COACH CYNDEE

After the race before the medical tent! Ironman Texas Take Two Saturday the 19 th of May I did Ironman Texas for the second year in a row.   I guess if you can have a favorite Ironman this is mine.   This year the wind was more of a factor on the second half of the bike course.   Last year I don’t remember much wind at all.   Even with the stronger wind I improved my bike time by about 5 minutes.   You would think this is great however it showed on my run.   I was much slower on the run finishing overall about 5 minutes slower than last year.   Ironman is a funny thing because I always say I don’t want to do it again. But once it has you in its grips it won’t let you go. I don’t know why.   I keep coming back to it over and over again.   I currently don’t want to do another one but I have said this many times before.   During the months of training for an Ironman you test yourself to your limits.   Your life becomes tra...

It is what you look forward to during 2 long months of hard training when your training for an Ironman.  You keep thinking about the week you begin your taper.  You long to have a day when you only have to train one hour.  Then it finally gets here and you feel let down.  Well this is how I feel at least. My mind plays tricks on me during my taper. I  feel as if I  am losing my fitness and getting fat.  I know this is not true.  Being a coach I know the importance of going into a race like an Ironman well rested.  I know the importance of a proper taper. My mind doesn't agree and today on my 3.5 mile run, my mind almost convinced me to go 6.  I didn't and I stuck with the 3.5 miles.  I also wanted to swim more than 2000 meters but I didn't. I got out of the pool and wanted more.  I know its crazy but I can't really explain how I feel when I taper. I look forward to it and then it gets here and I don't ...

Here is Tigger watching the finish... he looks really excited....right? Yesterday I went to watch the Irongirl Triathlon in Las Vegas.  I took my trusty friend Tigger to help me cheer on all the participants.  I had several clients racing in it this year.  Some were veterans to the whole triathlon thing like Nancy Dickenson.  Some were new and this was their first triathlon like Stacy.  It is always fun to watch all levels race.  I knew everyone had trained hard and was going to do great.  It is so rewarding to see people accomplish a goal.  Nancy was 2nd overall last year so I had confidence this year she was going to win and sure enough she kicked butt.  She beat the second place girl by almost 4 minutes!  Nancy after the race still looking like she could keep going! Stacy, Whitney and Terri all finished close together.  That is appropriate because they all trained together.  They did awesome!  Terri finishe...

My Ironman training is finally coming to an end.  This week is one last big week of training and then taper time!  I can't wait.  If you read my last post you know I had a really rough day last Friday for my long run.  Fortunately this time I am going to talk about a great training day.  Two days after my horrible run I had a great 100 mile ride followed by a 6 mile run.  All in all I felt great for that workout.  My nutrition was right on, my body was feeling good and it showed on my run pace. After I rode 100 miles I managed to do 6 miles at an 8:19 pace. I was pleased and only hope to feel that good after my 112 miles on Ironman day.  Who knows why some days you feel so good and some days you don't.  I always try to analyze it but never have come up with any specific reason or thing I do on good or bad days.  All I know is I can't wait till May 20th.  My Ironman is May 19th!  After my Ironman (2 weeks) I have Escape From Al...