Race Schedule and Results

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

We're getting closer...

The days are ticking by which is good! We leave a week from yesterday and I absolutely cannot wait to be on the beach of Panama City. If you've never been, it's heaven! Tom's traveling one last weekend, so for the next few days I'm going to start pulling stuff together and just laying it out. You would never in a million years begin to imagine what we bring for a one day race! You really need everything. Luckily there is a Wallyworld right down the street for last minute things and it's always so funny doing grocery shopping - everyone is buying bottled water, bread, PB, bananas, pasta, chicken. It's invaded with shaved leg, fit people, who walk around almost comatose, as a million tasks run through their head (much different than the spring break crowd that I'm sure they are used to!)

Bib numbers were assigned. I'm 2307. Tom's 570.

No goals this year - I had such an awesome time last year racing. I kept a smile on my face the entire time and just kept trying to make myself realize that I was living a dream. It was truly amazing. I'm hoping this year's race is much of the same. I don't care if I go faster. Not one bit. I just want to live in the moment, remember that I'm doing something that so few even attempt, and enjoy the experience because after all, Ironman is an experience.

Oh, and I hope that the turf monster doesn't get my ankle at the finish line this year - I guess that's my only goal! :)

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Living for the taper

It's funny how people freak out when it becomes taper time - taper tantrums as I like to call them. You know you are ready, you know that your body is thanking you for the rest, but you FREAK out with a capital F! Full on panic mode in some cases. And yet lately, I feel like I've been living one day at a time, trying to get to my taper. Now that it's here, I'm scared to see how my mind and body will react! :)

We did our last "longer" workouts the last few days and although I totally dragged butt through them (a sure sign that I'm ready for the taper to begin), they went well. We did back to back 10 mile runs on Sunday and Monday and then with very dead legs did 90 on the bike yesterday - in the wind. And I'm talking hold-on-to-my-bike-and-lean-into-the-gusts-so-I-don't-fall-off kind of wind. We did the lat 8 miles inside because it was so windy. And then it happened...

Full on, taper tantrum.

Tom had put a video of IMFL 2008 in the DVD player thinking it would pump me up.I sat on my bike and sobbed.

Freaking scared me shitless!

I guess that's a good thing. If you don't respect the distance of the race, all 140.6 miles of it, you won't finish. I respect it alright. In fact it freaks me out a little. Sure I did the race last year, sure I know what to expect, but it's only 2.5 weeks away.

2.5 weeks people!

There's no turning back (not that I want to and I need to make that perfectly clear).

So in the next 2.5 weeks, as I bring my mileage down, as my muscles recover a little, as I prepare mentally for what lies ahead, let's hope the taper tantrums stay at bay. I may have felt like the time would never come and that I was living for the taper, but sometimes that harder than the race!

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Always wondering

I'm always wondering if I'm doing enough, if I'm getting better, if I'm pushing myself enough, etc. All signs point to yes, yes, and yes, but there's still a bit of wonder. I don't know if that's just my personality or if that's what people training for an Ironman due 4 weeks before the race (although I must say that it's been happening as long as I can remember, but that's besides the point).

This weekend I feel like I had a great weekend and I'm really happy with the results. I swam my first 2.4 on Saturday morning. Granted it was in the pool, but I'm sorry, that's probably the most boring thing that I can do to prepare for the Ironman! Thankfully some person with God-like qualities invented a SwiMP3. Made my 200 laps SO much more enjoyable. I didn't really "push" myself as much as just swam a comfortable pace. Last year I did two 2.4 mile swims in our pool so I had time to compare with. Last year, I swam them in 1:22:00 and 1:23:36. Saturday, I COMFORTABLY swam them in 1:12:48!!! I was so stinking excited. I know that I've been feeling so much more comfortable in the pool, but that's a huge difference! I'm hoping that it will equate in the open water because it hasn't in the past, but that was a huge confidence booster!

