Rock Cliff Oly Race Report and Catch up

I realized it's been awhile since I last posted here.  I even completed a race two weeks ago that hasn't yet seen a race report!  I did the Rock Cliff Olympic again this year (I did it 2 years ago).  Here's the short version:

-I had a good swim, though not as good as 2 years ago.  I loved that the water level was much higher than last time, so we were spared the .25 mile run through duck poop

-The bike was still deceptively hard, but gorgeous

-The run sucked.  Hard, hot, dusty and slow

-This is the hardest Olympic Distance race I have done other than Rage in Vegas

-I was smoking crack to do this distance and this difficulty of a course just 4 weeks post IMTX.  My body hated me!

- The parking situation was greatly improved with the addition of VIP parking with my Triple Play registration.  Thanks Aaron!!

-I will not do this race again as an Oly, but it would be good as a Sprint...challenging yet not brutal.

In other updates, as of this past week, I am finally feeling like myself again post IMTX.  Man, folks aren't kidding when they say that this is a race that takes weeks to recover and not days.  It's amazing how much of a toll it takes on your body!  Even once the sun burn was gone, the blisters were healed, and the muscles were no longer sore, there was still a subtle residual fatigue to deal with.  I also felt like I was swimming, biking and running through jello.  My HR would spike much sooner than I would expect and under not so stressful situations.  Alas, 6 weeks post race, I am finally feeling like myself again :)

I have gotten back into a training routine as I still have the Utah Half 70.3 at the end of the summer and the StG Marathon in October.  Last week was a great week training wise!  I nailed my splits for a track speed work out I was totally intimidated by.  I biked a very hot 46.6 miles up to our church camp out up at Chrystal Hot Springs.  I did it in the middle of the day in 100 degree temps.  It was brutal, but I felt like a rock star when I was done.   I also completed my longest run since IMTX (10 miles) with Alicia yesterday.  I have missed her and I's long runs together!  And knowing she was waiting for me helped get my butt out the door!

Today I have been following my friends online as they race IMCDA.  It has been fun and even made  me nostalgic about my own IM experience.  However, it will still be awhile before I do another.  Life circumstances just won't permit it as soon as I would like.  There is still plenty to be enjoyed and done in this sport though and I am looking forward to that for the next few years :)

In the meantime, Happy Training and Racing all!

One week and some change past IMTX

I have had over a week to process and think about my race.  Here are some random thoughts I have had:

1)  When they say that IM recovery is a matter of weeks, not days, they mean it.  My poor body, though it feels better every day, still has some residual fatigue, and my poor feet are still healing from awful blisters.

2)  Trying to exercise for the first time yesterday was comical.  I tried a nice easy swim and though it felt good, my poor body was saying NOPE as it felt like lead for most of the swim.  It was pathetically slow too!

3)  This weekend's sprint tri is going to be even more comical than yesterday's attempt at a swim.

4)  I have changed my mind about never doing one again.  I know I will, but it won't be for awhile.  With my kids and their ages, the fact that I am coaching the swim team next year, and other life circumstances, I can't commit to another one for at least a few more years.  And I am okay with that!

5)  I didn't realize the commitment that it was until it was past.  All of a sudden my schedule is wide open with lack of training 15-18 hours a week.  I am not thinking about it constantly.  I have also noticed a few times I have even been BORED!    Ironman is pretty all consuming while getting ready for it.

6)  My injuries/battle wounds from IMTX included awful funky sunburn in weird patterns due to the unevenness of the volunteers putting it on, at least 8 blisters big enough to constitute their own zip code, friction burn from my timing chip, chaffing in weird places, hyper extension of my knee on the bike that a week and half later is still sore, nerve damage in my shoulder/neck from being on my bike for 7+ hours (this is nothing new, just the same old issue with the arthritis, but it has SUCKED the past week), and still crying at the drop of a hat when I think about the finish line :)

7)  I won't do another IM until I can upgrade my bike to a TT bike.  I love Belle, but if I am going to do another IM, I think it would be best done on a TT.  I will also not do another one with out hiring a coach.  I feel that I have come as far as I can on my own, and I liked my training plan, but don't know that it was enough.  Part of me thinks it was, but I am not so sure.  I would really want the personalized guidance and feedback of a coach. Plus, it would be nice to take a lot of the guesswork out of it for me.  So, given all of those things, it will be awhile till I do another one :)

8)  I can honestly say this was the best and worst thing I ever did.  I loved the journey, I loved the people I met, and I am proud of my accomplishment, but DANG it was hard!

Kathryn Limb of Syracuse Utah...YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!!!!

The title of this post is the short version of my first Ironman race.  If you want the abbreviated version...there ya go...I finished the most brutal day of my life.  If you want the long version, pull up a chair, grab the popcorn and a soda...here ya go:)

Pre-Race:

Ken and I arrived on Monday, 5 days prior to the race.  I was so glad that we did this.  My mindset was it would give me time to acclimate somewhat to the humidity, and at the same time, if we were spending the money to go to Houston, I wanted to have time to see and do things that I wanted to do as it is where I grew up and there were people I wanted to see and things that were definitely on what I was calling my Texas To Do list.  Among the highlights of my Pre-race activities were seeing my best friend from high school, Amanda for dinner, driving through my old neighborhood, going to an Astros game, and attending a pre-race clinic by Endurance Nation.  Pics below!

We also attended the Athlete Banquet.  I had been told this was a MUST DO, so we bought Ken a  ticket as my ticket was included in my registration fee.  The food was good, it is always fun to visit with other triathletes, but that is where the fun ended.  The actual presentation was lame and we left after 45 minutes of corporate plugs.  Pathetic!

I am not normally an emotional person, but I found all week that I was crying at the drop of a hat!  I went to packet pick up and the sweet volunteer asked for my name and I got all choked up and couldn't tell her that I was #1198.  She just nodded nicely and said, "You're a first timer, aren't you?"  Gee, how did you guess?

Then we had bike check in on Friday.  It was a muddy mess.  It was fun to run into my friends Jenny and Kerri from our Facebook group.  I think we were all a little dazed or a bundle of nerves! Ken and I then took it easy the rest of the day.  I was way excited to meet up with my friend Jenny who has done this race twice.  Reading her blog over the years not only made me want to try a triathlon, but also sparked the IronBug with me.  Seeing someone I know go through it made me believe that maybe, just maybe, I could do it as well.

RACE DAY MORNING:

I woke up amazingly calm and just flat out excited.  I was surprised because normally before a big race I am ready to puke, but not this time!  We woke up at 3:45.  I ate my breakfast of instant oatmeal and a banana with water to sip on until the swim start.  The water temp was 81, so this was not going to be wetsuit legal, so I had my swim suit on under my swim skin.  Ken helped me put my race tats on and I was pumped!  He then took me and dropped me off at transition where I went to load my bike with all of my nutrition.  It had poured all week, including during the night and it was super humid and the area was super muddy.  I went to tape my salt tabs to the top tube of Belle, and it was so humid, the tape had no stick to it!  Crazy!  I ended up just dumping them in my bento box.  Not horrible, but not as easy as I was hoping for either.  I then put my Perpetuem bottle on and filled my front aerobottle with water and dropped in a Nuun tab and Belle was ready to go!  IMTX has a swim start that is actually  just under a mile away from transition, so I started my walk over there and visited with other triathletes along the way.  It was fun.  I love the triathlon community and meeting others.  I walked over with an older gentleman named Skip.  He was a first timer as well and was working with Team in Training.  He is 67!  Amazing!  We talked about how the training had gone and how at the end of the day, we just wanted to finish.  He was awesome!  When we got to the swim start we went out separate ways and I went to get in line for the bathroom.  I dropped my special needs bags with the volunteers and then turned around to see Ken had made it!  I really wasn't sure that he would, but I was glad that he did!  Ken is my rock and he was good to be with those last few minutes.

