3 weeks until Ironman!

Whew what a weekend! Saturday morning I cycled from Brookhaven College to Los Colinas for the Keifer Swim races (300, 750 and 1500 yards). I swam with Robin in the 300 (her first race in which she ROCKED IT!), and then participated in the 750 and 1500 yard swims for a total of 2550 yards of open water swimming. GREAT practice for the Ironman. The water was like bath water though, so no wetsuits were allowed.

Canoer's waiting to rescue drowners lol

The venue - Lake Carolyn in Los Colinas. The 1500 yard swim went up and down that canal.

Mass swim start!

Me exhibiting my HORRIBLE form! (But somehow it won me 1st place in my age bracket for the 750 race - I'm pretty sure I was the only one in it!).

So unfortunately, when I jumped in the water to start the first swim, I hit a "curb" beside the lake wall and bruised the CRAP out of my heel, which is also reeking havoc on my hip and back, so I must have really jarred it good. Freakin' fantastic. Good thing tomorrow starts TAPERING!!!

So today I woke up at 6:00 (after going to bed at 8:45 the night before - I was BEAT), and met some new friends for a long ride. I had 100 miles scheduled, and got 54 of them in outside with them until they had to get back for a birthday party. I headed home after getting some grub (starving!) and did the rest of the 100 miles on the trainer under the fan in the air conditioned apartment. Since it was 95 degrees out at 11:30 a.m., I decided this was a better option - besides, I got to watch a softball game and "Black Swan". What a trippy movie.

Me, Stacey, Serena and Michelle getting ready to battle the heat!

So we should be starting to taper our workouts off from now until the ironman, to give our bodies time to heal and rest up for the big day. The hard work is done, now just to get through the freakin' RACE! Holy smokes this stuff is a lot of work. What the hell was I thinking? I'll sure be glad when I can check "Ironman" off my bucket list.

3.3 weeks to go!

OMG I'm so tired...I'm tired of swimming, I'm tired of biking and I'm tired of running! I have no time to get anything done anymore. My house is trashed, I'm constantly doing laundry (workout clothes) and all I want to do is SLEEP! I can't even find time to BLOG! Good grief. My facebook has seriously suffered - and my friends know, I love me some facebook lol

Things should start slowing down a bit though as we begin the taper phase of Ironman training leading up to the race. THANK GOD!!! And it's perfect timing as the temperature and humidity in Texas are starting to get unbearable to be out running 18 milers in.

Yesterday I had a checkup with my internist to make sure my blood pressure is still in check and everything is good to go for race day. Other than a SUPER low heart rate (36 bpm!)all checked out great. They were amazed at how slow my heart rate is, but I can attribute part of that to good heredity and all the working out. It's good to know that I have the blessing of my doctor to go out and destroy my body for a day.

So if you don't hear much from me until after the race, please forgive me. Also, please don't come over to my house - it's trashed. Unless you want to clean for me?

Oh, and the BEST news I got this week - my BFF and now personal massage therapist for CdA is COMING TO THE IRONMAN WITH ME!! YAY FOR ROBIN RAY!!! If anyone wants her number for the best massage EVER - lemme know. She freakin' ROCKS!!!

Hermann Memorial Ironman 2011

Wow what an awesome Ironman Weekend! I’m sitting here utterly exhausted and I didn’t even run the event!

I drove to The Woodlands, TX on Friday after my swim and an attempted failed bike ride due to bad weather. (After 10 miles, the thunder, lightning and rain started in). The drive down to the Houston area was pretty uneventful for the first 100 miles, but the storm caught up with me again and it was relentless for a good 30 minutes with torrential downpours of mixed rain and hail that made me cringe with every pellet that hit my car. The sky was so dark that it looked like it was 10:30 at night. Cars slowed from 80 mph to 40 and had their flashers on. Finally the skies parted and I was back on track to meet my friend, Chris for dinner. Chris was participating in his first Ironman, so I wanted to get him carbed up and see how he was feeling about the next day. We had some great conversation during our pasta fest and Chris was feeling good about his upcoming race. You can read more of Chris’ Ironman journey here: http://www.thejourneytv.com. He is quite the interesting guy! So we said goodnight early because we knew we had to be up early (he wanted to be at transition at 5:00 a.m., while I got to “sleep in” until 5:30).

