2016 in Review and 2017 Goals
2016 was one heck of a year. Here is a little bit of 2016 in review. Hip Surgery At the end of 2015 I had an arthroscopy to repair a labral tear and the damage caused from running three marathons with the tear in my left hip. I had this surgery a couple days before Christmas and started the first of the year beginning my rehab.
Bend Half Marathon I love the Bend Half/Full Marathon. 2015 was the inaugural year and I ran the full marathon while my dad ran the half. This year due to the race being only four months after my surgery and about two full months after I was cleared to run I did the half along with my husband and my mother.
While in Bend I got the chance to ride with one of my long time motivators and inspiration, Kristen Yax with Glitter and Dust. I had been following her for a couple years and finally got the chance to meet her!
I did not have high expectations for this race as it was my first one back and I had just wanted to get a good workout in. I ended up having a great run and took home a first overall female spot again.
The best part of this race was that I did it with my husband and mother both of whom, in my opinion crushed it! This race has become a family tradition and we have plans to do it again.
Troika
Troika is one of my favorite races in Spokane. It is such a great early season local race. This was the second time that I did the 70.3 and again I did not have high expectations as I was merely doing it to see where I was after the surgery.
I ended up pulling out a 13 minute personal record on this course and taking away the overall female win. It was such a confidence builder for me as I really didn't know how well I would perform after the surgery. I had gone into the surgery believing that I would come back but there is always still that little bit in the back of your mind that listens to those people who told me there was no way I could race in 2016.
The exciting part for me during this race was that I had a great swim PR. Thanks to the surgery I had been doing a lot of swimming and a lot of lifting, it had made a HUGE difference in my performance out in the lake. Something I will see again later at Ironman Arizona.
The Inaugural 70.3 at Couer d'Alene and it turned out to be a perfect day for this race. In 2016 Ironman moved things around by adding a 70.3 at the end of June in preparation for the full Ironman that they moved to the end of August. This was perfect for me as I am better at training in the summer and it gave me more time to train when the sun was shining.
This race didn't turn out to be my best as I had some pretty serious GI issues during it, and for the first time ever in a race I actually had to stop and spend some quality time with a porta-potty. For me what turned out to be the important piece of this race is that I did not give in during the run. When I got off the bike I was struggling with serious stomach cramping and serious low blood sugar due to not being able to ingest any nutrition. For the first half I was not sure how I was going to get through the run portion, but after going to the bathroom I was able to get some sugar in me and spent the second half chipping away at my time.
I ended up coming in 5th for my age group, and while it was not the time that I wanted for this race I am proud that I did not give in.
Spending time with my husband
I spent a large portion of the spring, summer, and fall training I still found as much time as possible to golf with my husband and family. My husband is a really good golfer so it is fun to go with him, even if I just walk along with him. This coming year I plan to spend more time actually playing so that I improve.
This September we did the JDRF walk with his parents, they do it every year and this year we decided to do it with them. It was such a beautiful day for a walk and I was glad to get a chance to support a cause that is near and dear to our hearts.
After Ironman we were able to have more date nights and enjoy more low key activities. We went to a paint night with my in laws and enjoyed a wonderful Christmas dinner with friends and family. The last month of the year was filled with family, fun, and lots of love.
On July 23rd about a month before Ironman CdA I was hit from behind by a car on a training ride. This resulted in a broken ankle and damage to basically my whole left side.
Due to the accident I had to DNS from Ironman CdA as I ended up being on crutches right up until the race.
Mexico for our 1 year anniversary
This trip had been planned to be a two fold celebration of completing Ironman CdA and our 1 year anniversary. Instead it became finish recovering from the accident and celebrate our 1 year anniversary. The trip to Mexico actually came a perfect time as I was just beginning to get back to normal from the accident, yet still had some time before I would be cleared to start training for Ironman Arizona - my dear usband had signed me up for IM AZ right after my accident so that I could get my Ironman in still.
We had such a great time in Mexico, we did whatever it was that we wanted and for the two of us that meant golfing,relaxing, swimming in the ocean, and working out twice a day.
On the last day Brandon took me horse back riding on the beach at sunset. I had never ridden a horse and holy cow was it fun to do on the beach. It was so peaceful and beautiful. You could just watch the sunset as we sauntered down the beach listening to the waves crash. It couldn't have been more perfect.
It was a great trip to finish healing and to get myself mentally ready to begin training hard for Ironman Arizona.
I had just about three months from the day I was cleared to officially start training again to race day. When I started the Ironman Arizona journey I was 100% confident I would get myself to the start line and I would finish but I had no idea if it would be to the standards I set for myself.