SWIM:

We then lined up in a self seeded fashion for the rolling start which was new to IMTX this year.  You line up by projected finish times.  I had mixed feelings about this.  One, I wanted to experience the mass start of an Ironman just once, and it wasn't happening here.  On the other hand, I have anxiety about that kind of start and I didn't lose any sleep over a rolling start either.  However, the one down fall is it takes away from that magical midnight finish time because everyone's 17 hours starts when they cross the timing mat at the water's edge.  So, pros and cons.

The reality of it was it was slicker than snot!  I loved it!  It was very smooth and efficient and I felt like I seeded myself right with the 1:10-1:20 group.  I got bumped and toes tapped a few times, but nothing like the battle scene I have heard about it mass starts.  The water was always crowded around me, but totally manageable.  I settled into a good pattern of counting strokes and sighting every 4th stroke.  It worked well.  The water quality though it was no Caribbean or Bear Lake, wasn't as bad as I expected.  Utah Lake is worse!  I could see about a foot in front of me on the down stroke.  I really focused on counting strokes and not swimming any faster than I could maintain good form for.  The first turn buoy came and it did get pretty crowded and crazy around it, but it didn't last long.  Then we started swimming back to the bridge and that next third went very well!  I was in a very happy place and started to think ahead to the bike, but then reminded myself to stay in the moment and focus on it.  One, two, three, site, one, two, three, site, repeat.  Before I knew it we were rounding into the canal.  I had heard from others that this part is a double edged sword.  It is cool from the stand point that the spectators come out and have a great view of the swimmers and you of them.  The down side is that it is narrow and you are funneling all of those swimmers into a narrow area and it can get choppy and crazy.  I stayed to the far right of the canal, a couple feet out from the side, and I did just fine!  Not too crazy at all!  The canal seemed to go fast and then it got crazy at the swim exit, but the volunteers literally grab you and pull you out of the water.  I was very happy with this swim.  I stayed on course, stuck to a good rhythm, and felt physically very strong. I don't feel like I over did it, it was exactly what I would have hoped for.

Final swim time was 1:23:22....Heck yeah!!  Thrilled with this especially since it was a non wetsuit swim!  I ranked 42/120 in my age group for the swim portion

I will now say that the swim is the only part of my day that went as planned or better :/

Transition 1:

I got out of the water and went to do costume change #1.  I took off the swim skin and swim suit, then put on my cycling shorts, a sports bra and tri top.  I was glad that I did this, but it was much harder to get the dry clothes on a wet body than I thought.  Thank heaven for volunteers!  They help with whatever you want!  They greased my shoulders and back with sunscreen, gave me water, and helped me on my way.  I did get my bike shoes super muddy mess, but they will wash.

Final T1 time was 10:56.  It seemed like longer than that, so I was pleased.

Bike:

The first part of this bike was great.  I did the best I could to just ride along as the coach at the Endurance Nation seminar had told us.  I rode easy for the first 10 miles or so to get my bearings, bring my heart rate into a solid Zone 2, and settle in for what would be a long ride.  The first 40ish miles were great, not fast, but smooth sailing.  I was loving this course.  It was all the great things I love about Texas.  Green forests, farm lands, wild flowers on the sides of the road, people coming out to cheer your on, etc.  I was sticking to my nutrition plan by taking in my Perpetuem every 15 minutes, taking a shot block or two, and taking salt tabs every 30 minutes.  It was great!

Around mile 50 the winds started. I would like to say that they didn't last long, but they lasted until mile 95 or so.  Brutal doesn't begin to describe these hot humid winds that were going 20-30 mph and they were a constant head wind.  It was like biking in a furnace. It also was hard because this course was more hilly than I thought.  Granted, this was not the Triple Bypass, but they hills were consistent and with the winds coming at you, they did get difficult.  I just wanted to be done!  I then glanced at my Garmin and noticed that I wasn't making good time at all.  I was starting to get bummed by this, and started to worry about having enough nutrition to last long enough.  I had planned 7 hours of bike nutrition, and it soon dawned on me I would NOT be off the bike in 7 hours.  Thank heavens for Bike Special Needs at mile 60!  I was glad that was there or I wouldn't have had enough.  I was so glad that I utilized this and packed extra stuff.

I got to be a pro at the aid stations, which were every 10-12 miles.  I grabbed 2 bottles at every station, one to refill my aero bottle up front and would dump the second on my head to cool off.  I was sticking to my nutrition, but it started to frustrate me.  It was working in that it was keeping me going, but it was too many moving pieces.  The Perpetuem, the Nuun, the Salt tabs, and the occasional Bonk Breaker was just too much to manage while riding.  Next time, I will go a simpler route.  However, I had to stop 3-4 times to pee, which is a good sign that I was getting enough fluids and electrolytes in.

Physically I felt pretty good except for a couple of things.  One, I got a cramp in my right leg at the top of my calf muscle behind my knee around mile 50 of the bike. It never went away.  Also, my saddle seemed very uncomfortable, and I am not sure why, but I was so ready to get off that thing!  Also, my sore shoulder that has been an issue reared it's ugly t

While on the bike I was getting pretty grumpy and frustrated that I wasn't making the time I wanted.  I then would hear occasional sirens of ambulances and it was a quick reminder that someone out there was having a worse day than I was, and Suck It Up Buttercup and just get the job done!  I then decided to quit being so hard on myself and just be grateful to get through it in one piece.

I was happy to get to Mile 100 and a nice lady named Dianna and I started talking.  She was friendly, happy and positive.  She was just what I needed at that point because I was being pretty negative.  Thank you, where ever you are Dianna!  You helped me to get into the right frame of mind before I started my marathon!

My final bike time was 7:55:09.  I am not thrilled with this, but what do you do?

Transition #2

Time for costume change #2.  I kept my same tri top on and put on the tri shorts and running shoes. I also took the chance to drink two glasses of ice cold water that the volunteers brought to me and reapply sunscreen.  I handed my bags over to the volunteers and started out on the marathon.  I felt like I took my time, as mentally I was NOT wanting to run a marathon in the heat of the day, but apparently it was better than I thought because my final T2 time was 10:08

Run:

Now to just run 26.2 miles.  This is a three loop run course with each loop being just over 8 miles a piece.  They run quite a bit along the Waterway, but they also venture off onto some more quiet running trails and into some beautiful neighborhoods with mega-mansions.  Other than a few switch back parts, I really liked this run course.  The volunteers, crowd support, and cheer stations were unreal.  Seriously so much fun!  They provided the mental diversions that you need to get through an Ironman Marathon.  My run strategy was pretty simple...run the whole thing at an easy pace but stop at every aid station that were every mile.  Then I would walk through and take in what I wanted to before I started off to the next one.  I was feeling really good at this point and was surprised I was able to stomach the Gu and other nutrition I took in.  In my other long distance races, by this point my stomach only wants water and maybe Coke.  However, I was able to do just fine with the Gatorade on the course and the Gu I had of my own.  About mile 10 a nice volunteer asked if I wanted grapes.  I don't know what it was, but that sounded like a piece of heaven and I started taking in a pixie cup of grapes at the aid stations as well.  They were wonderful!

The funnest part of this course were Hippie Hollow and the Moxie team cheer stations.  They simply made me laugh and smile.  I so needed to mental distraction of the Speedo clad dudes and the 70's dressed people dancing and cheering me on, as well as giving me a mental break from the suffering that is inevitable in this portion of an Ironman.  We also had tons of kids and families out and it was so nice to hear "Looking good" (even though I am pretty sure I would have been a shoe in for the cast of Walking Dead) or "Looking Strong" (even though I am sure most senior citizens could have gone faster).  I loved the signs along the course that not only motivated and made me laugh.  It was awesome!

