Day 4

Thursday February 6

Time to hit the road.....I WISH!!
Due to the weather being stinky yucky freezing most the time right now obviously my workouts are 99% indoors. Today was a long day on the bike.
There I was in the spin room, in the dark, by myself, for 2 hours.
...No that description is not a sign of severe depression, my spin was awesome!
Yes I will admit that it was challenging. But I'll also admit that I'm proud of that. I could have just said ok I will ride for X amount of time and see how far I get. But instead I was constantly setting goals for my mileage. I was thrilled when I hit 30 miles at 1 hour, 57 minutes and 12 seconds.
No, that isn't really fast at all. But I'm pushing myself and I've got to start somewhere! I had never done that amount of mileage in that amount of time before. I think that last summer I'd done about that distance on a leisurely and totally awesome with Liz Jorgensen. But I had never sat down and said ok I'm going hard and I'm going 30 miles. It feels good to do new things. To start somewhere.
YOU can start today. Whatever it is you've thought "I should do that" or "one day I will"
Why not today?!
If I can make a fool of myself in the pool and sit in that empty cycling room spinning my legs then you can take a step towards your goal to!  - Even if that step is making your goal.

Be Well My Friends

Day 3

Wednesday February 5th

Back to the pool. Sadly one of the only things that got me into the pool today was thinking "after today I don't have to get back in the pool until FRIDAY!" that was my happy thought. It actually took me less time to get in the pool than usual - that's progress! Again I did 1,000 yards in the pool. Some just straight endurance swimming and then especially a lot of the drills I am working on. Today was actually really rewarding in the pool because for the first time I felt like I was improving! I will take progress any day (even when it's as minuscule as this is).

Before getting in the pool I had started out my day with a great spin class and then stayed after a few minutes to hit my 20 mile goal.

Day 2

Tuesday February 4th
Don't forget to rest.

I have to tell myself that.

Today was one of those days.

Not even associated with this training program I just hardly EVER go a day without exercising (besides Sundays). But occasionally I have to take the time to listen to my body and slow down if needed.
Now that that's out of the way...bring on tomorrow!

18 weeks out. Day one.

Monday February 3rd

Today was technically day one. I've got 18 weeks until my race.
On the to do list today was to swim 1,000 yards and bike 20 miles.

I was lucky and had the day off from school (praise) and also I just don't have work on Mondays. So since I had all day and was feeling energetic I did a little extra.
I went to my favorite 9:00 spin class, I couldn't get there before class so I just kept riding after class ended until I hit my 20 miles.
Then I decided to do a light jog for 40 minutes. And when I say light I mean it, not fast for most of it. I'm not sure how far I went, being on a small indoor track makes it hard to keep track. But I did keep track of my last 2 miles and did them around a 7.5 -8 minute pace.
Next was a much needed long stretch session/rolling out on the foam roller. Then I finished that off with a little bit of abs and light arm workout.
Then it was time to hit the pool...it seriously took so much self discipline to get me in there.
But never fear, I did make it. I did a solid 500 first, then took a "break" to do the swimming drills we're assigned for my class. These are not easy! They are sooo basic but I love it because that's just what I need. Then (even though I did not want to) I did my last 500 set. It kind of hurt.
BUT I've got to say that it felt great to do all the things that I had set out to do that day.

October - January: building my base

I've known for a while that this coming summer would probably be when I would want to do my first half ironman. So back in October after doing my sprint I already had it in the back of my mind.
I've always been a consistent runner, and was training for a half marathon on November 1st (Snow Canyon Half Marathon - so much fun and gorgeous!), but I also tried to start being better about biking and swimming. The biking wasn't too tough, until the weather really got cold in December I would commute about 12 miles a day to school on my bike and also started going to Spin Class 2-3 times a week. I love spin class. Like a lot. Seriously if you've never done it and want to try something new, challenging, high energy and time efficient - go get yourself on a bike TODAY!
The swimming was more of a challenge. It takes a lot for me to get into the pool. It's pathetic. I stand there at the end of the lane for at least 5 minutes, swim cap and goggle on just staring at the water, looking at the clock and telling myself ok in 30 seconds I'll get in...alright 1 more minute etc etc. This goes on for way too long. I hate that shock factor of the water being cold at first. And I hate having to dry my hair etc afterwards. But swimming is such a great workout! Talk about using muscles that I wasn't used to using all the time. (ouch). Through October - December I probably really only got in the pool once every ten days or so. but once January hit I told myself I HAD to kick it into gear if I would ever be able to swim 1.2 miles in open water (yikes). For the first couple weeks I made it in about twice a week. Now my goal is a minimum of 3 times per week.

