on a track system for school which basically means 5 weeks off in the summer and winter and 3 weeks off fall and spring.  The summer 5 weeks off is awesome since there is always something we can find to do and there are camps and and the pool and hiking.  Winter 5 weeks? Oy.  It's a bit tougher!  There is no just a little bit of snow in the mountains so sneaking off for a day of skiing seems like a waste of time.  We've seen a few movies.  We have gone swimming.  So with one week of break left, I don't know what to do with my kiddos!!  I love them to pieces but please go back to school!!!!

Enough of this break girls.  Go back to school!!!

The first couple of weeks in January worked well.  Michael was leaving his current position and his work load diminished so it was all hands on deck managing the house.  Thank goodness because I had a new workout schedule that I was adapting to and some hours that needed to be put in for swimbikerunstrength.    This week Michael has started with his new job and is busy!!  So that leaves me in full-time what do I do with the kids mode.  I'm on a recovery week which helps but there are still workouts to be done, meals to be cooked, emails to answer, schedules to write and two girls I have to sometimes keep from attacking each other (my other hat is of referee).  We are all getting pretty tired of each other:)

I love you so much.  But please, please, please go back to school!

I fear I may turn into the year-round grinch if they don't go back to school soon......

But with busy schedules, that hasn't stopped me from thinking about this year and what I want to get accomplished.  Sure, I have family goals, personal growth goals, financial goals, business goals and, of course, my 2012 season goals.  Goals are great to have but goals don't explain how I am going to get there.  Sure, I want to qualify for Kona again.  Who doesn't??  Stating that goal out loud or on paper doesn't get me one step closer to earning that slot.

So I've been pondering exactly how to describe what I am striving for this year.  After a particularly hard testing session this morning, PIC and I were talking about my "goals" and she came up with a great term to describe what I've been thinking about.....my season intentions.  And I believe that my intentions will drive my year in the right direction. What do I want to do?  What do I want to accomplish?  Where do I want to go?  How am I going to get there?

With that, here are my 2012 season intentions:
Stay healthy.  This is my numero uno and what I will strive for all year.  How will I stay healthy?  First and foremost by reducing stress.  Last year I managed to sideline myself with a bad case of shingles in the most important part of the season.  I know how it happened (3 hard races within 5 weeks, another foot injury, rushing recovery along and not being honest with myself, and some personal trauma) and I have learned from it.  If I start getting stressed out, I have a physical reminder.....I get the "shingle tingle" and I can look at my back and see the scar.  Not gonna do that again.

Recovery, recovery, recovery.....  To make sure that I am listening to my body and its signals, I am also going to an outside, unbiased source for a second opinion on my state of recovery. There is a website PIC and I have been looking into and discussing.  It basically promises that by answering a series of questions every morning it will quantify your state of recovery.  I have no idea if it works, but since I am my own training/science experiment, I am signing up with the hope that it will validate what I know about my own body and state of recovery.  And if I don't seem to know it or get it, it should guide me in the right direction.

And my feet.  For the last 1.5 years, I have had foot issues.  As soon as the left foot stopped bothering me, the right foot started a week later.  Part of staying healthy for me is to be pain-free in my feet (as well as my body as a whole).  Seriously, my feet have been on my mind since July 2010.  Every single day I worried about my feet.  Talk about stress!!!  But there are now days that go by without me even thinking about my feet.  For the first time in a year and a half! Oh joy! My foot problems were probably the result of stress and the wrong shoes and over distance running from several years back.  I am fixing the stress part and I think I have found running shoes that work for me (NEWTON).  I will pay attention to all aches and pains and niggles and jiggles and won't push training if my body is saying no.

Enjoy the process.
This has been said time and time again.  To enjoy this sport and to have any sort of longevity (i.e. no burnout) in it, you have to enjoy the process.  Getting up early to swimbikerun.  Jumping into a cold pool/lake.  Riding your bike for hours and hours sometimes in brutally cold headwinds (like yesterday's ride), saddle sores, and strange tan lines.  And running running running.  In the heat, in the cold, around a track, on a treadmill, up a hill, down a hill (you get the idea).  How you do in this sport is defined by the consistency of your program and your motivation to get out there and swimbikerun.  Racing is the icing on the cake, the reward for all the hard work you have put in.  If that passion is not there day to day, then you can't expect it to show up on race day and see results.

There's a reason I took off as much time as I did after Kona.  Well, there are several but one was to definitely make sure my head was in the right place.  And fortunately by early November I knew that I still was in it.  But I continued until the end of December on a non-schedule training schedule to know that the unstructured time away from swimbikerun will only benefit me when it's time to go!  Mid-January is not that time.  I have talked to Coach about it and the name of the game is patience right now (and not over thinking the schedule/heart rates/percentages - can you say Type A Athlete???).

That's the kind of happy I'm talking about!

