Visualize. Visualize. Visualize.

So for the past few weeks, I've been visualizing IMTX...a lot.  Saturday as I was about half way done with my 80 mile ride, it occurred to me that I have another important race BEFORE IMTX that could certainly benefit from a little visualizing.  Galveston. 

On April 7th, I'll be tackling a race that I DNF'd two years ago.  As of right now, I'm 1 for 3 in finishing races in Galveston.  I'm hoping that after Galveston 70.3, I'll be batting .500 and I can stop racing there.  :)

I spent about 20 miles of my ride Saturday just thinking about Galveston.  I thought about what the purpose of that race is, what I need to do, what I want to do and then I visualized what I will do.  In all honesty, I'm not stressing over it.  Galveston 70.3 is a tough race for many but I'm prepared and I know what I need to do to execute the best race for me.  I'm actually super excited to go down there and finally finish a half iron in lovely G-Town!

This coming Saturday I'll be running The Woodlands Half Marathon again.  I guess that maybe I should spend a little time visualizing this race while I'm at it.  It's funny b/c once you do a bunch of longer distance tri's, running a half marathon feels like "just" a short little race.  It's still 2 hours of running!  

I mentioned above that this weekend I had 80 miles on my schedule.  Keith & I set off early Saturday morning as we needed to get home so we could get on the road for San Marcos.  For me, the first part of the ride felt a little tough.  Nothing crazy.  Keith kept telling me how great I was riding and at that moment, it occurred to me that maybe I was letting the mental doubts creep out.  After that point, I felt nothing but strong. Most of the ride was on the IMTX course which I love riding on.  I was super excited b/c I finished this ride feeling so much stronger so felt I did something right.  And I had lots of gas left in the tank as I felt like I could've ridden another 30 miles with no problem.  32 more to be exact. :)

My next ride will be a short one given my race on Saturday.  The weekend of Em's wedding, Keith & I will tackle a 90 miler before heading out of town.  I am SO pumped.  I've already mapped this ride and it will be on what I consider to be the toughest part of the IMTX course and I am very much looking forward to it.  Keith thinks Ana & I have it out for him as he thinks I'm ramping up way faster than 2 years ago and he thinks I have a sick habit of mapping tough routes.  :)

Given the hours I've been working, my swimming has taken a backseat but I'm planning on giving more attention to those workouts after I get through the next week or two.  After that, I should have more time in my schedule to make everything work.  I really don't like missing any workout but sometimes, there's nothing that can be done.  Either way, I'm staying very positive and know that I'm in great shape for some great races.  

Hope you all had a great weekend!  Happy Training!