A Big Year Ahead!

Ok, training update:

I'm at the end of week 5 of training for the Illinois Marathon. Here's what my week turned out:

Monday- I did my long run because I worked on Sunday. Did 18 miles like this:

2 mi warm up (10:52, 10:57)
5 mi @ 10:00-10:15 (10:16, 10:12, 10:08, 10:03, 10:01)
5 mi @ 9:30-9:45 (9:29, 9:29, 9:29, 9:30, 9:29)
5 mi @ 9:00-9:15 (9:00, 9:02, 8:58, 8:47, 8:21)
1 mi cool down (11:14) this was thru town in the slush and nastiness, hard to run on!

Tues- normally I do a 6-7 mi recovery run. Didn't do it. My legs are dead and I needed a day off.
Wed- 9 mi of tempo like this:

1.5 mi warm up (1 mi @ 11:02, 0.5 mi @ 10:59)
2 mi @ 8:35-8:45 (8:37, 8:35)
5 min recov (0.5 mi in 5:19 with a pace of 10:28)
2 mi @ 8:25-8:30 (8:23, 8:24)
5 min recov (0.5 mi in 5:07 with a pace of 10:22)
1 mi @ 8:00-8:10 (7:56)
1.5 mi cool down (1 mi @ 10:49, 0.5 mi @ 10:54)

Thurs- I normally do a trainer ride session. Again, feeling dead. Took another day off. (That's two in one week, got to be like a record for me so far this year)

Friday- 7 mi Hills that went like this:

1.5 mi warm up (1 @ 10:37, 0.5 @ 10:44)
1 mi @ 8:30 (8:27)
4 repeats up and down the hill at a steady pace (1.5 mi= 1 mi @ 8:24, 0.5 @ 8:32)
1 mi @ 8:25-8:40 (8:29)
4 repeats up and down the hill at steady pace (1.3 mi= 1 mi @ 8:30, 0.3 @ 8:42)
1.5 mi cool down (0.8 mi @ 9:56)

Sat- (today) to do a 6-7 mi zone recovery run.

The week went good considering how achy and tired I felt. I hit all the major/important runs that I was supposed to and I hit all my paces in those runs. I just took a non active recovery approach this week. But the good news is that I think I've identified the problem. I believe I'm running on dead shoes. I didn't expect them to go dead so fast, so I didn't even think about it. But I forgot that I've been putting in some pretty good mileage in the past 3 months, more than usual. I guess it's time to start searching the internet for my next pair of asics 2150's.

Ok, so no on to the big news!

So far my plans for the year have grown and grown. This was clearly looking like an epic year for me and my racing. So far, I'm signed up for the Lincoln Memorial Half Marathon on April 2nd, the Illinois Marathon on April 30th, and the Ironman 70.3 Racine in July.

Now I've just signed up for the Ironman Louisville! That's right, the big mama of all triathlons! I can't believe I'm going to do it, but it is so exciting. I wanted to get it in before I have children, which we want to do pretty much right away. I told my husband that I would like just one good season of racing before we start trying. He's totally down with that, but I'm not sure he knows just what he's in for. I explained the best I could without having actually done an ironman yet. He gets the fact that I'll be gone training all the time and he's going to support me. That's about it. So, there you have it. One epic year. I just couldn't pass up on the excellent fitness I'll have with the Illinois Marathon and only put that toward the 70.3. Which would have been fine in itself. But I've been dreaming of the full Ironman distance since I started triathlon 3 years ago, and I know I won't have a chance to do it until all of my children are in full day school, and even if that.

That's it for now. We'll see what the coaches have in store for me next week. Should be lots of fun!