Nerves...

Alright, the nerves are starting to kick in. Officially 2.5 weeks until the exam. Which is 17 days.... or 408 hours of which I'll be sleeping for 136, working for 72 (thankfully we have a long weekend this weekend, and I have a 3 days off during the exam week, so I've only got 8 workdays), commuting for 16, training for 36 hours.. which leaves 145 hours left of which I will be mostly glued to my books. In fact, I am pretty sure i have a CFA text book in every room of the house, ready to pick up no matter what I'm doing. This is total cram time. This is seriously the hardest thing I have ever done. Harder than university, and ironman training... and I'm only on level 1! Thankfully I have the best most supportive Husband who is picking up the slack at home as I am frantically trying to study. I give major kudos to people who are attempting these exams with children! However, I am starting to feel more comfortable than a week a a half ago during that first practice test. The practice exams and hundreds of questions that I have done this far have definitely helped drill down some of the more important equations and concepts. Although every sentence in the 5 text books are fair game, there are definitely some prominent key points that have been tested multiple times.

As for Ironman, the Athlete Guide for 2013 came out yesterday... that got my nerves going. But more excited nervous compared to the CFA. Training is going well despite some back issues last week. My bike got some new shoes and has been taken off the trainer and I plan on hitting the road for the first time tonight! SO SO excited. Outside biking is a million times better than inside biking, even with the entertainment of tom cruise in all the mission impossible movies...

So, to sum it up, it is go time... the next 3 weeks are my highest intensity training and studying. I've been mentally preparing for this since January because I knew it was coming. So now it's time to just put my head down and take each minute as they come. My focus the next couple weeks will be to stay healthy and injury free, get plenty of sleep, keep my nerves in check, and to train and study like hell!

One. More. Month

Well, it is exactly a month until the exam. This past weekend i wrote a practice exam. How did I do? well exactly as I was expecting. So that's a good thing, I am exactly where I expected to be at this point in time. I have one month to intensely review for this exam and then it is go time. I am going to approach it with writing practice exams on the weekends, at home, and reviewing my week areas during the week. What I found the most difficult with the practice exam was just sitting and focusing for 3 hours. At around 2 hours I started to get antsy and shuffle around in my seat. The exam is 2 three hour chunks, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. So I am going to separate my practice exams in to their 3 hour chunks and sit down and write it like the exam, just to get used to writing for that long without loosing concentration.

I also have one more month of pushing with my training until I start tapering for Ironman. I had a really good brick workout this weekend with 2 x 2 hour bike and 30 minute run. I felt strong, even through the last 30 minute run despite a slower pace. I feel completely different about this Ironman, instead of nervous I'm excited. My training isn't to finish, but rather to improve my time and not be in so much pain during the run. I feel as though we have been training a lot harder this time around, so we'll see that the race brings. I have read some blogs about the race last year and the hardest part of this race is the freezing cold water with potentially large waves if the wind picks up. But hopefully they're getting this warm weather that we're getting right now and it's warming that lake up! Unlike Ironman Canada this entire race is 2 loops (2 loop swim, 2 loop bike, 2 loop run). Other than the swim (because I don't think i'm going to want to get back into the water), I like 2 loops. The first loop is an adventure, you don't know what's ahead then on the second loop you know exactly what to expect and you're ready for it.



So here are 2 pictures to sum up my next month:

Progress.

Well, it is May 1st. Although the weather feels more like January, we even got more snow last night. But the days are getting longer, and I know that May will bring warmer temperatures, the trees will start to bud, and I will start itching for summer. As of today I have 4.5 weeks until my CFA exam and 7.5 weeks until Ironman Coeur D’Alene. Currently, I am tired. I more than recognize that I should not have endeavored to take on both the CFA and Ironman so close together, but that is my personality, I push myself to my limits and then try to push past them. However, I used to dread my long painful runs, now I actually find solace in them, as it gives me a much needed break on Sunday afternoons from sitting and studying. It gives my brain a chance to turn off and my legs a chance to move, progress step by step.

I think being an athlete and my training for Ironman has helped me study for the CFA. I have approached studying much like my training, and they both started at the same time. Push too hard/study too long and you will burn yourself out. It is all about consistency, just like my training, my studying approach is very similar: an hour every day, long days on the weekend, and treasuring my day off. I take Friday’s off of studying. It is wonderful. Ben and I love going on a date out for dinner on Friday nights (you have to celebrate getting through another week). Also, like Ironman, you only get what you put in. You cannot control the questions they are going to ask on the exam, just as you cannot control the weather/flat tires/other obstacles on race day…. You can only count on the hours of studying and training that you put in and have faith in yourself that you are ready. Then if/when you start to doubt yourself, I like remind myself that "you can do all things through he who strengthens you."

A week in the life....