Training for this was tough. I had already been training for 7 months for Ironman CdA and was trying to keep up with my rehab at the same time. That meant working full time, training full time, and going to rehab three days a week on top of it all.
I am very thankful for my husband as he kept me on track and sane as I moved through this training. There were a lot of times I was beyond exhausted and didn't want to do anything, he pushed me out of bed in the morning or talked into my swim that I needed to get done.
On November 20th I stood in the line for the start of Ironman Arizona to get ready to begin a journey that I had no idea would end the way that it did (see my race report linked above for more details, if I went into it all here you would be bored to tears at how long this post was).
I ended up qualifying for Kona at Ironman Arizona by winning my age group with a time of 10 hours and 15 minutes.
Deciding to go to Kona was not the easiest choice for me as there was a lot behind the story than just triathlons, I had other aspects in life I had to take into consideration while choosing. In the end my husband and I decided that there was no way I could turn down this opportunity and I accepted it.
UP NEXT 2017.......
With 2016 finishing up and enjoying some reminiscing over all the amazing things that happened over the past year it is time to start to look forward into 2017 and plan the goals I have. Below are some of the goals I have for the 2017 year.
Some of you may know but not long before Ironman Arizona I became an associate for Isagenix so that I could begin to grow the business. With wanting to start a family, maintain my ability to train, and be able to be a part of my families life without always having to leave for work I needed to take a chance on something to be able to work from home. I had been using the Isagenix products for a while and really believed in them and decided to take a chance to see what I could do to grow a business and give myself the opportunity to work from home with a flexible schedule.
I plan to spend 2017 working to grow my business with the goal to have had two more business growers join my team, what eventually will be called Team Passion, by the middle of the year.
Is it a risky plan? yes it is as you never know if it will work but if you don't try something you never know and I have a dream to be able to work from home so I can spend time with my family, be able to travel and train, to be able to have it all and if I don't try I'll never have it.
Learn to golf
I've been slowly slowly learning how to golf however this year I plan to spend more time doing so. It will be a little tricky with training for Kona at the same time however it is important to me to learn something that both my husband and I can do together (he is a very good golfer) so that just means I will have to balance a little bit.
Go sub 5 hrs
This has been a goal of mine for about two years now. I got really close last year at Troika and had planned to do so at Ironman 70.3 CdA however due to my GI issues I did not. This year hopefully will be my year. I have one to two 70.3s on my schedule while prepping for Ironman Kona World Championships and hope to be able to spend this spring decreasing my splits in all three disciplines. Maybe it will lead to qualifying for 70.3 worlds??? :)
I got myself an interactive power trainer so that one I can make rides on the trainer more fun but I can also start to train with power in order to improve my bike split. Everyone who has ever trained with power has made huge improvements on their bike split and I want to be one of them.
I also plan to work on decreasing my swim time a bit and of course always working on the run portion. The swimming piece will be the hardest part for me as it is my weakest leg and the one I dislike the most; they always say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
Kona
As most of you that follow me are aware I qualified for Kona this past November. This will be the big goal of 2017 and what most of my training will be dedicated to. I am excited for this journey because it is leading me to try new things, explore new training (such as power training), and really focus on improving my triathlon time as a whole.
I'm also excited for this race because its turning into a wonderful family vacation. Brandon's parents haven't been on a vacation in about 7 years and they are coming with so it will be a great time to enjoy family time and just relax all together. Plus I have never been to this island so hopefully we will get some time to explore a little bit, though I can't complain about just having an awesome pool to relax by after the race.
Coaching
I am really excited to announce that in 2017 I will be offering training plans for running and triathlon. There will be a multitude of options from one on one coaching to automatic download plans. Coaching is something I have always wanted to do and as with my Isagenix business I figured why wait? More to come on this as the new year officially starts but I wanted to add it to my 2017 goals as growing my online coaching presence is one of them.
**Disclaimer: I am not a certified nutritionist or personal trainer. However, I have a strong background in physical therapy, biology, and human anatomy based on my Biology degree from Gonzaga University and the four years I spent working in physical therapy. I have a strong knowledge of running from my many years as a track and cross country running and triathlons including two time West Coast Conference Cross Country team for Gonzaga University Cross Country and Track. Additionally, always consult your physical before starting any exercise or nutrition program and if you have any symptoms or concerns stop activity immediately and seek medical attention.
Balance Training and life with my husband
This is always toI ugh to do and with training for Kona I know there will be times when I put training first. always try hard to make sure instead of putting my training first I put my husband first. I am lucky in that he is very understanding and supportive towards my training. With another year of training headed my direction it is one of my goals to work hard to balance both the training with spending time with my husband, I hope to improve on this during 2017 as I have a better understanding of Ironman training this time around.
