The start of my Ironman Journey!

So I have decided to follow through with one of my new years resolutions - to update my blog on a weekly basis!

At 119 days to go (or 17 weeks), I began my official Ironman Training Program this week. When people ask about my training, the sheer magnitude of it all doesn't really hit me until I utter the words: "It's a 3.8km swim, 180km cycle, followed by a 42km run." It's pretty crazy if you think about it & I never thought I would be at this stage so soon. Some say 'Why?' I say, 'Why not?!'

As most of you know, I rolled my ankle falling down my apartment stairs whilst trying to take out the garbage at the beginning of August, 2011. To cut a long story short, I had to undergo an arthroscopy under general anaesthetic in December, 2011 to remove all the scar tissue. Thus beginning a long road to recovery.

It has now been approximately 5 weeks since the surgery & my ankle is feeling so much better. I still can't run yet but I have been swimming, cycling, and teaching all of my classes as low impact as possible. I have an appointment with the surgeon on Wednesday but my physio (Mike Lee from Performance Care in Crows Nest) said it is healing really well. So under his guidance, I will start power walking this week, mixing in some intermittent skipping, to see if my ankle is up for the impact. If all goes well, and I continue stretching, massaging & looking after my ankle, I will be able to start jogging by the end of January, just in time for the Australia Day triathlon camp that my coach (Melinda Cockshutt from the 'Her Coach' group on Facebook) is holding in Port Macquarie. I couldn't be happier! Obviously there is still a long way to go but I am confident it will all be ok when it comes to race day. Unfortunately I have had to pull out of a couple of races (Kurnell Sprint on 15th January & Husky Long Course on 19th February) but I am still planning on doing Husky Sprint (18th February) & Sydney ITU Olympic Distance in April, for the build up to Ironman in May.

This week was all about consistency. I did a 12hour training week, which included 5.5kms of swimming, 5.5 hrs of cycling (2 out of the three sessions involved doing sets on a turbo trainer as there aren't any decent stretches of flat road where I live; I am surrounded by hills, which aren't good for my ankle yet), a Power Yoga class (at Power Living in Neutral Bay) & I taught Body Attack (at Fitness First, St Leonards); for a total of 13 hours of training.

One of my other new years resolutions is to do yoga on a weekly basis, which is something I have never done. I figure having just had ankle surgery, it would help with my flexibility & core training; an area that I have very much neglected! This is very new territory for me, as I have always played sports or exercises involving high impact, high heart rates, profuse sweating & being completely out of breath! I recently landed a role as an Educator at lululemon athletica & we are encouraged to get out into the community & try new classes. This is such an amazing opportunity & I am looking forward to getting out of my comfort zone & trying something new that may just complement my Ironman training. If only there were more hours in the day!

I have had some much needed guidance about my eating from a very good friend & Naturopath, Catherine Pritchard (from Radiance Health Care Centre in Sydney). I have been eating very well so far & only allowing one day of indulgence a week, in the lead up to Ironman.  I am noticing a huge difference in my body already by limiting all the crap. I have cut out all fried foods (I usually eat chips at least once a week & like to splurge on my Mum's spring rolls every now & again!), no lollies/processed sugar (with the exception of gels & lollies on bike rides equal to or more than 3hrs), minimal gluten/dairy, and eating more fruit & vegetables (the latter I neglect more than I should). I also try to limit the amount of times I eat out; at the moment its 1-2 times per week (once during the week & once on the weekend). This has made grocery shopping a little more expensive but I usually make my meals for the week on a Sunday night, so I can just grab & go on my way to work/training.

Breakfasts are typically 2 poaches eggs with a big handful of spinach & some salsa; plus a banana straight after an early morning training session (within 15 mins for optimal recovery).

If I have more than one training session in a day, lunch usually consists of a starchy carb & protein (eg pesto chicken & brocolli with spelt pasta or brown rice; or smoked salmon & avocado on Ryvita; or tofu & veg with noodles & gluten-free soy sauce).

Snacks are mostly nuts (almonds & cashews) and fruit (apples, grapes, watermelon, blueberries, strawberries) or veg (carrots/celery with hummous). I also take fish oil, magnesium, vitamin c and recently, tissue regenex tablets (for my ankle) on a daily basis, which I think have made a huge difference in my recovery.

Dinner is usually a protein with veg (eg chicken or beef or prawn & veg stiry fry; sometimes a salad if I haven't had one for lunch). Again, I modify this depending on how much training I am doing. At the moment, in the early stages of training, I am limiting my starchy carbs to once a day but this will increase as my training builds in intensity.

Unfortunately, you can't always choose what you eat when you aren't at home. For example, I was out for sushi on Tuesday night. There wasn't any brown rice so I had white instead. I hadn't had starchy carbs that day & was hungry for it! I also had Unagi (eel) & fresh sashimi with tamari sauce (gluten-free).

My indulgence was on Saturday & I tried to limit it as much as possible, but I think I went a bit overboard (considering how well I had eaten all week). It involved french toast, bacon, maple syrup & english muffins for breakfast (brunch at a friends house after a killer bike session in Centennial Park), and out for dinner again at another friends house. There was cheese fondue with white bread (I don't usually eat dairy or a lot of gluten as it doesn't agree with my gut. But I have to admit, it was irresistable). I also had a couple of scoops of ice cream & two small meringues for dessert. Oops! Oh well, you only live once, right?!

This week's training highlight would have to be riding in Centennial Park on Saturday morning (cue song, "All By Myself..."). The BTC crew were out in full force, cheering me on as they whizzed past! It was awesome! But the best part was when a random stranger cycled up next to me & stayed with me during my 10 minute efforts. He was a complete stranger but we striked up a conversation in between sets & he made me cycle faster than I would on my own. Its amazing how one person can make such an impact.

I am feeling focused, determined, and ready to get to the start line of Ironman Australia in the best form I possibly can. I am so lucky have so many supportive friends (particularly from Balmoral Triathlon Club) who train with me & keep me motivated. Watch this space. The Fonginator is about to kick some ass.

Please feel free to post any questions, comments or feedback below.

Thanks for reading. See you next week!


    Wind trainer session in the garage



    Early morning cycle at Centennial Park



    Cheese fondue with The Team