What I Did on my Holiday

Thwack!

OK, it wasn't so much of a thwack, as a silent appearance on my computer screen.  It was my new training program from Coach Dave.

It was like the end of the summer holidays and Day 1 of school - and my "textbook" for the coming months had just landed in my inbox, arriving with a satisfied thump and returning me back to irongirl normality.

Ironman New Zealand 2015 - Race Report

Ironman #9 was about to start and I had a plan.  In fact I had two plans.

Plan A?  A finish time starting with a 12.  I am the proud owner of a set of finish times starting with 16, 15, 14 and 13.  Now I want a 12 and this was going to be the race in which to go for it.

Except my body had other ideas.

Ironman New Zealand 2015 - Set to be Another Unique Adventure

Well this is it - 1 sleep to go and we'll be back on the start line of another fantastic Ironman New Zealand adventure.

And despite this being IM #9 for me, this one will be no carbon copy of any before.  

Recovery Post-Kona - The Longest Ever?

This tweet popped up on my feed about three weeks ago and what a welcome sight it was!  

I knew that I would need to take time to recover from Kona ... and three ironmans in one year ... 

But I didn't expect to still be actively managing my fatigue levels into January.  

A New Year's Challenge - The 100 x 100 swim set

The call went out about a week ago.

Around the triathlon community various groups were challenging each other to complete the famous 100 x 100 swim set as a way to herald in the new year.  A local triathlon facebook group that I'm part of, run by Her Coach-His Coach, decided to join in and sent out the challenge to the group - extend yourself by completing either the full 100 x 100 or a smaller distance, as long as it's longer than you've ever swum before (otherwise where would the challenge be?!).

So what is this mad undertaking?

A Look at My Journey

A couple of weeks ago I made a video of my journey to ironman and Kona.

It was made for an ambassador program application run by sports media company, Witsup.  Witsup focuses on women's triathlon and is dedicated to promoting women in the sport - a fantastic initiative.  Even more fantastic is that their annual ambassador program received 65 applications this year from women keen to promote and inspire fellow women to join them in the sport.

Kona 2014 - Reflections on the Race of a Lifetime

It's good to be back home. Rested and now finally in my off-season, I've had a chance to gather my thoughts, spend some quality time with St Pete and reflect on Kona and the experience it was.

Finishing Kona was more than just finishing another ironman.  Or finishing ironman #8.  The lasting memory is that it feels like I have come of age as a triathlete.