The following morning I awoke and was out the door in less than 30 minutes. I had to pack up my run gear because I had a 16 mile run on my calendar, which I planned to do as soon as the swim pack took off. With so many competitors and spectators, I had to park a mile away. I decided to turn my Garmin on at that point and count the miles to and from the car as part of my “run”.

There was a bridge overlooking the swim start transition area, so I stood up on a rail for around 20 minutes or so, waiting for the Ironman race to start. The energy was awesome! There were mothers, fathers, kids, grandparents, and all kinds of friends there to support their favorite future Ironman! Lots of them had made t-shirts in support, but I think the best ones I saw were on a wife and her two kids – “Ironman Widow” and “Ironman Orphans” lol So true…Ironman training is so time consuming!

Swim Transition early a.m.

The swim start was a mass start – meaning 2500 athletes (minus the pros who get a 10 minute head start) head out as soon as the gun goes off. This swim start was probably not the best way to start your Ironman experience – everyone had to get into the water and tread until the 7 a.m. start. As you can imagine, it takes quite a while to get 2500 athletes down a ramp and into place. Just prior to the gun start, the music switches to Ozzy Osbourne’s “Iron man” song. It made the hair stand up on the back of my neck! Freakin’ awesome!! Then before you knew it, the gun went off and it’s like 2500 birds taking off from the water – a huge wave of swimmers. I watched for a few minutes and then headed back to the car to get my run started.

Mass swim start!

The area around the Ironman had lots of paved pathways that went up and down the canal, so it was pretty and easy to find places to run. At mile 6, I somehow ended up back to where the swim start was. I looked at the clock and knew that Chris should be just about finishing up his swim, so I looked down the waterway and there he was! The timing was unbelievable, so I got my iphone out and snapped a picture of him getting out of the water. He had a great swim!

Chris is in blue!

The rest of my run was mostly along the Ironman run course (they were all either still in the water or out on their 112 mile bike ride, so I wasn’t in anyone’s way). There were quite a few other runners out there as well. I stopped at 15 miles because I had to get to the bike transition where some of my Triathlon team were volunteering for the day.

So in the bike transition, our assignment was to “catch” the bikes from the athletes as they came in from their ride and put the bikes on the racks in the correct location according to their race number. We were given a pink volunteer t-shirt and rubber gloves (some triathletes PEE on their bikes so they don’t have to take the time to stop). Not to mention the seats and handlebars are super sweaty. It’s pretty gross. *I* do not pee on my bike. I paid too much money for that thing to have it stinkified! We waited for nearly an hour before the first Pro came through – Chris Lieto, Mr. BadAss himself! Then more pros started trickling in, but we weren’t really doing much at that point. Probably an hour later, hoards of age-group athletes were finishing up the bike course. There were some points where we could hardly keep up with all the bikes! Some of them wanted to leave their helmet and/or shoes with them (which were also very stinky and sweaty –again, thank god for gloves!). So while I was running bikes back and forth (transition was HUGE with 2500 bikes), I kept my Garmin on, just to see how far we actually traveled. I added another 5 miles just in transition!

Volunteer shirt

It was actually quite the experience in there – I had several athletes say “Take it, I don’t ever want to see that bike again” or “you can have it” lol I wish they were serious – there were some NICE bikes! I definitely have bike envy. We saw some odd stuff too – one bike came in with what I swore was POOP on the top tube. I had to go over and look to see what the heck it was. This rider had cut his Powerbar (chocolate) into squares and literally STUCK it to the tube. Of course, the hot sun had melted it and so it looked like, well, poop! I’m glad to know it wasn’t, but also to know that this athlete probably didn’t pee on his bike lol

"Bike catchers" ready for action!

So by the end of our “shift” things were really calming down and I was really tired and sore from my morning 15 miles and then the extra 5 in transition. It was really hot and humid out so we were all soaking wet from sweat (ours, not from the bikes). It was really cool to see my tri-buddies come in and be able to chat with them a bit about how they were feeling and to give them a quick pep talk as they headed out to the run.

I learned a very valuable lesson over the course of the day - it's not the quality of bike that you ride, but the way you ride it. Yes, a nice bike helps, but I can't count how many riders with really nice, expensive bikes I saw come in that barely made the time cut off, and some with really old, heavy bikes that came in with very respectable times.