I then proceeded to bike 2:40 indoors - this might rival swimming 200 laps in a pool in terms of dreadful! I wanted to bike outside, but I just couldn't get myself to do it. So I struggled through a long, slow, painful indoor ride (luckily the Real Housewives of Atlanta Marathon was on... those girls are fully of drama to keep my mind busy). I only got off the trainer at 9:15 last night. I will say though - we watch the World Championships throughout the day on the live stream and what a freaking great thing for me. I was so caught up in the excitement that it made it easy to keep going. Chrissie Wellington is in one word, AMAZING! And of course I cried like a baby when I saw her finish. Very cool!

This morning we had a half marathon. Figuring my legs would be mush, I wasn't expecting great things. Oh, and I realized what biking until 9:15 at night will do to my night's sleep - I probably could tell you every detail about my bedroom since I was WIDE awake until 3 in the morning. The alarm when off at 6:10. YUCK! I literally felt like hell the entire drive down (thankfully my hubby drove). I was able to eat my breakfast and drink my pre race diet coke, but I was so nauseous. And my throat was killing me (I was coughing all night too and I think it did a number on my throat). Toeing the line, I felt like I had been hit by a bulldozer. It was a great morning for a run though - cold actually, but the leaves are starting to change. This is a half that we do every year so we knew the course and knew that it would be well run - it didn't disappoint. I didn't turn my watch on and it was great. I just ran. And better yet, I finished in 1:56 something (maybe 1:57 according to their clock, but it wasn't chip timed, although Tom had his Garmin). Tom and I realized that in every race we've done this year, we beat our time from last year. I must be getting better right? And even after 3 hours and 40 minutes of training yesterday, I was able to maintain sub 9:00's without too much trouble. Makes me a happy girl.

Stopped at Noodles on the way home (their mac and cheese was sure to make my belly feel better) and now I'm relaxing and making applesauce. It was a tough weekend... maybe not the longest, maybe not the hardest, but definitely a good confidence building weekend which was much needed!

Friday, October 9, 2009

Ahhhh

It's amazing what a good sweat session will do for your body! :)

Because it's raining (again) in Ohio, I decided to hit up the gym today for a swim and run. The pool was closed (and to think that I was actually looking forward to my 3000+ meter swim). What's a girl to do? I trekked upstairs and found what seems to be the only working treadmill. (I'm picky... the tv needs to work)

Decided I would run a 10k. Lately my runs have been slow. I actually have felt like my legs were encased in cement for the last oh, I don't know, maybe 2 months). I started out at an 8:59 pace (heck, that's faster than I've been running). Felt good. At .5 miles, I increased it to an 8:47 pace. Breathing a little harder. At .75 miles, I upped it again to an 8:41. I can do this. At 1 mile I cranked that baby up to an 8:35 pace (yeah, I know... no Kenyan speeds here, but we are talking about the girl that's been averaging over 9:30's lately and is just getting over a cold). I felt good at 8:35. I ran there until the 5 mile mark.

From here I increased the speed every 1/10 of a mile by just one pace number (what's that called anyway???).

The next thing I know, I'm cranking out .3 miles at a 7:35 pace. And I'm feeling good. I'm sweating like a pig, but I'm feeling good.

And I was probably grunting a little (sorry to the two guys on either side of me... the one holding on as he was walking and the one who immediately increased his speed when I got on and then died and backed it down to a 10:30/mile). But you know what, I was here to work.

I finished my 10k in 53 minutes. I was happy with that. In the spring, I did a 10k on the treadmill in 50 minutes so I have a ways to go. And I know that running on a treadmill is much different than pushing these little legs on the road, but whateva...

It still felt good!

Tomorrow I get to ride on my indoor trainer for 3 hours. Have I told you how much I hate the indoor trainer? Should be a blast! Then it's off for dinner and drinks with some friends - a welcome end to a dreadful workout I'm afraid!

