2015: Year of the Half Ironman

The practice triathlon group photo

Aloha to all and welcome back to Ballerinas Don't Run! It has been a while since I've posted, blame it on school and commute and lots of other things that cause a shortage of time, but it is January and school is over, I only have to commute two days per week, and I am looking forward to getting back into writing!

Since my last post I have been on and off the exercise wagon, due to the same things I mentioned above as well as various short illnesses and straight up laziness. I was really good all the way up until mid-August, then I was off the bandwagon for about a month, then got back into it only to be derailed again in November and December. At the end of November, we did a free training sprint triathlon hosted by Winona Chen and BikeWorks - a .25-mile swim, 14-mile bike, and 2-mile run. Having not trained much, even those distances felt a little rough, but it was fun to get out there and going and be around lots of active, inspiring people. On December 7th, we flew to Oahu to participate in the Xterra Trail Running World Championships, an off-road half marathon that beat the living daylights out of me. There will be a separate post about that experience coming soon. After that, I pretty much decommissioned myself for the holidays.

Since the beginning of January I've been better, swimming at the pool (it's too dark in the mornings before work to swim in the ocean!) once a week on my only day in Kona when the masters group meets, biking on Sundays, and running 2-3 times per week. My goal right now is to get my running up to four times per week, something that is going to be 100% necessary if there is any shot at doing the Big Island Marathon on March 15th, which I am already signed up for. Since Xterra I've been dealing with a sacroiliac joint issue (again, more about that in another post!) so I'm trying to balance rest, physical therapy, and training.

So, on the plate for 2015 are the following races:
February 3: 1500m swim at Kailua Pier (Free event!)
March 15: Big Island Marathon in Hilo
May 30: Honu Ironman 70.3 (definitely NOT free!!!)
Mid-June: Kona Marathon (New course in Waikoloa)
August 22: Half-Ironman distance free training triathlon

We'll be figuring out later races as the coming months pass. There are also a great series of events this year put on by Tri Hawaii with a free Olympic distance tri every month and individual swim/bike/run events each weekend, so I can fill in with those as needed! I definitely want to have some races scheduled in September and October to keep me in shape for our WEDDING, which is on November 14th, 2015! That's right, we're tying the knot! Because, you know, people who tri together stay together! (Wait, that's not the saying?)

All in all, it's going to be a busy year filled with lots of swimming, biking, running, and pushing ourselves to find new boundaries! I am excited to have more time to write about my experiences - something that I've missed a lot! - and share what I'm learning! Thanks for reading!