And now, for something a little different ...

When I signed up for Ironman this time around, I said that I wanted to train a bit differently.  At the time, I wasn't too sure what that meant, but now it's starting to come into focus.

Run:  I've signed up for a spring half marathon with the goal of working on my speed and form.  Probably in the reverse order - hopefully some speed will come from working on my form.  If you ever watch me running, I look like an old lady shuffling along.  The photo above is an aberration, which is why it's my cover shot, natch.  In general, I barely raise my knees enough to lift my foot off the ground and somehow my arms always look like I'm holding them in front like a sad and pathetic Tyrannosaurus Rex.  So I'm hoping all those high knee and butt kicker drills will transform me into at least a middle-aged woman shuffling along.

Bike:  Actually, there probably won't be too much different on the biking front - I'll be doing Mountains of Misery again, for the third time.  That's a pretty challenging 100 miler in May, so I'll have to be fairly bike fit by then.  But, the BIG difference, will be my ride.

My new bike arrived in today!  And she's so very beautiful.  If you remember, the purchasing experience was long and drawn out.  In the end, the bike I chose was a Specialized Amira Expert.  In the team Lululemon color scheme.  Not that I even own any Lululemon clothes - I just liked the pattern on the bike which reminds me of the NZ symbol - the silver fern (keep your eyes peeled for our alternative flag at the Olympics).  And ultegra Di2s (electronic shifting) which I probably should never have test ridden, because I just had to have them after that.  I'll pick her up on Saturday and she may get her first outing on Sunday.

Swim:  Ah, there is the strange and unexpected "different."  Under severe FOMO pressure, I have put my name in the lottery to swim 4.4 miles across the Chesapeake Bay (roughly the distance from Kilbirnie to Petone, straight across the harbor).  I'm not 100% sure why - all this training isn't going to buy me much on the swim portion of the Ironman, except an ease in the water and hopefully a nice extended warm up for the bike.  But for the past few months, I've possibly maybe occasionally been enjoying swim training.  I've felt like I'm finally developing some small power in my stroke and have gotten consistent in my pacing.  So I figured it's now or never.  I may as well push myself in a year where I have to build distance anyway, eh?

Strength:  I know that I need to do more strength work - attend bootcamp, pick up some weights now and then.  I know that it'll make all the difference in remaining injury free and being able to generate leg power for the bike and run.  But truth to tell I'm just keeping in mind the IMLP finish line photo of my friend and bootcamp instructor  Sherri, which generated comments like "wow - look at those guns."  I want to look that good crossing the finish line.  Ah, vanity, they name is woman.

Goals:  I've never had anything except general race goals and the original weight loss goal.  In 2014, I have taken a leaf out of my friend Debbie's book and set individual workout goals - miles run and biked, swim workouts completed, bootcamps attended and so forth.  I'm not sure I'll ever bother taking my Garmin off my wrist.

But all of this has already had a pretty major impact on my days.  Not only do I have to arrange my training schedule around my new work digs (they moved us somewhere I can't drive to every day, so now I mix it up between teleworking, metro, run and bike commuting), but each week, I have to negotiate three training schedules (Team Z, PRR run and Chesapeake Bay swim c/o Mark E) and 10-12 workouts per week (long weekend swim?  long midweek run?  Both very new for me).  My life is dictated by a small collection of printouts that are bound together with a pretty pink jump ring.  I carry them around, mark off completed workouts, study them on a Friday to map out exactly where I'll be when and how I get there for the next week.

Now admittedly last week didn't have too many workouts marked off, but there's nothing quite like facing down New Years to get back in the pool, on the saddle, and in the sneakers.  Here's to 2014!