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.

Dear 13 Year Old Me

Dear 13 Year Old Me,

I know things are tough right now, but I am writing to you and you are now 25. I am sitting beside your amazing husband, in the house you own, with your puppy cuddeling next to you. Life is good. I know that there are days when things seem impossible. You get picked on at school for looking like a boy, you wear baggy sweaters because you think you are fat, and there are days you feel like no one will ever like you. Well, I just wanted to let you know that things will get better. Teenagers can be mean. Remember last year when you recieved a love letter in your locker and you were SO excited that a boy might like you, only to find out it was only a mean prank played on you by those who you called your friends and then those same friends laughed at you when you showed them the letter. You were humiliated. Well remember how your teacher pulled you aside and told your tear staind face that one day you'll open your locked and tons of real love letters will fall out. Well it's true. I don't want to give away too much right now, because I want to leave some of the big surprises for you to experience yourself, but here are a few things that I want to remind you.

Your first kiss. It was nothing memorable nor remarkable. It was the summer before grade 10 and you will not have been kissed. You will feel as though you can't go into high school without ever being kissed, so that summer while in Goodsoil you met some guy. A random guy who was kind of a loser and whom you will not even remember his name. But, you so desperately want to have your first kiss and you were so thrilled that someone is interested in you that you wasted your first kiss on him. My advice, pass by that guy in Goodsoil and wait because you want to remember every detail and at the very least the name of the boy whom you kissed for the first time. Trust me, there will be more boys who are interested in you. Infact you meet your first boy friend in that first week of high school, he should be your first kiss.

You will have your heart broken more than once. Looking back you will have only have fallen in love twice, but you will only have one soul mate. Your Champ. You`ll know him when you meet him I promise, and trust me he is worth all the heart break that gets you to that exact moment that you meet him.

You will dream big, and you will be able to do anything you set your mind to, despite alot of sceptics in your life who try to convince you otherwise. So don't listen to what anyone else says, because one thing I've learned is nothing is impossible. Work hard and step by step you will get there. But I just want to remind you that sometimes our dreams don't always turn out to be as amazing as you thought. Instead of dwelling on that, dream new dreams, but no matter what never stop dreaming.

Your family is your biggest ally. I know it may not seem like that right now, and trust me you will fight bitterly with them all for the next couple of years. But they will become your best friends. I could not imagine my life without talking to my mom every night, and having nights out with my dad and my siblings. They will always have your back, and they are your biggest fans. Also, although the dynamic of your family will change, I promise it will eventually open the door to more love. More people that you will have the honour to know and call part of your family.

Finally learn to love yourself. You are exactly as God made you. You will become the person that you were meant to be. Don`t try to change for anyone.

Well, I will be seeing you in the next 12 years. Remember that every up and down that you go through makes you the person that you are today. Learn from your mistakes and the struggles, and enjoy every victory and dream that comes true.

Sincerely,
your 25 year old self.

next up.. Ironman Coeur D'alene

So Ben and I decided to sign up for Ironman Couer d’alene about 2 months ago. We decided that an Ironman every other year is reasonable since it is such a sacrifice in every aspect of your life: Physically, emotionally, and financially. After taking the last year to get my body in working order again, I was eager to start training. We each took our experience from the last time round, and we each made our own training programs to suit ourselves. The funny thing is our training programs are COMPLETELY different. Not even a little bit the same. Which goes to show how those generic training programs on the internet are probably not the best approach. One major difference between out programs is that I have chosen to maintain going to Hot Vinyasa Flow yoga once a week. I went to my first hot yoga class when my chiropractor suggested it back in May, and I find myself seriously looking forwards to the class each week. If I miss a week my body feels it: my body feels tight, achy, and my asthma worsens. Hot Yoga is very addicting, and feels so good. Personally I think it has helped with my running a lot. Along with Yoga, I found my chiropractor this past year. I go once a month to get myself all aligned again, and seriously that is another aspect of my training that I think will become pivotal to my success. It’s been 2 months of base training where I’ve been working primarily on my running, with some biking and strength thrown into the mix, and I have NEVER felt so strong and so good. It is pretty exciting, and I attribute this to both Yoga and my Chiropractor.