I was able to maintain my strategy of running except at the aid stations. I had to make a few too many stops at the Porta-Potties (maybe the grapes weren't such a good idea after all?) and I found that I made new friends along the way.  There was one guy Dennis I met on my second loop.  He was just so friendly.  He asked where I was from, asked about my training, we talked about how much this hurt but how cool the finish line would be.  He was also a first timer.  I lost him when we got back to the Waterway, but he was so nice!  I also met another guy that was cramping pretty bad.  I didn't get his name, but he was walking and really suffering. I knew that I had more salt tabs than I needed so I gave him a few.  I sure hope he finished!  I saw Ken on both the first and second run loops.  Ken told me he was proud of me for making this loop easy and for the fact that I was still smiling.

By the third loop it was the tail end of the night and it was dark.  I really mentally had a hard time with this loop.  I just wanted to be done.  I mentally caved at a few points and walked just because I was sick of running.  I was sick of my feet burning.  I was sick of thinking about how I was going so slow.  I was just DONE.  I physically could have gone on running, but mentally, I needed a walk break to regroup.  I finally told myself that there was nothing else I could ask of myself other than to finish.  I had done my best all day, so get this done, Katie!  I was probably at Mile 23ish and I decided I would then suck it up and continue running this.  I was so happy to hit the Waterway part again and feel the crowd support again!

I finally hit the part of the run course where it forked between starting the 2nd/3rd Loop and then where you go to the Finisher's Shoot.  Because this was later in the evening, and most people had already finished, I had the shoot to myself.  I turned there and the energy is beyond anything you can describe.  You have hundreds of people on either side that are all clapping, cheering, calling your name and holding out their hands for high 5s as you pass by.  It was unreal running down that red Ironman carpet for the 100 or so yards that it was.  I ran from side to side to give as many people high fives as I could.  The BeeGee's song "Staying Alive" was blaring (pretty fitting considering how the marathon was a exercise in survival) and then I heard Mike Reilly yell, "Kathryn Limb of  Syracuse, Utah, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!"  By this time I was bawling.  Pretty funny when you look at my Finisher Pics because I am doing the ugly cry, not anything cute, but the pictures look like I am trying to sneeze.  Lovely, just lovely.

Final run time was 6:33:13, and final race time for IMTX was 16:12:48.


WHAT I DID RIGHT IN THIS RACE:
-I stuck to my training plan.  I missed very few workouts.  I allowed myself to recover well, and I tapered well.
-I arrived at the start line healthy and injury free
-Nutrition worked.  I believe that I took in the right amount  of everything...calories, sodium, electrolytes, etc, and I stuck to the plan in which to take them.
-I utilized the Special Needs bags...I would have been in a world of hurt if I hadn't done this, especially on the bike.
-I remained mostly positive,
-I smiled almost the entire time.
-I took the time to thank volunteers and to appreciate that I am able to do this,
-I took the time during the race to thank my Heavenly Father for the ability and opportunity to do this.

WHAT I WOULD DO DIFFERENTLY:
- Simplify nutrition.  Though I took in the right amounts of everything and felt good energy wise, there are too many moving parts.  I like the idea of having just one source of nutrition where you just reach for a bottle that contains all you need, and wash it down with water.  I may need to look into other options to do this.
- Take the time mode off my Garmin for the day, only have it show heart rate and maybe the distance.  Especially if for a first timer, the goal should be finish LINE not finish TIME.
-Look into a different saddle.  I have never loved the one that I am on, and I am more and more convinced it may just be worth the effort to experiment and find one that I love.
-Take the day after the race off from work.  It was brutal having to go to work yesterday morning.
- Have a first aid kit in the hotel after the race.  Given the amount of chaffing, blisters, soreness, swelling, etc, I wish I would have packed things like band aids, gauze, first aid tape, Neosporin, Ibuprofen, and things like that to tend to all my battle wounds :)

FINAL THOUGHTS:

I am so glad that I had the opportunity to do this race.  I have prepared for it actively for a year, but I really think it goes beyond that.  I have come so far in a fairly short amount of time.  I wasn't raised an athlete.  I always admired the athletes in school, because I never thought I was one of them, though I wanted to be.  I love what triathlon has brought to my life and the experiences I have had and the friendships I have made.  This race was in many ways a coming together of all of that.

I was humbled to the point of tears by all of the posts, tweets, Facebook comments, text messages and phone calls I got from people literally all over the world.  I knew people were praying for me and I felt those prayers, especially during the hard moments, and believe me, there were many!  I have the best friends, family and support crew ever.  I am so thankful for each and every one of you who read this blog, commented, posted, texted, or watched and followed my progress online.  It means the world to me, more than I could ever express.

As good as my support crew is, Ken is the rock and my biggest cheerleader, I have said it before and I will say it a thousand times more, I couldn't do it without him, nor would I want to.  He puts up with me.  He supports me.  He never complains about the crazy adventures I take us on.  He never complains about the training, or having to pick things up the slack while I was training with kids or things around the house.  He's pretty fantastic.  I love him more than I can express.  No moment was as special as seeing him as soon as I crossed the finish line.  Falling into his arms was the perfect way to end my day.

What's next?  A break!  I need a mental and physical break.  My poor body took a beating and I need a mental break as well.  Of  course I have more races this year, but I'm not stressing over them and they are all just for fun, where I have no expectations other than to enjoy them.  I want to focus more on my run, my never ending nemesis (but apparently my bike needs some work too)

So, Happy Racing and Training all!

It's Race Week!!

I can hardly believe that it is already Race Week!  We leave for Houston first thing in the morning.  My Belle has been cleaned, tuned, and the race bag is all packed and they are getting dropped off on our way to the airport with ProBike Express.  The reality of all of this is sinking in!

Blame the taper, or the fact that I am about to have a dream come true, but I have been pretty emotional lately, which isn't like me at all.  I actually cried while packing my race gear.  I have been stressed about this as all of a sudden I am second guessing everything and the logistics of planning for a race of 140.6 miles was overwhelming at times.  I actually had to walk away from it a few times.  But, I think I have done a good job and am as ready as I will ever be from a logistics stand point.  Once I had the bike and bag all packed I cried for a different reason.  My heart was full and I just had this sudden sense of gratitude.  Just a sense of gratitude for being able to have this journey and this opportunity.  Excited, nervous, thankful, all rolled into one.  It has been amazing and I am so thankful for the whole process!!

I have had anxiety over the weather.  At one point it showed severe thunderstorms that day, but now that isn't quite the case.  Any person with any sense of logic knows that you shouldn't trust any weather forecast 10 day out, especially in Texas, but logic went out the door when the taper started :)

I was also glad to get my sub plans all ready for the week as well. I have never taken that  much time off from school and it was a bit overwhelming to plan that much for someone else.   My students were sweet and hung the following banner outside my room for me to discover as I came in the other day.

My mother got here just fine and we have been getting her up to speed on the routine of the two minions.  My suitcase is all packed with the non race stuff  (there isn't really much of that :))

I know that  a week from today it will be all over, but I am so excited about this week!  I have missed Texas and it will be fun to be home.  It will be fun to see people I haven't seen in a long while, and make new friends as well.  I am super excited to meet up with the people from our IMTX Facebook group!