I'm also doing a Triathlon Training program that the Provo Rec Center is offering. It's 2 hours every saturday for 12 weeks. We work on biking and running and going over things like nutrition and transitions etc. But more than anything we are learning to swim. Like really swim.
My stroke is NOT efficient. People talk about how swimming should almost feel effortless...well those people have never been swimming with my body that's for sure. Right now we are on our second week of the program and it's great, my stroke is very slowly improving and each day I am seeing more of things that I have to fix. But you've got to start somewhere right?

February 3rd was the first "official day" of my training program. Not gonna lie it's nice to have something specific to stick to that keeps me on track. It's not easy and is challenging me, but I'm excited about the time when I won't feel like such a newbie at these things. I will get there. I've promised myself that.

This is hard.
And hard is good.

Stay Well My Friends

Should I TRI it?

I've been an athlete all my life. I've always loved it. Dodge ball in elementary? - sometimes that was more exciting than Christmas day for this girl. Turkey Trot? - bring it on.  Four square? - challenge accepted. Team sports were especially my thing growing up. I played basketball through junior high, but my true and first love was soccer. Remember those little girls idolizing Mia Hamm, Brandy Chastain, Joy Fawcett (my personal favorite) and Julie Foudy back in 1999? That was so totally me. I got way into soccer which led me to a spot where by the time I was about 13 I definitely wasn't going to let anything stand in my way of playing. Therefore that became a huge focus of my whole life. It really shaped who I am, brought me lifelong friendships I still enjoy, taught me to work hard and a million other life lessons. I eventually ended up playing at Utah State University (loved it!). Also along the way I fell in love with exercise. "My name is Ellen Irion and I am addicted to endorphins". I love to push myself and get out of my comfort zone. To have goals that seem just a little bit too lofty and out of reach; because then when I reach them it feels GREAT!
Through all those years playing soccer and being so focused on that year round there was a passion/goal building inside me. One of those things that you say "ya one day I'll definitely get into that" - well the day has arrived! For me the sport I would always say that about was TRIATHLON.
And now in the last 6 months or so I've decided to really go for it with Triathlon.

I bought my first road bike back in July (an older Trek model from KSL Classifieds) and signed up for my first Sprint triathlon. I talked to a few friends that are experienced for advice, read all sorts of things online and more than anything I swam swam swam.
I did that sprint the first week of October and it was SO FUN! People talk about catching the triathlon "bug"...I feel like I caught it years ago but now it's in full force!

Now fast forward to winter 2014. The goal is set. I've chosen a race (and some leading up to it), given them my money and blocked out the date....Half Ironman Boise June 7th here I come!!

1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run.
I'm totally new at this. But hey, I'm going to TRI it.
Sure I've done a lot of endurance training in the past...but I am definitely a beginner at this sport. So this blog will be where I document my trainings, struggles, triumphs, lessons learned etc etc...

Ready or not, here we go!

Well...here it goes.
For a long time I've considered starting some sort of health/fitness focused blog. Now here it is!
My name is Ellen...my friends and favorites call me Ell.
I'm a former college athlete, lover of nutrition, health enthusiast, avid exerciser, lover of food that tastes good and is good for you, aspiring triathlete and just someone who loves having fun with an active lifestyle.
Hopefully we'll be seeing posts about exercise, nutrition, goals, recipes, workouts, challenges and honest thoughts about taking care of you and your family and all things that can help us to "BE WELL" in all areas of our lives.
Welcome to Ell's "Be Well's"