So those are my main intentions for 2012.  Here's the cool part.  These may not seem like "lofty" intentions but they do lay the foundation of a good season - for me.  If I get to the starting line of every race healthy and happy, then the sky is the limit and that Kona slot may well be within my reach. Of course execution of a race plan is a big part of earning that slot but let me just toe the line healthy and with a huge smile on my face.  That is what I want.  This is what I'm aiming for!

Oh, I also intend to blog again next week:)

I Believe......

It's true, if you don't believe you don't receive!!

I have been wandering aimlessly around for the last couple of months.  Hanging out with my kids and hubs.  Eating cookies.  Drinking vino (sometimes drinking too much vino....).  Finalizing my crew of athletes for next year.  And thinking about my own 2012 and what I want to accomplish.  I'm lucky in a way, as soon as I crossed the Kona finish line I knew I wanted to go back and give it another go.  I just needed to figure out how to get there. But after a long racing season marked with yet another foot injury, a painful shingles episode, and somewhat OK results (due to that silly foot), I also wanted to go about this training business a bit differently.

After Kona, Chuckie and I parted ways and that left me with a couple of questions......do I find a new coach?  Do I self coach?  Do I throw in the towel (actually not an option)?  It was clear to me from the get-go that I needed outside assistance.  For the same reason that athletes hire me to coach them.....I need a firm direction/plan from someone other than me. I know how to help athletes achieve their goals.  But it is incredibly difficult to apply that knowledge to  me.  I let myself off too easy.  Sometimes I push myself too hard.  Clearly, I know what to do. I just do it better when I am accountable to someone else.  Plus, it's always fun, interesting and weird to learn and adjust to a new system.  My triathlon life is just better when I have someone other than me directing my workouts.

So, I did a bit of research, soul-searching and found a coach.  I'm not going into any detail (for now) except for how I came to believe......

All I wanted for Christmas was a schedule......and after the Christmas morning madness with the family, I went and opened up my email.  And what did I discover?  Sent late on Christmas Eve, after I had gone to bed, Santa (Coach) sent a schedule starting on 12/26.  It was EVERYTHING I wanted for Christmas!!!

Pretty much how I felt with a new schedule!!

The kids were hilarious with Just Dance for Kids!

Ho Ho Ho......here I go!

Of course, it's not as easy as it sounds.  There's learning a new workout language (part German, part abbreviations, part percentages).  There's adjusting to being on a schedule again.  There's the actual scheduling part.....kiddos at home and holidays and commitments and hubs.  There's putting on my shorts that now fit a lot bit tighter than they did the last time they were on.  Coach has asked for patience as we get to know each other and I am keeping a positive attitude.

Change is good.  Change is Great!

Spinning

Hey there!!  I'm baaa-ck!!  What have I been up to these last few days weeks?  A bit of this and a bit of that.  And a lot of spinning my wheels - but not on the bike.  There are plenty of Christmas goodies around the house and we are having lots of pre-holiday fun.  And there are all sorts of things that I want to get done like redesigning my blog.  But then I sit there looking at all the templates and an hour goes by and I am no further along the process than when I started.  Well, maybe a little further along but not by much.  So, maybe this week I'll get it done.  Or really commit to the process.  Whatever.

Today I officially announce myself back "in-season".  Ok, officially it will be December 26.  But I am officially back to somewhat regular blatherings on this blog.  I am also going to declare that I achieved the Best.Offseason.Ever.  If there is an award, it's mine.  I am detrained, out of shape, and just a little bit overweight (a Christmas cookie intervention is also in the works).  In fact, because I have taken this off-season so seriously I am getting over yet another cold. Clearly a sign I am NOT taking the usual care with myself.  I have been excelling at shopping (with PIC - who knew?), cooking, drinking, eating, and lots of other stuff that has nothing to do with training.

Off-season is over!!!  Yippee!!!  Yes, there is a big race on the horizon and I am super excited to batten down the hatches and do everything I can to meet my goals.  Maybe I'll even update my race schedule when (if) I redesign my blog.

It's all good though.  This is the first time in I'm not sure how long I have taken significant time "off".  I don't think I have ever taken this much time to recharge and refresh.  But I did it.  It's just time to get back to swimbikerun.  And ski.  Workouts have been at an all-time minimum.  But my swim is fine albeit slooooooooow.  Bike is a bit weak - I finally got on the trainer and discovered that my saddle sit bones are a bit, say...out of shape?  Anywho, I still LOVE my ISM saddle, it's just that I have to get back on said saddle.  And then my run.  This is a surprise to me so far -  its pretty good! (more on this in the next post - it deserves it's own post!!)

So yes, off-season is over.  Cookie intervention about to begin.  Time to get rid of my winter insulation (even if it is still winter).

Happy Holidays!!

IMAZ

NO, I didn't race it......although I kinda wished I had!!  I was there though and I have to say, it was fantastic spectating.

