Nordicgirl Adventures 2019 Part 2 - March & April

March and April, I became a slave to my ultimate goal. Nobody said training would be easy and with May 31st just around the corner this would become my biggest challenge of my life. When I did my first triathlon, i nearly died, being that it was a very small sprint size, what's all the fuss I thought. For me being the fully motivated and sometimes crazy person, I thought, forget the Olympic size, lets head straight for the Half Iron .. needless to say i put everything into being able to survive that day, more on that in Part 3! 

My schedule was somewhat of what a hamster would endure on the wheel.. going around and around, and it felt like there was no stopping at all. Every single day.. don't stop ! keep moving.  

My swimming became my place to work out all my emotions, days of frustration, happiness and just general work computer related problems.  Only an IT person would understand this !

Keith, my best friend and my training partner.. did his best to keep me moving, but he had his own goals, and sometimes, it was hard to keep the momentum going, cause there was no one pushing me along. Days of slacking off came, usually, I crashed every 5 weeks, getting sinus issues and the odd cold.. but i managed to get back up on the horse and keep moving.

Keith and I did a practice run as a relay of the UBC Triathlon. Worst event ever ! Will never do that again.  I did the swim and bike, Keith did the run. You see after 3 years, i have been suffering with IT band issues, so running has been put on hold in my life, and still today, i don't dare go back to it anytime soon.

The day of the UBC Triathlon, i was freaking out. We left, it was hard to tell where I needed to be, what to do, once we arrived, I was able to check in and figure it out, but the lack of organization had befuddled me, as this is suppose to be the highly anticipated event to start the triathlon season.

When I started the swim, i placed myself in where i thought i should be able to hold pace. As soon as I hit the pool, i panicked, I was passed by many people, my heart rate jumped up way too high, the water was very cold, and to top it off, i had never swam in a 50 m pool !  somehow i made it through, my time was horrible and i was already disappointed in myself.  When i got out of the pool, we had to run outside and change in a tent on the cold cement. That was not pleasant. As Keith reminded me, go for comfort, so take the time, and put on the best clothes for the next leg.

The bike was next. that was OK. I can ride a bike, no problem, and luckily the snow had been gone for a day or two prior, so riding was good. Small hills and 2 loops. I managed to get a good timing on that. When i finished my first loop, i came barreling around the corner, and saw my co-worker and my work dog, standing there. I felt so empowered at that point, so i took off as a quick and went for loop 2.

The last leg, was up to Keith !  thank god for that... He left with a smile, and i went and stood and waited at the finish line for him. And as usual he arrived with a smile.  We were done! I felt relieved, but I was so pissed off about the swim, it took me days to get over that. 

Hello January 2018

Happy New Year !  What does 2018 bring for you ? Hopefully something fun !

I am glad that 2017 is over ! It was the last year we owned our business, and it has been a challenge to run it to the end but now it is over and we are moving forward !

From a fitness standpoint !  Well as you may know I starting working with a Coach from Forerunners, Jerry Ziak. (featured right)
Greatest guy I have ever met and very patient.  Most of my training with him, has been spent in recovery and now we are starting to move forward from a injury I sustained 9 months ago. Even though he is my run coach, we still work on the bike too. As long as your moving, that's all that matters at this point for me.

This is the year, I will turn 50, and with that, my goal for this year is to run a 5 km and set my personal best.  In the spring I am scheduled to run a 10km  and then I will aim for a half marathon next November (Vancouver Fall Classic).   Big Goals so I'm told ! I hope to  accomplished  it in 50 year of life !

January 1st started out with the Running Room's Resolution Run.
This is one that I ran with a few friends of mine. I did alright, 36 mins for 5 km. I was hurting that day, not feeling that well. As I started to run, i eased into it and it became a lot better. Pleased with my time, 30% improvement for time from 2016.

This was also the day I started with Team 'Medal Heads'  and Run the Year 2018. Myself, my friend Amy and 2 new FB friends, log our miles together to reach 2018 miles in one year. At the rate we are going, we will be done in 8 months !  Its a awesome challenge. Maybe this will become a tradition !

Besides my running goals, I have a Cycling race all set up for June 2018. This year I will be flying to Norway to see my family and race the midsummer event. The event is called the Strykeprøven which means
'Strength Test'. I will ride in the 136 km distance this year.  Should be interesting and fun.  I am fortunate that I will make the trip this year.

Signing out.... More on ambassadorships I am involved in for 2018 !

Update..... Where is your health check ?

Its been quite a while, since I sat down and wrote an update.  2017 has been a year of up's and down's. Starting with achieving great progression with health. Along the way, there has been disappointments with knee bio-mechanics, but overall, I am moving forward.

In May I started with a Run Coach. When people hear that, they think.. WOW... you must be a real athlete. Um..... sure.   Well getting there in my own good time. :)  However it was the best decision I had made to keep me moving forward. A literally had 1 good month with my coach, and then my knee started to act up. frustrating. With encouragement and positive thoughts, I kept moving.

Working with coach, has allowed me to keep my cardio going, but also to achieve other goals within cycling and swimming.  When I decided to use a run coach, my decision was based on what my downfall was. Last year I had done a triathlon, and I totally fell behind running.  I struggled with it, I struggled with IT band syndrome, due to not running with proper form. It was harsh ! So to fix that, you concentrate on that discipline. Made my decision a lot easier.

Running for me has encompassed a full cardio development for me, but it has helped with Mental health. My best friend started to run a million years ago, due to mental health, and yes it works !
As I have gone through many changes in my past couple years, anxiety is the main one that creeps in once in a while.

Now a few months later, I feel great and I keep it moving !