15 weeks and counting...

Counting DOWN that is! That's right -- I am signed up for another Ironman!!! News to some, but not really to others. Not wanting to be that person who ONLY talks about Ironman, training, etc. I have tried really hard to keep my life balanced while on this endeavor (HA!), but seriously, I think I have been pretty good about it.

HOWEVER, it is getting closer and what I realized is that I do need a place to talk about it... and that place is going to be HERE.

So... to catch you all up (and by you all, I have no idea who is reading this, but it is intended for my family and friends who want to be part of this journey), this is how I came to the decision.

(1) I needed a BIG GOAL for this year. I figured out speed wasn't my thing and what really excites and challenges me is distance.

From that I decided:
 (2) IRONMAN or LEADVILLE 100? This was a harder decision, as I was doing some ultra running last year and really loving it. (See here for details.)  In the end, I decided on IM and here's why:

• I wanted to do another IM before 'retiring.'

  

  That's Mike Reilly saying (one more/probably last time)
  "Randi Strand, from Aurora Colorado, YOU are an Ironman!"

• If I am going to do another IM, it's gonna be Wisconsin cuz nothing can beat having family and close friends on the course.

  

  You're all gonna be there this time, right?

• There is a huge Colorado contingent training for IMMOO this year.

  

  Ok, so they're not ALL going, but you get the idea. Bonus points if you can find me and Ross in this picture.

• Ever since Jason cheered me on for my first IM (see 2 picts above), I said I would be there for his first IM (and he's doing it this year!).
  

  

  Us at his first 70.3 in 2013. Yes, I'm that short.

  
  

• Ross wanted to do more biking this year (read: if I trained for IM, he'd be with me for some biking. If I trained for Leadville, I was training solo). Ross also promised that if I signed up for IMMOO that he would do a bike tour with me! More on that later. (Like June 22 later.)

  

  My favorite training partner!

So... IRONMAN it is!

AND, the other thing I needed was a plan and some motivating factors. 
In the past, I have relied on making vision boards to keep me mentally motivated -- I'm a total visual person. But this time around I thought a countdown would help. I wanted to remind myself to seize every week of training and to have fun and some accomplishments along the way. Which was where THIS was generated:

My own personal visual aid - the beginning...

AND, currently it looks like THIS: 

Today. Still a work in progress.

It hangs in my office, so I see it everyday and can be reminded not only of the journey ahead but the parts of the journey that I have already completed.


While there are no blog posts documenting these steps so far (I kind of wish there were), I am planning to keep this blog going forward. So, follow me along the way, on race day or not at all! Totally up to you, but I am going to use this as my outlet to prepare mentally, live out emotionally and share with you my journey... Cuz Lord knows I am gonna need the support come race day! ...And probably every day before.


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P.S.
(for those of you who kept reading)
Just recently, my coach reminded me of my goals, so I wanted to share them with you. As my support system (you get that title simply by reading this), I hope you will help hold me accountable to them.
(1) train consistently
(2) balance that training with family
(3) train WITH Ross
(4) have a good day at IM Moo.

~ randi