So around 5:00 I was starving, so I dismissed myself in search of food and water and then to go find my Coach where she was watching the run course.

The run course was a 8.73 mile, 3-loop course. By now, the athletes are really feeling the effects of a 2.4 mile swim and 112 mile bike ride in the Texas sun and heat. Many are walking or doing a slow “shuffle”. Some are almost painful to watch, but some are looking like they just walked out the door. After I finished off my grub, I headed out to find the Ironman store for some souvenirs. This Ironman, I got out the door for much less money than I spend on planning at Coeur d’Alene when I finish my 140.6!

So as darkness falls, I stood by the run course with my friend and fellow CdA athlete, Brian, and his girlfriend, Emily. We stood there cheering for our friends, but also for anyone that looked like they could use a little cheering lol We took a break and got some frozen yogurt and then headed back out. By now, my Garmin read 23 miles on the day. (I turned it off at this point, but was still running around for 4 hours, so who knows what my mile total was for the day. I bet I did a marathon!).

My friend Jim, finished a little before 9 p.m. I believe and yes, he was hurting! His massage with the best massage therapist in Texas, Robin Ray, is tomorrow. Well deserved Jim, well deserved!

We had seen Chris go by once on the run, so kept waiting to see him again. By 9:30, we still hadn’t seen him and I was beginning to get worried. I found his parents in the crowd and they were worried as well. I paced the run course quite a few times, looking for him in the athlete recovery area, the massage area, the medical tent, and couldn’t find him anywhere. We checked the online tracking – still nothing. Finally, around 10:30, we get ahold of him. He had severe cramps and swelling in his wrists and ankles, so he called it a day at mile 13. Still a loooooooooong way to go in one day, so Chris, BE PROUD! His parents and I helped him get his stuff out of transition and to the car, as he hobbled along (using his bike to lean on).

It was a brutally hot and humid day - one that even saw the #1 pro - Chris Lieto drop out during the run.

I got back to the hotel around 11:30, and still had not taken a shower – I felt completely disgusting. I think I spent about 20 minutes in there scrubbing myself down twice. After a few minutes of SNL, I turned the TV off and crashed in I swear 30 seconds.

My grand plans of “sleeping in” were not allowed – damn body clock. I was wide awake at 8 a.m. Unbelievable.

So today I drove back to Dallas and am so sore and exhausted that I feel like I did the Ironman – makes me wonder how bad I’ll feel when I really do mine lol

All in all, it was a fantastic experience to watch unfold and very inspiring. Just what I needed for the last 5 week push to get me to race day, especially after these past few weeks when I’ve had a serious “I don’t wanna” attitude. Ironman training, as I’ve said before, is grueling and so taxing on not only the athlete, but their friends and family. I am working out 18 hours a week now, and yes, I’m tired of it lol But I also can’t wait to hear “KRIS PARKS! YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!!!” and get that medal hung around my neck. And get my T-shirt. And get my Hat. And get my Tattoo. And, and, and…SLEEP IN!

Onward and upward!

Wow, it's been a while since I posted...mostly because I'm so dang busy, I can't keep up with anything these days! If you want to have a life outside of triathlon, DO NOT attempt an Ironman. The training schedule is grueling! When I'm not at work, I'm training nearly every morning and every night. I stand by my statement "One and Done". My friends think I have deserted them. Please friends, don't give up on me! My apartment had been seriously neglected lately until the other night when I missed my workout due to horrible allergies. I took the opportunity to clean the entire place. Hopefully it will last another 7 weeks until the Ironman!

Tonight I actually got a night out (with fellow triathletes lol) at the Texasman Triathlon pre-race social. It was a great opportunity to put some names with faces, and meet some new friends. It's great to compare race stories and training strategies. It's also good to know that there are other crazy people out there that attempt this insane training and race distance.

The Texasman Triathlon is this Sunday. Sprint, Olympic and X50 distances are offered. We CdA trainees are doing the X50 distance, but lucky us, we get to add another 6 miles onto the end of the run so we can simulate our Ironman race. The X-50 consists of a 1 mile swim 40 mile bike ride and 9 mile run (so our run total will be 15 miles). It will be great practice for the big dance!

So one of the bragging rights of doing an Ironman is getting an Ironman M-Dot Tattoo, like this:

It's a right of passage, most people put on the back of their calves.