Do I have goals for this race?  Yes and No.  Obviously, I just want to finish.  I know that is all I should be focused on, but I am too competitive with myself especially and of course I have goals in mind for each discipline and for an overall time I would like to hit.  But, at the end of the day, I just want to finish, smile the whole time, and hear Mike Reilly call my name.  Oh, and bring home some sweet finisher gear as well :)

I am sure people will get sick of my posts this week that are all Texas and race related, so if that is the case, screw them!  Block me, hide me, delete me....but you have been forewarned, especially if you follow me on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter :)

If you care to follow me on race day, my Bib # is 1198.  I am sure I will post between now and then, but in the meantime....Happy training, tapering, and racing all!!

Taper Madness

I'm not going to lie or sugar coat anything.  Tapering sucks.  Just.  Plain.  Sucks.  The past two weeks I have been moody, irritable, stressed, excited, happy, giddy, back to stressed, tired, hungry, hyper, hungry, and then back to all of the above. 


I know a lot of this stress is just the logistics of getting ready to go.  I have to make sub plans for a week, get everything graded, make all the copies, type up the instructions, etc just to be prepared to be off work for a week.


Then there are the logistics of making pack lists, packing, dropping the bike off, picking it up, coordinating with the bike transport company, etc.  Nothing that hard, but it all adds up.  I also have to get my house ready for my mom to be there all week with my kids!


At night I have laid in bed and some nights I am just plain excited.  Other nights I literally start to freak out and think "It's only 140.6 miles, what could POSSIBLY go wrong?"  I worry about the oddest things and things that haven't occurred to me yet, all of a sudden will, like, where do I meet Wes from ProBike Express after the race to get him my bike?  Not a huge deal, just a simple question, but in the middle of the night, this is a BIG DEAL.


And don't get me started on the weather.  I have now deleted the weather apps from my phone.  It is still too far out to accurately predict, but it was just giving me anxiety.  When I was still checking the weather, it was calling for thunderstorms that day.  Please, anything except thunderstorms.  The only reason I don't want that is because that could potentially shorten or cancel parts of the race.  I have trained too long and hard and don't want to complete anything less than 140.6 on May 16.  I am seriously prepared for anything else mentally, but that would just royally SUCK!


I know that I will in the end be fine.  I need to focus on what I can control instead of what I can't.  I know I need to trust my training, trust the planning, and it will be good in the end. It always works out, but right now I am kinda panicky!  Once I get on the plane and to Houston, a lot of this stress will be gone because it will all be packed, checked, rechecked, and we will be on our way! 


I guess tapering is a giant "ARE WE THERE YET?" feeling.  It is like studying for a test that you have to wait 3 weeks to take.  Yep, I am ready.  As ready as I am going to be.  Let's get this show on the road!

Peak Weak is over...HEEELLLOOOOO Taper!

I saw this on the FB page for my tri club, and it is probably going to be accurate as the final weeks to IMTX unfold...but we shall see :)

I concluded the bulk of my training today, there are no more build weeks, and I survived Peak Week (the week with the highest volume in a training plan, for those non-tri folks).  It actually went really fast and really well!  I had my long swim on Thursday night, and other than getting a horrible case of black line syndrom, it wasn't too bad!  I was grateful when the aqua Zumba class started in the lane next to me, because let's just say they provided the entertainment for the second half of that long swim :)

Yesterday I took the day off with the intents of getting my bike off the trainer and doing my 100 miler outside.  Well, wouldn't you know it, we woke up to wind and rain.  Dangit!  I wasn't happy about that, but guess what?  The ride still has to get done!  So, I was trainer bound. I loaded up my TV tray next to my bike with 6 hours of water, and all the fuel that I need for my mammoth ride and then got the remotes all situated and I was good to go!  Netflix is a thing of beauty for occasions like this!



You know what?  It really wasn't that bad!  I don't know why, but last week's 90 miler seemed more painful than this one!  Now don't get me wrong, it wasn't fantastic, but it was bearable.  Of course I would have preferred being outside, but this wasn't pure torture either!  With the kids at school and IronSherpa at work, I had the whole day to ride away, no interruptions or anything else, so it worked out well that way!

Today was my long run.  It was supposed to be just 16 (you know you are training for an IM when you say "just" 16) but earlier in the week someone posted on FB about giving their bib away for the Striders 30 k (18.6 miles) race up in Eden.  I figured why not?  I might as well have someone else lay out the support for me, run with a group and get a medal at the end, and what's a few extra miles?  So, I did just that and had a blast.  I decided to really make sure I treated this as what it was, a training run, I really made sure to keep it reigned in, and kept a good comfy pace.  I woke up with my butt and legs already tired from yesterday's ride, so I knew not to expect much.  I was pretty bummed by all the people that passed me the first half of this run, but ya know what?  I passed them in the last 3-4 miles!  I was proud of myself for keeping a good conservative pace and being able to run the entire thing with the exception of the few aid stations.  I finished feeling strong too.  Yes, I was tired, but this run didn't totally kill me either.  I love it when you see training pay off in small ways like this!



With that, my Peak Week ended!  Now, I have to say, this makes me sad and excited at the same time!  Sad because I know that this journey is quickly coming to an end and I have loved every moment of it.  I have loved what I have discovered about myself this past year, and I have loved the training. I have been pleased with how with a specific goal in mind (one that has scared the crap out of me) I have never been more consistent in my training and I have seen results.  I have loved pushing my body week after week and seeing it do so well and bounce back and maintain injury free status!  I tell ya, the human body is the most amazing thing ever!  I am also sad because I still don't know what I want to do post IM.  I know that there are always more races and heaven knows I will do them, but I don't know what else will live up to this kind of journey, if that makes any sense.

I am also so excited that the hard work is basically done!  On the way up to Eden for the race this morning the song Hall of Fame by the script came on.  I seriously started bawling as I listened to it and was visualizing race day.  I am so freaking excited for it!  I know what it will be something else, and the unknowns are always there, but I know that I have put in the majority of the work, and I am excited to see what the day holds.

So, bear with me the next couple weeks.  I feel like I need the first  pic printed on a t-shirt and use it as fair warning for people that have to deal with me the next few weeks :)

In the meantime, Happy training, racing and TAPERING all!

ONE MONTH!

I am officially one month out from the biggest race of my life, Ironman Texas!  How am I?  The truth is that I am so excited I can't stand it! Seriously!  I am excited about every aspect of this, from the trip to Texas and the time with Ken sans kids, to meeting up with people from the IMTX Facebook group, to going to an Astros game, to attending race clinics, the welcome dinner, and most importantly...RACING!

 

A couple of days ago bib assignments were made, and I am #1198.  I have this really weird thing about numbers, and I love even numbers, so I am glad I got an even number.  I noticed when I was on my bike the other night that my sticker from IMStG 70.3 was still on my bike and my number for that race was 981, so it is kind the same?  That is a good reminder if I can survive that race and the crap day that was, I can do IMTX :)

 

When I look at this in real life terms, I only have 10 more days of hard training and then my taper begins.  I have a 90 mile ride this week, 100 next, and a 16 mile run both of the next two Saturdays.  My swim taper is only a week, I still have a few build weeks in that regard, but that is no big deal, as I am most comfortable in the water.

 

My bike is going good.  I am able to bike relatively pain free (regarding the shoulder/neck issues I have had) and I think my bike fit is the reason.  I am more comfortable for longer periods of time on it.  I feel that endurance wise I can handle these rides, it is just the boredom aspect (they have all still been on the trainer) that makes them tough.  However, Netflix is a thing of beauty on these rides and helps the time to pass relatively quickly.

 

My run is what it is.  The good thing is I don't hate running anymore, in fact it is quite the opposite.  I just wish I was faster.  I am running pain free.  My endurance is there, the two 16 milers I have done have been pretty fast, for me anyway.  It has helped immensely to do them with a good friend of mine who is training for her first marathon.  However, due to differing schedules, the next two will be solo, which I need to do, even though I don't want to.  On race day I can only rely on myself to get myself to the finish line, so doing these final two long runs solo will be good from that aspect.

