For your listening pleasure

For some, music is a necessity when exercising. While I'm not an advocate for listening to music while running and biking outdoors when Coach Ross offered up some of his favorite sports music selections, I thought it would be fun to publish an iMix of some of his favorites for others on the team to easily access. For those of you who know Ross, please keep him in mind while listening to these selections. I added a few other songs that Heather and I like so that I could get the playlist to 2 hours. Hopefully this will help ease the pain of riding on the trainer or running on the treadmill.

Without further ado I introduce my iMix inspired by music selections from Ross Galitsky: Iron Cocktail

ENJOY!

Power Phrase

There are so many things I'd like to write about but only so many hours a day to work with. I guess I'll start here...

With a little more than five months to go before the big day, there are so many things running through my head. Namely... will I be ready? I've had teammate assure me that we are a head of the curve since our training started in October but I'd be lying if I told you that what I've embarked upon has been a piece of cake.

The most difficult part of what I've done thus far hasn't been physical... it's been mental. Determination, drive and ambition have taken on a new meaning. It's clear that the pursuit of becoming an Ironman can't be fore anyone else but me. I find myself frequently imagining race day. What will I feel like? What will the course look like? (I've seen it as a spectator but will it look different as a participant?) What will be going through my mind? I know it's what I make of my training and how I handle the mental games that come along with it will ultimately make me stronger and more prepared for race day.

So, when I feel like I need a little motivation I remind myself of the January New Paltz Training Camp. Our Sunday workout included a run up a carriage trail that leads to the Mohonk Mountain House (a must visit destination if you're ever in the area). The trail was a 3 mile uphill climb which on a normal day would be challenging. For me it was down right difficult! The prior days 2 hour indoor trainer ride and hour transition run had my legs feeling like lead. The voices in my head were telling me to stop and walk. It would have been easy to rationalize stopping and calling it a day but that's not what I signed up for. If I don't train my mind now to endure discomfort and pain what will I do on race day? All I needed was a little push and that's exactly what I got from Coach Ross. In his very distinct Russian accent he yells to me, "don't loose the focus"! It was amazing what those words were able to do for me. It put everything into perspective at that moment and I was able to "FOCUS" on something other than what I felt like.

So, when I'm feeling my mind start to wonder and think about how tired my body feels, I start to FOCUS on what I want my race day to look like.

If you see that I'm struggling on race day, remind me of my Power Phrase: DON'T LOOSE THE FOCUS!

Ironbaby on the Way

For those of you who don't know... I'm going to be an AUNT! I can't tell you how excited I am. My sister, Sarah, is due on March 15th and she's having boy - Nolan Riley Lingle. There are many eager family members anxiously awaiting his arrival and in an effort to see that my nephew has the proper race day attire (what baby wouldn't need a special outfit for their first Ironman), I had a TriLife Onesie made especially for him. Ok, not entirely true... I had a couple extra made for other miniature TriLife Supporters but come on... how cute are they going to be in this little outfit?

Oh yeah... on the back of the onesie, it says "Ironbaby". Eat, Sleep, Poo may have been more appropriate in keeping with the multi sports theme and apparently something that babies are very good at but I wouldn't have been able to take credit for being that clever as another team mate gave me that idea.