I have redesigned what I may get to look like this, for a IronWOMAN:

How's that look? I may or may not add the CdA info at the bottom. I have a feeling that would have to be too detailed (which means they have to make it bigger to be legible). Since I know my mother would have a heart attack if I tattooed my entire back with this, I think I'll keep it small lol The location on my body is still undecided as of yet also. I thought it turned out quite well though :) Who knew *I* could be artistic?

Thanks for reading...time for all Ironman trainees to get to bed. I get to swim in the morning and bike hills tomorrow night. Yay me. Goodnight all!!

Preparation and Planning

This is my life - bags and bags and more bags, every single day I have to pack 1, 2, 3 or more bags of STUFF! Today, was my swim bag for this morning, my breakfast AND lunch, my run bag for tonight, my purse and then my bike! It's a miracle that I didn't forget anything in any one of those bags. So much STUFF has to be in each one. The swim bag has all my work clothes, shampoo and soap, makeup, blow dryer, etc etc etc. You get the picture, basically everything I need to get ready for work. The run bag isn't quite as busy, but if I forget just one thing (my shorts!), it doesn't make for a pleasant run. The breakfast and lunch are necessary to keep me from eating CRAP, which I will, so it's a preventative measure. I am my own worst enemy. I freakin' LOVE junk food. The other miracle is that I got all of this STUFF down to the car in ONE TRIP!

Triathletes are planners. I'm learning to be better at it, but it's definitely a work in progress. As I rode with my friend Denise on Saturday, she asked me what I was going to wear for the Ironman (which is still just a little over 8 weeks away!). I was stopped dead in my tracks (not literally, because again, we were riding) because I hadn't even thought about this yet...I can barely figure out what I'm going to wear TOMORROW, let alone 2 months from now lol She has all 3(!) of her "outfits" picked out already lol Apparently, Denise is a much better planner than I am. She also has her nutrition plan mostly honed in, I on the other hand have again, no idea lol and just figure I'll get to it sooner or later.

Hmmm...so maybe I should start planning my Ironman race lol but I think I'll start tomorrow, or next week? Whenever it is, I'll be ready!!

Time marches on...

Here I am at just under 9 weeks until race day (my coach likes to remind me how many weeks are left on my training schedule each week). I'm so ready for it to just be tomorrow! I can't keep up with my house cleaning, my grocery shopping, and even my social life! Last week alone, I worked out just under 17 hours (Swam 6400 yards, ran 24 miles and cycled 160 miles!) The hours will continue to go up and up and up until we get to the taper period. Ugh, I so can't wait for tapering!!!

The weather here in Texas has been really bad this week (hot, humid, extremely windy, thunder and lightening storms!) Not exactly ideal training conditions, but "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger", or so I'm told...The wind may be just what I need to get me ready for the hills of Idaho. I just about got blown off my bike on Sunday.

And yes, I'm tired! As a result, I have my first ever black toenail, and another one is mostly missing. After 12 years of running many, many miles, I finally have my badge of honor lol Yay? At least the other 3 toes look nice lol

So today I got a day off from training, to recooperate, and boy did I need it. My fridge is full again, the house is mostly clean, and my car is in the shop for some much needed maintenance. I feel so accomplished as I head to bed early for my first Triple Threat track workout in the morning for some speedwork. This granny wants to be faster!

I also had a great conversation with my coach this weekend...we had been really slacking in the communication department, so it was good to get some things ironed out. This is definitely a work in progress, and I want to get all the information and training that I can so that June 26, 2011 isn't the end of me or my triathlon career!

Last, but not least, my poor roomate MeeMaw bit it yesterday on her bike and broke her wrist! I feel so horrible for her, but it's a good reminder to BE CAREFUL OUT THERE! The good news

is, if they have to amputate, she can become a ParaOlympic athlete!

Here we go!

So excitement has set in (notice I didn't say nervousness, because I don't feel nervous, yet). I was up late last night and woke up early this morning, an hour before the alarm was set to go off. Why is it that when we can actually sleep in (if you consider 7 a.m. "sleeping in"), we can't? It's natures cruel joke.

The car is packed with all my triathlon paraphanelia and I'll be heading to Galveston sometime this afternoon to make the 300 mile drive. I'll be doing it alone, so hopefully XM radio will have some good entertainment on to make it tolerable. I'm thinking comedy stations! Maybe I'll count how many Walmarts I'll pass along the way, just for grins.