So, I haven’t been blogging much, and there is a reason for that! I am super insanely busy. I am studying (again, but for real this time) for the CFA exam in June. I am in such a better place than 2 years ago when I tried to tackle this beast exam. I have my securities liscence, and I am working in the industry. I haven't mentioned it on here but 10 months ago I left Scotiabank got a job at an investment firm as a Client Servies Associate where I work with a Portfolio Manager. Now I can relate the information I am learning to what I do every day,and I have way more of a foundation to work off of. Also, I am surrounded by people who are supportive and encouraging and many have written the exams themselves. What is the CFA? It stands for Chartered Financial Analyst. It is a series of 3 exams that you take over 3 years (hopefully, if you pass each one on the first try). Each exam is 6 hours in length with a pass rate of 34% and covers about 6 text books of 500 pages each. It is painful, but will be worth it if once I pass all of them. It will just be a rough January-June for the next 3 years, but then I'll have it. However, unlike this year, I have promised myself definitely no more Ironmans until I’m done these exams. Next year I’ll probably just do a half ironman (my favorite distance), and an Olympic for fun. It would cut the training down SIGNIFICANTLY and give me a little more time to I dunno… see my wonderful husband!.

So what is the Typical week of a CFA studying working Ironman Training Person?
Monday : Leave the house for work at 6:30, arrive home at 5pm. Cook and eat, study 6-9. Bed/Read.
Tuesday: Leave the house for work at 6:30, after work 30 minute run followed by Hot Yoga, get home 7:15. Eat dinner, study 8-9. Bed/Read.
Wednesday: Leave the house for work at 6:30, arrive home at 5pm.Train 5-6:30. Cook and eat, Study 7-9. Bed/Read.
Thursday: Leave the house for work at 6:30, arrive home at 5pm.Train 5-6:30. Cook and eat, Study 7-9. Watch Greys anatomy and the Big Bang Theory. Bed.
Friday: Leave the house for work at 6:30, hit the pool 5-6. Drink some wine, have a nice dinner… relaaaaaax. Unless I haven’t gotten what I needed to get done, then guess what… I get to STUDY. Ugh.
Saturday: Wake up, relax until 8 or 9. Bike for 2-6 hours. Then every second week I work for a few hours, or else I have the afternoon free… which we usually get to do chores.. and maybe some relaxing.. ahhh relaxing.
Sunday: Wake up, relax until 8 or 9, study 10-12, lunch, study 1-3, train 3-5. Cook and Eat, study 6-9. Bed.
Repeat.

Basically I study roughly 16 hours a week, train 11 hours a week, work full time, and work very part time 2-4 hours every other week. The longest Saturday bike yet has only been 4 hours.. but it will get up to over 6 at the peak. Yep. It’s busy. You can see my “bedtime” is around 9. Well, that is about right. I stop studying at 9, but by the time I let the dog out and get ready for bet it’s 9:30. And If you know me… I need my sleep. If I get less than my 8 hours look out, especially with this schedule.Luckily I have the most supportive husband in the world that lets me just put my head down and go. We did take a week away in March which was amazing. We went to Puerto Vallarta Dreams and it was just what the doctor ordered. A week without any training or studying and just being together in 35 degrees was perfect. We had an amazing time. We absolutely loved that part of mexico.




Then it was back to reality. So here we are, 2 months until the exam, and 2.5 half months until Ironman… Its time for the final push... but then we’ve got the ENTIRE summer. We can get back to the basics of hiking and camping… and beer.. stuff that we haven't been able to do for the last few years because our races have always been in August, so we were training all summer. Alas, we are looking forward to re-enacting our first summer together full of mountains and camping and just simply being together.

Skiing vs. Training

So we have been getting pounded with snow here in revelstoke. We had a winter storm warning from wednesday through saterday last week, and got hit with over 75cms of snow. My dad and brother were coming out for the weekend and they were stuck for nearly 9 hours on the highway because of avalanches. Now we have another snow warning today through saterday again, and it has already snowed 20cms since it started early this morning. If you're a skiier all this snow is fantastic! We skied powder all day saterday even tho the snow had tapered off by then. Since Ben and I work monday through friday, we can only get out to ski on saterday and sunday. The issue is that those are also the days of our longest workouts. Last saterday we were supposed to have a 3hr bike and a 30 minute run, and on sunday we were supposed to have a 80 minute run and 30 minute bike. We would do those workouts befor we went skiing, but there are 2 problems: 1) the gym doesn't open until 10am, so if we want to do out workouts we have to wait until then and 2) there is powder to ski!! So why don't we just go after skiing? well, for those of you that ski you will understand why we dont. After skiing all day you are tired, your legs are tired and dead,and you haven't dranken nearly any water all day so you're a little dehydrated. The last thing you feel like doing is hitting the gym. Rather you want a beer, dinner, and then to lounge on the couch before bed. Which is what we have been doing. We justify it with the fact that at least we're doing SOMETHING, i mean we're working our legs and getting our heart rates up skiing. And I think skiing is a good substitute for sitting on a spin bike for 3 horus. But i dont think it can count as running. Running is my weakest discipline, so i really need to make sure i get those long runs in. Since I have been missing them because of skiing, I tried to get it in this week by doing it on monday night after work. Well there is a reason that long runs are first thing in the morning. I was very ill after that workout. When the alarm rang at 4:30am the next morning to go back to the gym to run again, well i coulnd't do it. I had just been there not even 10 hours earlier doing a long run. I was dehydrated because I ate then went to bed and didn't have time to drink enough water to replenish the liquid i had lost. Needless to say I reset my alarm until 7pm and enjoyed the extra sleep.

So that currently is our predicament, and i know many of you are thinking "oh what a rough life they are skiing instead of training". But the joke will be on me in March when the skiing is over and I'm trying to catch up on my long bikes and runs! :S Less than 8 months till Ironmamn Canada!