One of my athletes, Peter, was doing his first Ironman and I just couldn't stay away (or mini-vacation....whatever).  I wanted to see him succeed in his first IM and to experience the day from a spectator point of view.  Some people don't like spectating......I happen to love it.  It is such a great experience for me to watch IM from the outside, to be the supporter, to take the pictures, to stress out over Ironmanlive.com (OMG it sucks), and to watch the action from the outside.  And knowing what it's like being on the inside of the "athlete's only" side of the fence makes spectating that much more emotional for me.  It reinforces why I love this sport, why I spend oodles of time training, why I compete.  Yes, it makes me just a little bit more hungry for 2012.

Not only did I spectate but I was able to catch up with Punky for a bit the day before the race.  He gave Peter some spectacular advice like consuming an entire pie in transition (apparently they are in the same age group) and drafting is totally OK.  Fortunately, Peter doesn't listen that well:)

Yet another picture proving how vertically challenged  I am

And, after lunch, I was invited to participate in a photo shoot for 3/GO magazine!!  It's for their "Real Profile" series and what can I say.....how much fun is it to have your picture taken by renowned photographer Larry Rosa!!  I hope I didn't have any boogers hanging out my nose (yes, I've had a cold) or any salad left in my teeth.  Assuming that's all good I'm hoping these pictures turn out OK!!!

Spectating is as hard as it ever was but the day was perfect!!  My athlete executed a spectacularly perfect race and had an amazing experience.  As a coach, there is nothing more that you can ask for!!  

And just so you know, his number was 2289 and his time was NOT 22:89!!!

The 2012 race schedule is being finalized and I am excited.  Details will come shortly!! IMAZ 2012 is NOT in the schedule but I really wanted to put my hat in. In the meantime, I am still excelling at the "off-season".  I finally dusted off my bike and have taken it out for a few spins.  And I have jumped in the pool a few times.  It's all good:)!!  But I am getting a bit antsy to get back at it.  Time off is good.  Time off is good!!!

It's almost December so it must be time for another blog makeover.  I've decided to get rid of the 80's day-glo pink:)!!

OK, time for a completely random thought.....the new Twilight movie sucks.  There, I said it.  I've been looking forward to this movie since Breaking Dawn was my favorite book.  The movie though is awful.  Or maybe I'm over it.  Still firmly on Team Edward. My, my Jacob is a moody wolf:)

Hello November!

Would you look at that?  It has been quite some time since my last post!!  And it's not like I've been busy working out or training or anything like that.  Last week consisted of a couple of yoga classes, a couple of swims, a couple of runs.  Hot yoga was the longest session at 1:30.  Oh, and my dog is a very happy walking dog.

Halloween....my little witch!

Yep, there are a gaggle of girls on my col-de-sac.  It is going to be really scary for us parents in a few years.

My hippy:)

I'm doing my best to follow what my body is asking for.  It really hasn't been much and clearly riding my bike has not been at the front of my mind.  But can you blame me?  It's cold.  And snowy.  And cold.  And I cannot find any good reason for me to be on my trainer right now (unless, of course, PIC calls for some trainer company).  It is off-season and time to unplug.  Some athletes only take a few days off after an Ironman, some a few weeks.  But this is time to refresh and recharge and not be married to the numbers on the Garmin taskmaster.  I am slowly but surely getting back into training but plan on keeping a fairly casual approach for the next little while.

More cute kiddo pictures:

First snow day of the 2011-2012 school year.  

My little helpers made shoveling a lot more fun!

In the meantime, I have been cooking.  (yes, the family is cheering in the background)  And reading.  Trying to organize my life.  There have been a couple of additions to my stables (new athletes) to keep me busy and a couple of athletes are finishing up their seasons.  I have room for 1-2 more athletes.....if interested drop me a line!!

Saturday was an awesome day.  In addition to being my birthday, athlete Cody was participating in his first Ironman and I was giddy with excitement!!  I woke up far too early but then realized I could watch the start on the live Ironman feed.....so I snuck out of bed and watched!!  It was great!  Then I went back to bed and slept for another hour.  As soon as I woke up, I checked Cody's swim status - woot woot - awesome swim!!

Time for a bit of hot yoga and then more time in front of the computer.  does anyone else have a love/hate relationship with Ironmanlive.com?  I wasn't getting any bike splits and it was driving me nuts.  But after the kids went off to see Lion King with my parents, Michael and I snuck off to a mid-day movie.  I would be lying if I said I wasn't checking my phone trying to get updates during the movie.......

Look who's wearing a dress!!!!  

I'm not gonna lie....I really wanted to see this!

After the movie we went and tracked down beer and wifi so that I could hopefully see Cody cross the finish line.  That's right, I brought my laptop into the bar and had Ironmanlive on the video feed.  We were both watching intently.....I knew it would be any minute he would be an Ironman.  And then boom, lost the darn video feed.  Are you kidding me?  I got it going again but he had already crossed the finish line.  Needless to say, I was one proud coach:)!!  A bit weird though, his number was 1058....his finish time?  10:58....

The day finished up with a great sushi dinner and froyo with my family!  Thank you to everyone who left me such wonderful birthday wishes on Facebook - WOW!  It was really heart-warming and I was absolutely tickled by all the messages:)