 

Nutrition wise, I am where I should be.  I have finally figured out bike nutrition that will work for long rides, and though it won't allow me to live off of the course like I wanted to, it will work for me and keep my stomach happy.  For the run, I will be fine with what is on the course.

 

I have read many articles lately on race execution and feel that I have a good plan.  Basically, I will take it easy until I hit Mile 80ish on the bike, then maybe push it into Zone 3 based upon how I am feeling and the conditions.  And, I will break down the course into segments and do one at a time.  Way excited to see it all in action though!

 

I have also heard about the infamous IMTX window display at Lulu Lemon in the Woodlands Town Center, where they put all the participants names up.  Yeah, finding my name on this window just got added to my Texas MUST DO list :)

 

I guess the only downside to all of this is that, as excited as I am, I don't want it to end.  I have LOVED this journey...every bit of it.  The training, the learning, the pushing myself, the planning, etc.  I really don't know what I will do with myself after it is all done.  I know there are other races, and if this goes well I don't see myself being a "one and done" kind of person, but I do worry about all the build up and then the "what now?" feeling after the race.  Heaven knows I will always have enough on my plate, but it just won't be the same!

 

For now, I am riding the roller coaster where it is at and it is a wild ride.  Can't wait to see how the next 30 days go!  Happy training and racing all!

Spring Break Training and Welcome to Hell!

This week I am off for Spring break (one of the benefits of being a teacher).  Ken wanted to go somewhere as a family, and I told him that I couldn't get away and miss training.  April is peak Ironman training month and I just don't want to miss anything, nor do I want to try to fit it in on vacation, because that never goes as intended too.  He decided to take the kids and go camping with his brother and his kids in Southern Utah leaving me with 72 glorious hours to myself.  Hmmmmmm....what to do, what to do.....

I immediately knew I would call my fellow crazy friend Kim and arrange some quality training.  Kim and I met online (I love to say that, it just sounds so funny) on Beginner Triathlete and actually met up in person a year ago at IM StG 70.3.  We were instant kindred spirits.  We are both high school English teachers, both triathletes who love this crazy sport, and both quick witted. She is training for Ironman Couer de Laine. She is one of those people that just puts a smile on your face.  Anyhow, she lives in West Wendover, Nevada, about a 2.5 hour drive from me.  It was also her spring break, so this was going to work out perfectly!  She has always told me a ton about her swimming at a natural spring lake called Blue Lake that is about a half hour south of her.  I am so envious that she gets to swim in such a place year round and told her someday I would love to come and join her.  Well, this week was finally time to try it!

I arrived yesterday afternoon and we met for Mexican food.  We then went back to her house and watched a documentary called The Distance about 3 different Age Group athletes that are all training for IM Wisconsin.  It followed them throughout their year of preparations, jobs, family, etc leading up to the race.  Kim and I sat and laughed, nodded our heads in agreement at parts, or simply made fun of the people in the film.  We also had many "What the crap have we signed up for" moments where we just looked at each other and thought we have indeed truly lost our minds.  Good film, but honestly, if you are not a triathlete, it may bore you to tears.

It is very pretty out there!

We got up this morning and went trail running first.  Both of our plans called for a one hour run.  We drove a couple of miles out of town (not hard to do, it is in the middle of nowhere) where we parked the car and she took me on her favorite trails. It was fun, dusty, hilly, windy, and a great work out.  Thank heaven the wind calmed down though!!  I thoroughly enjoyed this run, but couldn't wait to swim :)

We went back to her house, ate a quick breakfast, changed clothes and were off to swim.  We took my Jeep and she directed me down to a State Highway that you follow for awhile, then turn onto a gravel road, that turns more into like a 4 wheeling kind of road.  There are only two signs telling you where to go, and you could easily miss them and even after that it is a series of twists and turns on this road to get you to literally the middle of nowhere.  There is this gorgeous Caribbean blue lake amidst the tumble weed and rocks.  Kim explained that she even comes here when there is snow everywhere because it stays around 70 degrees year round.  With a wetsuit on, that is a perfect temperature.  Weather today was around 45, windy, and sunny.  Very chilly, but, like she said, once we were in the water, it was perfect.

Two soon to be IronWomen!

Blue Lake is a popular spot for fishermen, scuba divers, and others, but today it was just us and two guys that were fishing.  The lake is pretty shallow along the perimeter, but will then quickly drop off to pretty much bottomless.  Apparently a plane is down there somewhere.  I immediately noticed as we were swimming that it is crystal clean and you can see pretty white sand right below you.  You can also see fish as well as you swim.  So freaking cool!  I was in immediate heaven out here!  I tried to swim the perimeter as Kim explained she does, but it would all of a sudden be too shallow and I was dragging knuckles and would actually get out and walk to where it would drop off again and I could swim.  I eventually just swam back and forth across it and practiced sighting.  I had several "All is right with the world" moments while doing this.  There was something magical, liberating, and freeing about looking up at a clear blue sky with sun and clouds surrounded by dessert, then looking down into the water on your down stroke and seeing the blue water, the fish, and the white sand.  I was like a kid at Christmas.  Pure heaven.  It reminded me how of all the workouts that we do as triathletes, open water swimming is my true Happy Place.  I loved every second of it.  With the wind, the waves got choppy at parts and I made myself swim against the chop for practice, and even though I wasn't going fast, I felt like it!

Our hour swim went way too fast.  It honestly felt like playing, not like "training" at all.  I got my planned 2600 meters in (thank you Garmin!) and we then had to get out of the water into the cold and get back to the car.  It wasn't even that bad!  It made for such a fun training day and I loved doing it with Kim!

This brings me to another thought I have been having.  I am now just a hair over 6 weeks from race day.  That is four weeks of solid training and a two week taper.  Holy Crap is that coming fast!  So, pretty much that means that the month of April is brutal as far as training goes.  As I look at Training Peaks and what it has in store for me over the next month, I truly believe if I can survive this month, I can survive anything, and that includes the race itself :)

I have now started referring to April as Hell Month for that specific reason.  Other than next weekend when I will be in Seattle, every Saturday has either a 16 mile run or some horribly painful brick workout.  This is along with the Friday night long rides which in all reality will most likely be on my trainer and are now up to 5 hours in length and getting longer.  The "short" work outs in the middle of the week are longer and more intense as well.  Like I said, April is now Hell Month :)

But, in keeping perspective on all of this, I know it will fly by.  I am loving it, as much as I dread it in the weeks ahead.  I have loved this journey so far.  It has gone too fast.  I have had ups and downs and moments where I am feeling like the strongest woman in the world and others where I lay in my bed at night and wonder what the heck did I get myself into and how much did I pay for this???.  The other night was one of those.  I was trying to break down how the day might go.  I visualized the swim, getting out, changing in T1, then getting on my bike.  Then I started to think about how I wanted to break the bike into segments as the whole thing will probably take 6-7 hours. Then I had a thought..."what the crap are you doing?  You don't even like riding that long!  It makes your butt hurt! Who the heck does that?  Did you not learn anything from the Triple Bypass?  But OH NO!  You didn't learn!  Because you are going to top that off with a full marathon because you wouldn't have suffered enough already, huh?  Did you forget how much you hate marathons???  Whatever happened to being content with 70.3s?"  So yes, I had a little mental meltdown. There may or may not have been tears involved.  Don't worry, after a day of training like today, I am over it :)

So, that is where I am at.  I am training well, feeling good, and enjoying my break.  I am committed to seeing these next 42 days till Go Time through and can't wait to see what it looks like from the other side :)  Happy Training and racing all!