I think I can... I think I can...

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Run down...

I knew this would happen eventually and I'm only shocked that it took this long.

I have a cold.

I feel yucky.

I have zero energy.

BLAH!

We've had a tough couple of days with workouts. Sunday we ran 20 miles. It was hellish to say the least. I don't know why, but I felt like someone had taken my hamstrings and tied them in knots. It was really frustrating because mentally I wasn't in the run at all. I had more moments of lows than highs. I doubted myself a lot and it was really annoying. And my running has gotten so slow. We only averaged 9:53's for the run. Funny that in April I did a 20 miler and averaged 8:44's. I'm looking forward to concentrating on my speed in the off season and get back into the sub 9's. I know it'll just take a little work and I'll be right back where I want to be!

Yesterday we set out for 100 on the bike. Again, my mind just wasn't right. It was chilly, and windy, and the last place I wanted to be was on the bike. I mustered my way through 79 miles and called it a day. I was spent, but happy that I had made it 79 miles further than I originally wanted to when I started out! Take that little person who sits in my brain and tells me I'm weak!

The past two days I felt like I was being put through the ringer. At this time in training, I should be able to get through both workouts without too many problems. Why was I struggling so much? I hate making excuses, but of course this morning I woke up with a sore throat and now I'm just drained. I'm sniffling, I'm sneezing, my head hurts. Maybe, just maybe, that has something to do with the total lethargy that I'm fighting (a girl can hope right???) Oh and I got a flu shot this morning so I feel like I want to rip my arm off.

Lovely site huh?

I don't know what it is about my second Ironman. The training has been so tough. I'm super excited about going to PCB and racing, but some days I feel like my heart just isn't 100% there. I want it to be, I talk to myself all the time about how it's going to be much harder if I don't get there mentally before race day, I visualize myself having a great day. But I've already decided that next year I don't want to do an Ironman. I feel like some days the Ironman defines me and I don't want that to be the case. I'm a triathlete, but that's not all I am. The Ironman (well really the training) is such a daunting task and it seems like it's really taken a toll on me mentally and physically so much more than it did last year. I think the break for me next year will do a girl some good. Can I get an Amen? Plus I'm super excited to become better in all three disciplines.

When the going gets tough (which it seems to be lately) I refer to a card that my wonderful friends gave me at the beginning of my training that says:

"Behind every success is effort...
Behind every effort is passion...
Behind every passion is someone with the courage to try."

I think that'll get me through the next month. And I know I'll be fine. And I know I'll have fun. I'm not a quitter or a wuss. It really does take courage some days...

I just hope this cold doesn't linger (and I secretly hope that's why I've struggled so much lately)

Friday, October 2, 2009

Success

Knowing that you're successful at something is one of the best feelings in the world. Helping others is probably the only thing that could rival the feeling of success. That and maybe having fun at what your doing.

I experienced a triple threat last night!

For the last year, I've been working as the Chairwoman of an event for our local hospital that we were calling "High Heels and High Hopes". It was sort of a girls night and all the proceeds would benefit our local hospital's women's health services. We had wine tasting, spa services, a silent and live auction, food stations, a comedian - a jam packed night. In the past, the hospital fundraisers were great, but had kind of gotten... I don't know... maybe stale? Same people year after year. By throwing out the idea of a women's night, we were definitely shaking things up in our little town.

Last night we had over 300 attendees. (we actually had to turn people away the last week because of limited space - a chair person's dream and nightmare at the same time!) Women were laughing and drinking and smiling the whole night. As the chair, I couldn't have been more proud of the work the committee did. I know I get a lot of credit, but it was definitely a group effort by an amazing group of people. We got such amazing feedback from the attendees too which was wonderful.

Mission accomplished - a successful event, the money we raised will help local women, and best of all - we had fun!!!

The big question still remains... is there a place big enough for next year's event??? Oye ve... my job has just begun!