I find that compared to the last time I started training, I have much more of a mental focus. I know how hard ironman is, I know my goals, and I know what it is going to take to achieve them. Also, Ben and I have both ditched the twice a day workout which I think definitely helps. Last time we trained for Ironman I think we just got way too burnt out in the first month and never really recovered. We learned there is a fine line between training and over-training and it is a tight rope that must be walked every day by every athlete, since normally we all just want to go out at the same intensity as the race every workout. But realistically that isn’t possible. I’ve learned rest days are important, and every training day cannot 5 km race pace. I find I have been relying on my heart rate monitor to hold me back, and I have really focused on warming up and cooling down.

I am really quite excited about this race. More excited than last Ironman where I was just SUPER nervous. I know I can do the darn thing, now I just want to do it better, and with less of a roller coaster.

Dear Pinterest

I haven't been inspired to write a blog lately, but I finally feel like I have something to say. Just like every other female, I have spent countless hours on Pinterest, mindlessly scrolling through "pins". My favorite thing to do on it is just click on "everything" and flip through all the stuff that other people have pinned.

Then today it dawned on me, Pinterest just illustrates everything that is wrong with the society we live in. It is a collection of people posting about the perfect home, the perfect wedding, the perfect love story, the perfect parent, the perfect body all while eating delicious food. I mean, really, is it ever possible to have all that? And what is perfection? does that make you happy? Because I don't know about you but I kind of like my not so perfect, but amazingly wonderful life.


So here is my letter to pinterest:


Dear Pinterest,

I have to admit, I have re-pinned countless recipes, home decorating ideas, and crafts from you. But here's the thing, you kind of make me feel bad about myself. The other night as I was scrolling through all the wonderful pictures, I was mesmerized by everything christmas (even though christmas is nearly 2 months away, I found myself getting lost in the christmas pins.) I was Imagining myself surrounded by christmas decorations that I will have created perfectly, while entertaining a small christmas party with wonderfully delicious appetizers on perfectly matching place settings, and I realized that right beside that recipe for delicious chocolate pound cake(that I was clearly going to make for my perfect christmas party)was a pin about how to loose 40 pounds in 40 days and it dawned on me: Pinterest, you promote the impossible image that the media imposes on society. This perfect life that everyone should strive towards. You're not entirely to blame, however, because the worst part is we all embrace it and seem to find it so important that we pin these images to an online board to come back to time and time again, and to share with others. Mostly things that we will never attempt to do or make. We create this board of pins which illustrate the perfect life, with hours wasted in our real life. The funniest thing is people post an exercise board right next to a recipe board. Now here is the thing, I am an athlete. I have had a hockey scholarship in the US, and I have completed Ironman Canada. I can swim 4 kilometers, bike 180 kilometers, and run a marathon.. all in the same day, but I will never look like this:

My husband and I eat healthy, and I workout 6 days a week, however, if I do happen to make have desert that others make I often feel guilty about it. Why? because like most females in society I want to be thiner, like those pictures on pinterest. Typically this is how it goes, wow I wish I could have a body like that oh but look at that delicious carmel popcorn recipe mmmm... foood. By no means am I over weight, infact typically I am quite happy with the way I look. But I can do lunges around a track and yet I will never have legs that look like this :

Life is short, and I shouldn't feel guilty about eating all some of this:

So pinterest I am breaking up with you. I am tired of seeing half naked girls, with shredded abbs beside the "tastes just like olive garden fetecinnie alfredo" 120000 calorie meal. I'm not entirely sure what I will do with those hours in the day I waste spend scrolling through all your glorious pins, but i'm sure it will be alot better spending time in my real life than pinning pictures about a perfect life.

Sincerely,
a recovering pinterest addict