My version of Heaven on Earth.  Thank you God for days like today and places like this!

RACE WEEK!

It's race week people!  I have the Icebreaker Sprint Tri on Saturday.  This is my fourth year doing this race (1 year is was by Women of Steel, the other two Racetri, but exact same course).  I love this race as I always use it as a progress measuring race to see how my winter training has paid off and where I stand.  I have PR'd it every year so far, so let's hope the same holds true this year!

I actually picked up my packet on Tuesday.  They offer packet pick up all week at the local running store, and since we were down there for a funeral, we stopped by to get the packet.  Cool shirts and they showed us the finisher medal....HUGE!  I always love how Racetri outdoes themselves on these things!  It is "just" a sprint, but they always go above and beyond.

My goals are pretty simple...race so hard I puke at the end.  With that being said, I hope that racing in such a manner results in a PR and I would like to qualify again for Age Group Nationals at this one, like I did last year.  Even though I can't attend this year if I did, I just want to be able to say that I did :)  The AG Nationals goal totally depends on who shows up to this thing, but I can hope right?

I really think my niche in racing is for longer distances, because I don't naturally have speed, but I can go on forever at the same pace.  I am definitely a distance gal, but I love a good sprint tri.  In so many ways they are harder than a long distance one!  They hurt more!  My own philosophy is the shorter the distance, the more it should hurt. I really like pushing myself harder.  I have done speed work consistently with all three disciplines as part of my IMTX training, so I am really excited to see how this all plays out. 

In other news, I have had my Garmin 920 for almost a week.  It is so dang cool.  I mean, really.  I never thought I would start using it as an every day watch, but I am.  I love it.  The smart features are awesome.  I love, love, love the Bluetooth capabilities.  The second I hit the stop button on any given work out it is sent directly to my phone and shows up in Garmin Connect and Training Peaks.  So freaking cool.  I also love being able to see who is calling or texting when I am on a ride or run to see if it is important enough to stop, without having to pull my phone out of my pocket to do so.  I will usually only stop for my kids and husband, assuming it is an emergency. It is also ridiculously easy to use, which is helpful for a tech idiot like me.  I am super excited to race with it on Saturday :)

In IMTX news, they have changed the swim start to a rolling start where people self seed by expected finish time.  I am slightly disappointed because I really wanted to experience the mass start at least once.  However, I have done rolling starts at the 70.3s I have done and loved how smooth they are, so no worries.  I am so excited about this I can't stand it!  I was looking at my training schedule in Training Peaks last night and realized that I really only have 5 weeks of hard training left with a 2-3 week taper.  Gulp.  The time has flown so ridiculously fast since I hit the "submit" button on registration I can't believe it! Only 58 Days till race day!  Less than 2 months and just a day over 8 weeks away! 

Happy Training/Racing all!!

Six Things Sunday

Here are my recent thoughts, totally random, in regards to my training and life 10 weeks out from IMTX:.

1)  I am still alive.  I have not fallen off the face of the earth, and even though this blog has been silent, my life and training is still in full swing...sort of.

2)  This last week was a "recovery week" according to my training plan.  Which is probably a really good thing seeing as I took "recovery" very seriously and only did 3 of the 8 work outs this week.  Work was crazy busy, family stuff was all over the place, and I had a series of headaches that got in the way of training.  Not legit reasons really, I suppose I could have worked in training, but just didn't.  I was just glad it wasn't a build week.



3)  I sucked it up and registered for Netflix.  I have run out of shows and my own movies I want to watch and the long rides are only getting longer.  In doing so I have rediscovered Friends.  I'll be honest, I never watched it religiously when it was on, so I am enjoying starting all over at Season 1, Episode 1.  So.  Dang.  Funny.  I got through the first 6 episodes on Friday's long ride.



4)  The Event Schedule is up for IMTX Race Week.  Yet another sign that crap is getting real.  Only 69 days left!  It's looking like a fun week!  I think I will really have a coronary when the actual bib numbers come out!

5) I totally splurged and bought myself an early birthday present (my actual birthday is just under a month away).  My Garmin 920xt will be arriving this week from Amazon.  Can. Not. Wait.  I have loved my 310xt, but there are just a few more details on the new one that aren't on the 310 that I can't wait for.  Mainly the swim data and the "smart" features.  I already have sold my 310 too! And of course, I bought the red one :)


6)  I have been re-reminded of the need to train my own way and for my own race.  I have to stop comparing my training to anyone else's.  In the end, it is just me and the course and no one else is going to get me to the finish line but me.  I keep reading online or talking with friends also doing this race and see that there long runs or rides are longer than mine are already, or they are putting in more hours than me, or what have you, and I start to wonder if I am doing enough.  I always feel good about my training and my plan until I start talking and comparing mine to others. I know in my heart that I will be fine with the plan that I am following if I just stick to it and stop comparing myself to others.  I picked my plan for many reasons with my life and goals in mind, and I have to remember that along this crazy journey.

That is it for now!  Happy training and racing all!

Officially Ouf of my Comfort Zone

 

I just wrapped up week 10 of my training plan.  It hit me this week, that though the building of volume and the adding of miles and time has been very well done and gradual, I have officially left my comfort zone.

 

My training sessions during the week are now longer and more intense than I would do on my own, or have ever done for that matter.

 

My long runs and rides are also more than I would do if left to do my own Saturday long run or ride. 

 

They are the length that leave me sore and fatigued and are mentally challenging at times.  Especially the trainer rides. I really have to push myself to get through those.  I can knock out a long run of 8-12 miles with relative ease, but now that I am over that, I feel the effects later in the day, or even a few days later. 

 

I am to the stage of training where things start to hurt.  This week it was a lot.  My shoulder which has been an ongoing issue was really bad.  I finally decided to get it checked out.  I went to a Sports Medicine Orthopedist who told me that it is in fact not my shoulder, but my neck.  I have at some point developed what is more or less arthritis in my neck between disks C6-C7.  There is really nothing you can do about it, just generally avoid whatever makes it hurt.  In my case it is biking that aggravates it.  Where I am not about to give up cycling, the doctor says just do whatever I can or want, but know that it is going to hurt as it is more or less pinching a nerve that causes the shoulder pain.  Lovely.  I am not showing any signs of permanent damage, so I am free to train and race as I please, but knowing that it will hurt.  Great!

 

I finished a 13 mile run yesterday and as I have started to have just minor aches and pains with my longer runs, I wore compression sleeves over my calves.  Well, that took care of the pain or niggles in that area, but my ankle gave me hell.  My left ankle has been an issue since high school.  Any time I over use it, it complains for a bit and then is fine.  So I didn't think anything of it till I woke up this morning to find that it was not only a bit sore, but bruised and slightly swollen too.  What the crap?  Ironman training just might kill me at this rate!

 

It's the stage of training where you bust out the KT tape, take ibuprofen with more frequency, use the foam roller religiously, and hit the sack earlier than you already do.  All while trying to not eat everything in sight :)

 

But, I am one to look at the positive.  I am thankful to be able to do what I do.  I am thankful for my health and body that allow me to abuse it over and over again and have it bounce back for more. 

 

What have I learned in training lately?

 

-I have changed up my run nutrition just slightly.  I have always stuck to a Gu every 45 minutes or so.  However, in reading that most triathletes need to take in 200-300 calories/hour during a triathlon.  I do this on the bike, but not the run.  I decided to tweak this a little and see if I noticed a difference.  I now take a Gu every 3 miles instead of every 4.  I also sip Gatorade Endurance in between Gu's.  The Gatorade has been working well on the bike, so I decided to see how it goes on the run as well.  So when I carry my 4 bottle hydration belt, two of those are water and two are Gatorade.  The past two weeks I have done this and I have noticed increased energy on the runs.  Nothing drastic, but I have noticed that I don't feel like complete death at the end of the run or during.  Plus, as weird as it sounds, it helps break up the run for me.  I can say to myself, "Only 2 more miles till my next Gu/Gatorade".  Hey, its the little things, right?

