Week One--The "What"

 “Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.”—

I Corinthians 9:24-25 (NLT)

Episode ONE of my weekly training blog begins RIGHT NOW!  Full disclosure—I don’t journal, so this is all brand new to me!  Skim through the “good parts” or read as much as you want if you are interested--there will be way more information than you might care about, but my goal is to let you all into my training for the next year.  I plan to put out a new post every Sunday.  This post will include my training for the week, how my nutrition went (this will be a work in progress), and will be fully transparent on where I am.  I’ll be documenting my weight, time of workouts, mileage, calories in/out, how I felt for the week, and more—I know it will be an evolving blog as I get more comfortable, and I get into a groove week after week.  This really is more about me journalling this journey so I can look back and see my growth and improvement. Knowing people are reading and following along will just help keep me more accountable.  

Along with my physical training, I want to invite you alongside me as I work through a daily devotional set up in one-week blocks for a full year.  The devotional I will be using is called Running in Faith (find the link to the devotional book HERE).  I want to let you all know what I’m learning spiritually as I also train my body.  I’ve started and stopped this devotional several times throughout the last year, but my commitment is to be faithful daily in reading the Bible, memorizing/writing scripture, and reflecting on what the week’s devotion is. 

So let’s get to the “what” of this journey.  Here we go!!! (**This will be a brief history of my journey, so bear with me as I go through a quick recap from the beginning…**)

Fifty-three.  53 Saturdays until Ironman Florida 2025.  November 1, 2025.  Seems like a long way off in the future, but if this past year was any indication, one year will go by fast and I will be recapping my full Ironman triathlon as I recover from a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride, and a full 26.2 mile marathon, back-to-back-to back all within 17 hours.  Am I crazy?!  The next year will determine that answer—Julie already thinks I am….

This journey started back in 2008 when I was challenged at work to complete a half marathon.  I thought at that point that would be the end of that. Why would I ever want to run more than 13.1 miles for no reason?!  But as soon as I crossed the finish line, I thought “I could just double that and do a full marathon next year”.  So I did.  And I did 3 full marathons and 10 half-marathons in the next 6 years.  My last full marathon was in 2012, and at that time I decided that I was bored with just running.  I decided after my last marathon that I would jump into triathlon and do something different.  I had always watched the Ironman World Championship race in Kona, Hawaii on NBC each year and thought that would be so cool.  To swim in the warm waters of Hawaii, bike along lava fields, and be cheered on by hundreds of people as you run down the final chute to the finish line.  But that was just something on TV that super fit people do. 

In 2012, I made a goal to complete a Half-Ironman distance triathlon by 2016.  This would be a 1.2 mile swim, 56-mile bike, and a half marathon at 13.1 miles.  Here’s the catch.  I had never really swam laps, I didn’t have a bike other than my late-90’s Giant mountain bike, and I had no idea how to put all those disciplines together.  So how hard could it be? I ended up purchasing a new-to-me bike (more of THAT story in later weeks!), began trying to swim laps, and of course I had the running “background”.  On February 23, 2014, I began my triathlon adventure with an indoor triathlon. Pool swim for 300 yds, 10-mile stationary bike, and a 5K on the indoor track. I was hooked.  And I met a guy who was training for the 2014 Ironman Florida.  Small world now that I look back at it.  In 2016 I did complete my first Half-Iron distance race in Tempe AZ.  I’ll get into that race and others as I go through this year, but it was great!  I was hurting, and I missed my goal time by just over 5 minutes, but I knew I’d do more.  Then after 3 half distance races and many shorter Olympic and Sprint distances, I made a goal of doing a full Ironman when I was 50.  That is next year!  Florida, here I come! 

And here I am, blogging my year-long training.  Can’t give away the entire story yet.  That will come in bits and pieces.  Or no one would read any more since I’d be too long-winded (I guess I can write like I talk…) 

Here are my statistics for the last year from November 2, 2023 through November 2, 2024.  They sound like a lot, but those numbers are going to go way up as I kick into full training mode in a few months.  

• Weight:  

• 192.6 lbs for a high (in February)

• Current:  179.2 lbs  

• Swimming: 

• 47.56 miles (83,705.6 yards)

• 29 hours, 54 minutes, 43 seconds
• 17,872 calories burned

• Biking: 

• 1,072.96 miles

• 62 hours, 5 minutes, 31 seconds

• 38,682 calories burned

• Running

• 232.86 miles

• 38 hours, 52 minutes, 42 seconds

• 29,758 calories burned

So I’m off.  Here we go.  11 months, 4 weeks, 11 hours, 49 minutes (and counting down) until the gun goes off in Panama City Beach.  Hope you enjoy the ride.  The training is most of the journey so I know I will.  Thanks for following along.