So in just 48 hours, I'll be standing on the beach in my wetsuit, waiting for my swim wave (I'm in the granny wave now - 45 and up lol). In Triathlon, you race at the age that you turn that year, so although I'm still 44, I turn 45 in September, I get to race with the old ladies lol Could be good for me, since I'm one of the youngest in the bracket and people tend to slow down with age! But irritating to have to say that I'm in the oldest bracket they have lol WTF? Then again, I am a GRANNY, so guess it's fitting!

I'm also hoping to catch a glimpse of some of the pros that are racing, like Chris Lieto and Mirinda Carfrae! It'll have to be as they start their swim wave (they are first) because I'm sure they'll be done with their race before I'm even out of the water!

So if you want to follow my progress on Sunday, go to this link:

http://ironmanlive.com/

I've followed people a few times with this and it's actually pretty fun!

Here's the link to the race as well, if you're curious as to what this is all about:

http://ironmanlonestar.com/

Signing off now - training is done, now the easy part - the race! Time to add another medal to my collection! Good luck to all my friends racing this weekend!!

Balance - it has disappeared!

My life as I know it is gone, and it will be until June 27. My social life is seriously suffering. Ask my good friend, Robin. She told me today that SHE is tired of my Ironman training lol Really? YOU are tired of MY training? lol Well guess what, I am too! I'm so tired lately. It doesn't help that my cat decides to play under my bed all night long and wake me up constantly. When I have a 5 a.m. wakeup call and he decides to start jumping on the dresser and knocking stuff off at 4 a.m., the squirt bottle comes out! He's not helping matters.

One of my fellow Coeur d'Alene Ironman athletes posted this conversation between she and her husband, on her facebook today:

Michael: "Are you starting to feel like an Ironman?"
Denise: "If feeling like a broken down old lady is feeling like an Ironman, then yes."

And some of the comments to it:

Karen - "That's how it feels. The last 3 months of training are rough."
Kris - "I just want to sleep!!! lol"
Chris - "HAHA.. hang in there.. you guys are going to do amazing."
Jim - "I feel the same way. Well not the lady part. Broken down old man :) Just remember "You can dooooooo it"

And the best of all:
Denise - "It will all be worth it because I WILL BE AN IRONMAN."

Ironman training is crazy, and the next few months are going to be even more out of whack than I can ever imagine. But I know, in the end when I have crossed that finish line, have that medal around my neck and a beer in my hand, every minute of this will be worth it to be able to say "I AM AN IRONMAN!" (Or as I've been reminded by a few people "IRONWOMAN"!

And don't worry Robin, the fun Kris will be back!

Oh my gosh...what have I gotten myself into?

114 days. In 114 days, I WILL have an Ironman finish under my belt and a medal around my neck. The next 114 days will be filled with long swims, long rides and long runs, diet restrictions and healthy eating. I damn well better lose some weight! I can't wait. Honestly, I just wish it were tomorrow so I could get it overwith! It's already been a long winter of training (indoors for the most part - which I'm really, really, really over!) The bike trainer and treadmill (fondly coined the "dreadmill") are great for keeping your base training up, but they are just not as fun or as good of a workout as being out on the open road. The pool will always be about laps, but the lake swims are important too, and as soon as it warms up a bit, I'll be out there once a week thrashing around with fellow teammates so we can get the feel of the swim start at the Ironman. A mere 2,000 racers start the swim ALL TOGETHER - think spin cycle on a washing machine.

You literally get beat up in the swim. It's a fight the entire way, no matter what your strategy in the lake. The swim start is just the beginning of a full day of beat down lol And let me just say, that women are worse offenders than men!

My journey to the Ironman has taken me 4 years to go to the point of "wanting" to do the full distance, and I'm still questioning WTF I was thinking! As I said in the title of my blog, this will more than likely (never say never...) be my first AND LAST Ironman. I am not fast enough on any of the 3 events to ever qualify for the Kona Championships, nor do I want to lol The training is long and arduous, and my social life for the next few months will more than likely be non-existent, and I love to be social! So I'm apologizing to all my friends now for all the invites that I will more than likely have to decline in the near future - please do not give up on me. I'll be back, with an Ironman checked off my bucket list. Save me a beer....