Journey To Ironman World Championship 2017 Has Begun

After competing in Hawaii 70.3 in June 2011, I  suddenly got very motivated and wanted to try to qualify and compete in the full Ironman by 2014. Of course, that's a little over a year away and I'm no faster than I was for Ironman Canada 2010, so no way I would qualify. I would have to do an Ironman in under 11 hours to even hope to qualify.

That's okay because my husband and I decided we want to go back to Hawaii for our 5th wedding anniversary, which is in October right around the Ironman World Championship 2017. So why not try to qualify in 2016 for the 2017 race? Perfect!

I am actually glad to pull in the reigns a bit and enjoy some shorter faster races for a couple of years before tackling another Ironman and trying to knock 3 hours off my time from Ironman Florida and Ironman Canada from the past years. That's what it will take if I have any hopes of qualifying for Kona.

My run in those races took over 5 hours so there is an hour right there I can knock off. The rest will have to be the bike time because I think I would only be able to take 20 minutes off the swim, if any.

I've actually already started the training. Running 2 marathons a year and trying to get then under 4 hours like I use to and eating healthier are two of the things I've already started. All the 5k races last April and the sprint races to try to get my speed back and just swimming, at least 2 times a week are other things I'm doing. Getting in the pool is always a struggle for me. I'm full of excuses why I don't. 

Healthier eating includes green smoothies, lots of protein, qunoa, lots of veggies and fruit and hydrating!

Okay, maybe not this...

or this....

But you have to have some balance, right?

Next thing on the plan is another 70.3 in October along with a marathon in November with some sprint tris and half marathons thrown in. My goal for the 70.3 tri is to do it in under 6 hours and the marathon in 4 hours. It's going to be tough!

That's my plan for this year.

Image from computer.howstuffworks.com

I've played with Google calendar and put some of my training plan on it. I didn't realize that it sends emails to you to remind you of upcoming items on your calendar.

The past several days I've been getting emails of workouts I've missed. Actually, the only ones I've missed are the swim workouts. Well, most are the swim workouts. I had to shorten my long run Sunday down to 7 miles from the original 10 I wanted to do because of the heat and the fact my legs were sore for reasons I really don't understand. They have been sore all week and don't seem to be recovering as quickly as I need them to.

One thing for certain is I need to shape up cause this shit's about to get real!

Kona 2017. Will I be at the start line?

Hell yes I will!