Ragnar

Kim with Ragnar teammates Mary Jane and Brynne

Kate's right--February has flown by. It's hard to believe that Ironman is only 8 months away!
I ran Ragnar this past weekend. For those of you who are not familiar with Ragnar, it's a 12 person relay race where each runner runs 3 legs of the race over the 24-30 hour period. The Del Sol race runs from Wickenburg to Tempe.

This is the 2nd year I've run Del Sol (I ran Great River MN/WI a couple years ago). My first leg was about 5 miles and was during the hottest part of the day on Friday. It did not go well. I overheated and was sick. I did recover and my 3.3 mile night run about 12 hours later went great! My final run on Saturday afternoon was also about 3.3 miles and went well despite the heat.

As is the Ragnar norm, all of this was done on about an hour's sleep!! This year I decided not to follow Ragnar with a tri on Sunday morning. :) So I was able to recover and rest. I actually felt pretty good the next day. As one of my teammates said--my leg must've been too easy for me.

And, our other Ironmom, Kristin, ran on an ultra team (only 6 runners instead of 12!). She's amazing.
I am looking forward to the Phoenix 1/2 marathon on Saturday!!

"Women of Your Age"

Hey ladies!  I thought I would report in.  Can you believe it is almost March already?!  How did that happen? 

Since I last wrote I ran another half Marathon.  I ran a race called the Lost Dutchman.  It was awesome.  It was a small race out in Apache Junction.  Most of the run you are running toward Superstition Springs Mountain.  Verry Pretty. I highly recommend it.

I ran with my bro-in-law Peter again again.  This time we ran 4:1s instead of 3:1s.  I felt much strong than the last race.  I ended up taking 10 minutes off my time.  I still wasn't rocket fast but my final time was 2:37.  I felt pretty good. 

I'm hitting a spin class twice a week during work and getting a long ride in on the weekend.  I am not close to ready for a Half Ironman.  I looked at my training from 2010 and I was much farther along than i am now.  I feel much more balanced than I did the first time but that might not equal great training.  We shall see. 

One more thing, I have a fitness guy at work that is helping to keep me on track.  He is actually doing a workplace wellness program and he knows I'm training for the Ironman.  He makes sure I'm not slacking and heckles me if I slack.  Thursday he said "Women of YOUR Age" need strength training.  He said my body is losing muscle and bone density.  If I don't replace it my metabolism will slow way down.  I was thankful for his tip and offended I was THAT age!  Ugh.  Oh well.  At least I'm trying. 

SWIM!  BIKE! RUN!

 

Training?!

Can you believe that we are already a week into February?  Time is already flying by in 2012.  I am trying to recover from a cold (colds really) that has plagued me since the first week in December.  Every time I think I'm recovered, I seem to get a new bug.  So, I have spent the better part of the last 2 weeks focusing on getting rest.  It also means that my training has taken a pretty big hit. 

In order to be ready to hit the ground running when I start my "official" Ironman training regimen, I want to lose some lbs and so I have been learning about training for weight loss v. training for performance.  Now, I have to admit I haven't really looked at training with a specific goal other than to get in better shape.  I have been frustrated when the numbers on the scale don't reflect my efforts in the gym.  I am finding that I am getting my heart rate too high for too long to train for weight loss.  I am learning how to better maximize my work out for my goal of losing weight.  So, as a result here are my new training goals for February and March:

1.) Eat more calories, but choose healthier calories--my body thinks I'm starving so it's holding on to weight I want to lose.
2.) Lift more weights--more muscle=greater calorie burn.
3.) Focus on heart rate during cardio workouts--try to stay in the "fat burning" zone.
4.) Be o.k. with slower times in upcoming races (Ragnar, Phoenix 1/2)--since I'm training for weight loss I might lose ground with performance a bit.
5.) Train intervals--weight loss can be enhanced by incorporating more interval training into a workout regimen

Now, it's time to get on track and start moving!