It’s only January 22nd and it’s already day 82 of my IRONMAN training plan. Wow, how time flies! I began training for IRONMAN Coeur d’Alene on November 1st.

A lot has changed (my city, my job, my coach, my nutrition, and even my Facebook status) since my last race at IRONMAN Wisconsin, in which I finished in 10:15 and seven minutes outside of Kona qualifying. In my last post, I talked about how I struggled to stay motivated. Well that has long faded.

Even with the bone chilling temperatures (like -17 F yesterday morning), I have been highly motivated for what I believe will be my best triathlon race season yet. Before I get to those goals I want to talk about the changes I have experienced:

My City: A week after IRONMAN Wisconsin, I packed up all my belongings (bikes included) and headed up to Minneapolis, MN. I live in an area called Uptown. This is a very trendy area situated near 4 lakes, delicious restaurants, and plenty of hipsters. This area couldn’t be more perfect for my run training. Having endless bike/run trails around the lakes has been awesome. The lakes here aren’t as big as the ones in Madison, so it is nice to be able to run around 2-3 lakes during a 1 hour run. I have started using LA Fitness (had my doubts at first), but it has been very convenient so far. There’s a location 4 blocks from my house (no pool) and also one on my way to/from work (with a pool). The weather has been very cold, with plenty of days dipping below 0 degrees. To offset this, I’ve had to do a lot of my runs indoors on a dreadmill, I mean treadmill.

My Job: I have now been working at TN Marketing for 4 months. I am a Digital Marketing Coordinator, which mainly involves doing SEO, Graphic Design, and Website Development. There’s even a fitness room on location with a couple treadmills that allows me to get some of my quick 30 minute runs in during lunch breaks. I feel like there’s a lot of room for advancement in my department and I’m looking forward to seeing where it takes me.

My Coach: My former coach and IRONMAN Champion, Jackie Arendt, decided that it was best that I found a coach closer in proximity to me. After some research and recommendations, I began working with Joe Moyer. I’m so glad I made this decision. Joe focuses very much on the data behind the workouts. He loves the numbers and I like to see them as well. A big key for me as well has been training with Power on the bike. The data that I am able to give my coach is very useful in planning workouts and getting the most out of the trainer. If you haven’t trained with power yet, I strongly encourage you to do so.

My Nutrition: This past week, I have started to monitor my food intake. In the past I’ve “tried” to make healthy decisions, but that usually just ended up amounting to eating a salad once in awhile. To begin, I have just began counting the calories that I eat and the types (fat vs protein vs carbs). I’ve always been around 163lbs, but I’m looking to lean up a bit for the 2014 season.

My Facebook Status: I couldn’t be happier with the way things have worked out. My beautiful girlfriend helps keep me motivated and gives me encouragement whenever she can.

With all those changes, it could be easy to lose sight of my triathlon and IRONMAN goals, but not so fast! I’m motivated and ready to take on 2014 with a full head of steam.

My training goals for 2014:

• Improve my run (I walked in my first 2 IRONMANs and fell short of my time goal in the 3rd one)
• Improve my swim (I have always been a good swimmer, but it has never translated to IRONMAN (1:07, 1:07, 1:08), looking to drop a few minutes here)
• Train smarter, not harder (Working with my new coach I am training smarter, for example in the past I would try to do all my training runs at a fast pace, but now I am doing a lot of runs at a slower pace to build volume/consistency).

My race specific goals for 2014:

• Qualify for Boston Marathon (2015)
• Top 3 AG Finish @ IRONMAN Coeur d’Alene
• 1st place overall at a Triathlon (any distance)
• Qualify for IRONMAN World Championships

Now each of these goals are very steep, but I want to set my goals high. It keeps me trying harder and wanting more.

My season will begin with a spring marathon in Phoenix. From my training so far, I believe I can run under 3 hrs. I really think if everything goes perfectly, I could even run about 2:55. Here’s to hoping to stay injury free. I’m excited to run without 3-4 layers and in warm weather. The Phoenix Marathon is a relatively fast course as well. This marathon will lay down the foundation for my IRONMAN Coeur d’Alene training. After the marathon, I’ll be in run maintenance mode and I can focus more of time/energy into the bike.

Tentative Race Schedule:

• March 1st: Phoenix Marathon
• June 8th: Liberty Half Ironman
• June 29th: IRONMAN Coeur d’Alene
• July 20th: Door County Half Ironman
• August/September are up in air
• October 12th: IRONMAN World Championships* (need to qualify)

Training volume last week:

• Run: 47 miles (5 hrs 36 min)
• Bike: ~58 miles (3 hrs 15 min)
• Swim: 7500 yds (2hrs, 13 min)
• Lift: 2 sessions (1.5 hrs)

Total Training Volume (82 days):

• Run: (44 hrs, 53 min)
• Bike: (22 hrs, 13 min)
• Swim: (20 hrs, 16 min)
• Lift: 15 hrs
• Core: 5.5 hrs

Thank you for reading my IRONMAN training blog. Follow my blog on my Facebook page (www.facebook.com/ironmandiary) or on Instagram (@ironmandiary)