 

 So, there are 83 days until Ironman Texas.  Here's to getting comfortable being uncomfortable and hoping this body holds up in the process.  Happy Training and racing all!

100 Days Till I'm an Ironman....

According the my countdown app, I have 100 days until I hear Mike Reilly say the beloved words every triathlete training for an IM wants to  hear.  100 days!!! I am so excited I still can't stand it!

What's on my mind 100 days out?  Details, details, details.  I have started making lists, and more lists, and then some lists of lists I should make.  Type A you say?  For sure!

I have started making the pack list.  Not just of what to take to Texas, but specifically a list for each of the 5 bags they give you.  What will go in my morning clothes bag, what will be in the bike gear bag, the run gear bag and the Special Needs bags.

I have another list of things to do while we are down there.  People I want to see.  Places we want to eat.  Things for the IronSherpa to do while waiting for me on the bike, etc.

I have yet whole other bunch of lists for my Mom in regards to her caring for the kids that week.  And it goes on and on...

Training wise, I am in a good place.  I am missing very few workouts. Maybe one a week, if that, but never the critical core ones.  I am looking at events coming up that are non-tri related and trying to make sure that I can still do them and work my training around them. 

I am still eating like a horse and sleeping like a baby.

I am still reading anything and everything I can about this race.  I now consider the people on the IMTX Facebook page extended family.  They are great for posting ideas, advice, support, recommendations, you name it.  Probably because they are among the few who actually "get" what you are going through.  We plan to try to meet up the week of the race.

I think that I will be ready.  I have gone from freak out mode (it still happens on occasion) to feeling strong and confident that I can actually pull this off.  I am training well.  I am handling the increasing volume well.  I am injury free. 

I am loving this journey.  People are not lying when they say that it is the journey of a lifetime. 

So, Happy 100 Days!  Happy Training and racing!

What a Perfect Week Looks Like

I nailed every single work out last week, even the extras I add on to the training plan I am following.  I hit ever transition run and strength training session.  They didn't all go fantastic, but I DID THEM!  This is what it looks like from Training Peaks:

 

 

I will admit, I am becoming a bit of a data junkie. I love Training Peaks.  It is amazing to me how motivating seeing the little bars go up and down are for your training.  Also, it doesn't show it here, but I did over 100 miles last week too.  WOOHOOO!  This IM training stuff rocks.

 

Now for the get real part.  By the time my long run was done on Saturday, I was toast.  My body was feeling each and every one of those 100+ miles last week.  My ankle hurt, my shoulder hurt, and I was completely exhausted.  By the time I got a good night's sleep that night I was fine, but it was tough! 

 

This week will look much the same volume wise.  It will just be trickier to fit it all in seeing as how we have a ton of extra stuff this week.  Friday's long ride is 55 miles, and Saturday's run is 12. 

 

 

What did I learn in Week 7 of IMTX training?

 

-In my ongoing experimentation with nutrition, I tried the EFS Liquid Shot this week for my long bike.  NUTRITION FAIL.  I felt alright, but man, is it nasty.  I had the wild berry flavor, and it tasted like a liquefied fig newton.  And I hate fig newtons.  Not to mention is made me feel gassy and bloated and I was belching a TON on my long ride.  That goes into the NOPE category.  I think I will stick with the Gatorade Endurance and Shot Blocks :)

 

-I had a fantastic long swim on Thursday night.  Averaged a 1:51/100 meters.  Not bad at all!  I am going to start timing the long swims and see how this compares from week to week.

 

-I really did pick the perfect training plan for me.  As it goes on, it just makes more and more sense and works for me.  I love that every 3rd week is a recovery week.  It breaks the training up for me.  I love that all the workouts are very specific and I know exactly what I need to accomplish for each of them.  The build is all gradual and makes sense.  I feel like following this plan I will be ready for IMTX :)

 

 

Week 8 is another build week, but then next week is Recovery! Happy Training and Racing all!

Find your inner champion

Saturday night I attended a season kick off party for the Salt Lake Tri Club.  I was not a member, at the time, but they were having Julie Moss and Kathleen McCartney come and speak, and I wanted to go.  Trying to talk the IronSherpa into coming wasn't happening, so I took Joshua, my 11 year old, with me. 

They were so good, I don't know where to begin!  I really loved how they both stressed that success comes from within and everyone has an inner champion, regardless of how you finish a race.  A few things they said stood out...

"It was never a question in my mind IF I would finish.  I just knew I would, no doubt." 

"When I crossed that finish line, even though I crawled, I found an inner strength that wasn't there before.  A life changing inner strength."

These are amazing to me and exactly what I needed to hear while training for my first IM.  I have wondered at times, "What if I can't finish?"  " What if I don't have enough?"  Now I know I just need to change that mindset to not IF, but HOW and WHEN.

Joshua honestly went along for the food initially, but he ended up enjoying it.  I was surprised that he paid attention the whole time and was glad he went.  I asked him what he got out of it and he said, "That you have to work hard to make good things happen."  Exactly!

I ended up joining SLTC.  The discounts alone will more than pay for the membership of $25 for the year.  Plus, I got a cool swag bag with a t-shirt, water bottle and swim cap.  It still doesn't cease to amaze me what us athletes will do for a t-shirt :)

This was a great way to start Week 7 of training.  Crap is getting real!  Happy training and racing!

RETUL Bike Fit

I have had my bike for 3 years now and have never had a decent bike fit.  When I got it initially, the guy at the shop watched me on a trainer for about 15 minutes and said, "Looks good".  That was it.

I, being new to cycling at the time, had no idea what to really expect or know what a bike fit really was.  Now fast forward 3 years, and entering my 4th triathlon season and IMTX training, and I figured it was about time to get one done.  The main motivator for this is the ongoing pain I have in my right shoulder from riding for long periods of time.  I also am constantly shifting my position on the bike - either in the saddle or my hand position.  I can never stay in one position for a long time and be really comfortable. 

I have also upgraded and changed a ton to my bike over the past 3 years.  I changed the saddle, raised/lowered the seat post, added two different sets of aerobars, etc.  All things that effect fit.  So, yeah, about time I get that all checked out.  Also, I want to make sure that I am riding in the most efficient and comfortable way possible.

Enter the RETUL bike fit.  I decided to go with this over Biker's Edge's regular fit because I just wanted to the best I could get.  Kinda an all or nothing kind of approach (I am really good at that:) I walk in and meet with Adam, who will do the fit.  He tells me to plan on a couple of hours (it actually took 3.5).  He does a physical assessment, looking at how I walk, do push ups, how long I can hold a plank, do squats etc.  All of this is to assess any muscle imbalances, core strength or lack thereof, and how all of this could effect cycling and/or position.  He then gets me on my bike, puts several electrodes on and watches me ride with cameras and in real time on the screen with the system taking measurements, detecting imbalances etc, then you go through an exhaustive amount of adjustments to get the numbers to not be red on his screen.  If they show up as red, there is an imbalance and more adjusting is needed.  Talk about thorough!

Long story short, we moved the seat WAY up, both height wise and moved the saddle forward, all in an attempt to make it as triathlon friendly as possible on my road bike.  We also adjusted the cleat position on my cycling shoes.  We adjusted the aerobar length.  By the time he was done, it felt like a completely different bike, but in a good way.  By the end of the fit, I was generating more power on the bike without any additional effort from when I came in.  Pretty sweet!  I am excited to see how this all translates over to performance on the road.  We tried to find that fine balance of making it a great and aggressive triathlon fit, but also still suitable for road biking as well, like on riding such as climbing or what I did in the Triple Bypass.  With out having a separate tri bike, this was the next best option. 

