70.3 Training Update Week 1

I have finally signed up for a half-ironman in June of this year, combining it with a long weekend away (without kids) to Elsinore in Denmark. Week 1 of a 24 week training plan done and I decided to blog about it...purely for accountability reasons - statistics tell me that if I make this commitment public I am more likely to achieve my goal. 

Background
I have done a few sprint and olympic distance triathlons in the past and have also run a lot of 5 and 10k races and one half marathon a few years back, but more recently, while pregnant with my second child, I developed a Morton's Neuroma (nerve thickening) in my right foot which took two years and finally surgery to resolve. During that time, I could swim and cycle but couldn't run so have not done any running for two years prior to starting this plan. I work fulltime and regularly travel internationally with my job, I have two kids and a husband who travels weekly with his job.

So why add a half ironman into the mix? If I'm honest, with the lifestyle that I have, when the weekends come around I'm pretty exhausted (read lazy) so if I don't have a big scary goal looming in the distance, I simply will not get off my ass to exercise. I prefer to aim for endurance over speed and for this race, it's just about finishing it injury-free....let's see how it pans out.  

I defined my training plan based on a 'super-simple 70.3 training plan I found online by Matt Fitzgerald.
I adjusted it to make it work for my timeframe (24 weeks) and my lifestyle (work, family, travel etc). Also, because I have been completely out of action for 8 weeks, I had to add in two strength and conditioning sessions to each week initially to try to regain the strength I had pre-op.  You can track my training here


Week 1 training update
Week 1 was very slow but pretty steady...started with an 800m swim on Monday, did a strength and conditioning session in our garage gym (a work in progress, pics to follow) on Tuesday, managed a 4km run and a 20km bike ride during my lunchbreaks Wednesday and Thursday, and did a Tabata session on Friday morning before work. I had intended to do another bike ride on Saturday but due to muscle pain after the Tabata I decided to let my body rest (last thing I want is to get injured in week 1), and instead took my bike to the bike shop for a service (where they  nearly convinced me to buy two new wheels for a mere €1000...still thinking about it!) and today (sunday) I jogged the 6km to my local gym, did a 1km swim there and then my daughter joined me for a play around in the kids pool. 

Gratitude
I have decided to note at least one thing I'm grateful for each week, to remind me during the tough times that it's not all bad! This week I am grateful for the fact that I could run 6km to my gym (albeit slowly) without pain! I have friends who are injured or sick who would absolutely love to be able to feel healthy enough to go for a run. Having been unable to run for two years I certainly appreciate every run I do.. And I hope that when I'm 50, 60 and 70 I will still be able to run. 

All done for this week!