So, I am extremely impressed.  I am excited to see how this translates into performance and overall comfort.  I think that it will help my shoulder situation, he could see how some imbalances on my right side could be leading to some compensating on that side and leading to the pain.  He recommended some position advice as well as some exercised to help with that, but at least now I know what the issue is.  The fit should also help with that.  Thank heaven!  These long rides are only getting longer and I can't deal with the pain I have in the past!

The training seems to be steadily ramping up and it is getting more and more real.  Gulp.  I am right now enjoying a recovery week, still training but dialed back some.  It's a nice mental break!

Happy Training/Racing all!

Casualties of Ironman Training

I now have 4 very solid weeks of Ironman training under my belt.  I have to toot my own horn here, it has been awesome and I have only missed one work out in 4 weeks.  When I say that, I am meaning I have only missed one workout that is on my training plan. I have added in on my own 3 strength trainings a week, and couple of transition runs after the bike, that are not actually on the Matt Fitzgerald plan I am following. Even with those add ons, I have missed very few.

I am averaging 8-10 hours a week right now.  I know that will build, but I have never had this kind of volume consistently.  I am finding that I really like it!  I look forward to my training time!  My body is handling it as well.  However, there are things that have changed in my life while training for an Ironman.  I will call them "Casualties of Ironman Training".

1) A Normal Diet.  HA!  This is out the door.  While I am eating pretty clean, I am eating a ton. Or what seems like to me a ton. I find I am hungry All.  The.  Time.  I wake up at 2:45 am with a growling stomach.  I have to constantly keep snacks with me.  It's insane!  Now, all this being said, for me I am still taking in around 2200 calories a day.  Normal for me would be around 1600-1700.  Yeah, not anymore.  As long as I am eating healthy, which I am 90% of the time, I am not worried about it. I have to fuel my body for the added training load.

2)  My insomnia.  Gone.  I think I am wearing myself out with the training because once my  head hits the pillow, I'm out.  It's quite nice actually.  I only wake up when I am hungry :)

3)  Straight hair.  My hair is naturally curly.  I have spent a lifetime straightening it.  Not anymore!  Ain't nobody got time for that!  And with me showering often 2x a day with workouts, I really don't have time for that!

4)  Excuses.  I find that I am making them less than ever.  It doesn't even occur to me to skip a work out.  Which, for me, is hard to believe.  I used to talk myself out of doing many work outs due to lack of motivation, weather conditions, whatever.  Now I tell myself, "Suck it up, Ironman" and just do it.  Now, I have made some adjustments to the work outs, like maybe do it on a treadmill instead of outside, but I get it done!

5) Anything social on Friday nights.  My training plan calls for my long rides to be on Fridays.  Long runs Saturday.  I still have to work during the day, which means the trainer ride comes after work.  I told Ken, my IronSherpa, to make any and all plans he wants to for Fridays, but don't make me part of them until after May 16 :)

6) Training without a purpose.  My approach to training in the past has always been to just put in the miles/time.  My training plan NOW has a specific purpose to each workout.  They may be intervals, or speedwork, hill training, or "just stay in this Zone" instructions, but I have liked having this.  It makes me feel quite accomplished when I nail whatever it is it calls for.  In fact, only two work outs a week (the long ride and long run) are actual "just do the miles" work outs.  Every other work out is broken down for me.  Pretty cool!  It has completely changed my outlook on training.

7)  Stress.  As weird as it sounds, I am pretty happy these days.  I think that some people need therapy.  Some people need medication.  I need to train.  It is seriously my sanity and having daily doses and the consistency I have had, I haven't stressed much lately.  I have been less moody and grumpy.  Even though there is a lot on my plate with being a full time wife, mom, teacher, etc AND training for an Ironman, I have been shocked by how smooth it is going.  I think my positive mood and outlook has a lot to do with that. I have noticed during training lulls in the past, I get more moody, grumpy, etc.

8) My hate of treadmills.  I have always loathed them.  I had one for awhile and actually sold it because it never got used.  Now I am finding that with most of my work outs calling for intervals or hills, this is the easiest way to do them, is on the 'mill. When I have a set work out to do it goes quicker anyhow.  And it is awfully convenient too! 

I can honestly say I am loving this.  I love the training.  I see more and more why people say that the actual Ironman race is just a celebration of the training and journey it took to get there.  I know that I still have 18 weeks to go, but so far this is one of the most amazing things I have taken part in.  It is one heck of a journey!  That is not saying it is easy, because it is dang hard juggling everything, but it has been pretty incredible so far. 

Happy Training All!

Two weeks down, 20 to go!

Its hard for me to believe that I have already completed two weeks on my official Ironman training plan.  It has flown by!  The first week I followed the plan as called for, adding in 3 days of strength training and trying to run every day as well because of my 40 Day run streak that ends this coming week.  I will be honest...it was a challenge doing all of that!  In all honesty, and for the sake of accountability, I missed my long bike that week, and one run (not one on the plan, but one for the streak) and one day of strength training.  However, if you look at what the plan actually called for, that was only missing one work out from 9 planned, and it was the long bike ride.  It was supposed to be on that Friday, but I was in a massive hurry to get things packed and ready to leave for Denver just after midnight.  So no training that day :)

The second week needed some tweaking since we were out of town  in Denver.  I was not taking my bike, and decided not to mess with swimming.  Instead I would just run every day we were there.  For accountability sake I can say I ran every single day except yesterday, which was our day to come back.  After 10 hours in the car, plus having to unpack, and then buy food for an empty house, it didn't happen.  However, according to Training Peaks, I got 5.75 hours of training (running) this week, which considering we were on vacation, was awesome!!

I had some really good runs this week!  I love running in new places.  Here are some pics I took this week while running around my parent's place.  Below is one I took on Christmas Day while running some new trails around their home.  This was about an hour before a major snow storm blew in leaving about 6-7 inches of fresh powder.  This was one of my favorite runs all week.



The next day this was my attempt at a run.  I didn't get too far but I enjoyed playing in the new snow.  The side walks hadn't been shoveled and the roads were a complete ice sheet, so I only did a mile and a half that day.  My feet are under this fresh powder somewhere!



As far as Christmas was concerned, it was one of the best I have had in recent memory.  I loved being with my family.   My grandmother is now 84 and not in the greatest health, so it was neat to spend time with her.  My uncle was up from Houston and I don't get to see him much.  We had a nice laid back week of playing games, working puzzles, going hiking, and eating way too much food.  Apparently Santa thought I was pretty good this year, because I got some cool running stuff.



I got the running jacket shown above.  In the same color.  It is every bit as awesome as I thought.  No more having to put on 14 layers for cold weather runs.  This jacket is water proof, has reflective strips on it, and the arms are actually long enough I can use the thumb holes!  There is a ton of pockets and even built in gloves.  However, they are not heavy duty, I will still use my regular gloves on really cold runs.  The picture shown where my feet are in the snow it was only 10 degrees out,  I had on this jacket and a thin base layer underneath and was PLENTY warm.  I am so excited about this!  I also got some Gu from my daughter in Salted Caramel and Salted Watermelon, my current favorite flavors.  I also got some Brooks Thermal running tights.  I am one happy girl!

As good as this week was, it is nice to be home.  I am ready to get back on a routine (sort of anyway, we still don't have school for another week), do my training as planned, and get back to eating healthy.

It also occurred to me that with 2 weeks of Ironman training complete, I only have 20 left! The time is going to fly and I am excited to get to work!

Happy Training and Racing all!!