Time for the weekly round-up kids. Also, a lesson to be learned here. But first, here's what I actually got accomplished in triathlon life...
swim: 5100 yards
bike: 45.5 miles
run: 4.55 miles
strength training: 1
... so. basically nothing. neck was hurting early in the week, so Tuesday and Wednesday were rest days, still sticking with the hip flexor loving but not much else. Missed a swim and bike workout on those days which wasn't pleased about, but better to baby this thing for a few days than stress it out this early in the season.
The storm began in earnst friday afternoon - so friday morning I did my run outside (MAF work) followed by a short, sweet swim finishing 3 minutes before the pool closed for the weekend (prep for storm). My run is continuing to improve a bit, less hip pain and a more fluid stride, though IT band pain still present.
Saturday was a slice of heaven on earth. I stayed in DC all weekend with a good friend and we woke up Saturday morning to a literal wonderland. The city was asleep other than a few plows that were out but the snow was falling and the city was *quiet*. We woke up early to watch the snow, then went back to sleep for a couple hours. Around 10, we met up with a friend that lives really close and we headed to Meridian Park for round 1 of snow fun. The dogs that were off leash and jumping in the snow made my cheeks hurt from smiling and laughing so much. Watching dogs play with pure uninhibited joy is just awesome.
We sledded down some steps, made snow angels, ran down more steps and jumped into the unblemished expanse of snow that had blanketed everything overnight. We decided to explore the mall and monuments so with a quick break for clothing change, coffee and baileys and travel snacks, we headed out on our winter wonderland adventure. Walking down the center of normally busy streets was surreal - it was reminiscent of "Day After Tomorrow". People were out and about, in boots, skis, snowshoes, you name it. We watched downhill skiers on 15th street. We even saw the military Humvee's out and about on U street in the newly declared disaster zone.
The White House was our first stop. We weren't the only ones searching for presidential snow angels. After an obligatory photo op and an impromptu snow ball fight with complete strangers, we continued on past the WWII memorial, the reflecting pool, and onto the Lincoln Memorial. We had a blast running through the knee-thigh (depending on how tall you are...) snow and parked ourselves on the steps. We slid, we rolled, we tumbled down the snow covered stairs to the sweet musical tones of disney pandora. We had snow beers and shared muffins with pigeons before returning to home base for a quick break.
Then - THEN - the epic sledding of 15th street. We rode down the hill sitting on a snowboard at first. Then Ian grabbed his mountain bike and a surfing leash and proceeding to fly down 15th street hill towing me in a laundry basket.
Oh yea. That happened. Theres video evidence.
All in all, we walked at least 7 miles in snow which was borderline exhausting but exhilarating at the same time. I LOVE snow. Me and snow - we're committed for life.
Ambitiously, and still riding the winter wonderland high, we then decided to take on a 2 and a half hour trainer ride. I was pretty proud of us. We had a dynamite dinner of salmon and rice and chocolate and passed out watching House of Cards.
Sunday morning, I woke up very early and checked on the snow. I headed back to bed to sleep in. An hour later, I woke up in SEARING neck pain.
Oh for the love of God, I just wanted to cry. So I did.
I ended up obtaining my usual pharmacy of drugs that I treat my disk flare-ups with (THANK YOU JESUS) but the snowball fight and snow playtime were sadly out of the question. We spent the day lounging around watching even more House of Cards until it was football time. Headed to the navy yard to his friend's apartment to partake in football and food and drinks for the rest of the night while I tried incredibly hard to sit perfectly still.
Monday morning, I felt worse. I actually woke up from crying in my sleep at 4:30 am. Thankfully, I had a more than capable caretaker to make sure I didn't off myself or die from pain so that was most excellent. I felt better through the day, forced myself into a 2 hour trainer ride sitting up which was the only position that didn't hurt. Sitting hurt, laying down hurt, but shockingly, my neck position on the bike was comfortable so I embraced this small 2 hour relief in the form of a relatively laid-back trainer ride.
The rest of this week has just been hell. My neck is slowing improving and I eeked out an hour long trainer ride this morning. Tomorrow I have an hour run on the books (which I am overly excited about) before I head out to sign an apartment lease and trek out to Annapolis for the Navy-Army hockey game and dinner at one of my favorite places in town.
Here's to a painfully slow recovery week...
Friday, January 29, 2016
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
Baby, I'm a streaker.
You heard me. 9 day streaker. I have worked out 9 days in a row and its cause for celebration because the last time I did that was over a year ago. I feel tired - but good tired. Plus seeing all those little green boxes in training peaks makes my OCD super happy.
I pulled out a 1:30 trainer ride and hour swim on Wednesday - I was exhausted (still getting back into this training thing...) but I was riding that lovely exhaustion where you just want to eat and chill on the couch and relax but not pass out in a post-workout-coma. Other notable workout - 2:30 trainer ride on friday and it felt good. It was hard but I pushed it and felt pretty damn decent. so, yay.
workouts from last week:
swim (2): 7050 yds
bike (3): 110 miles
run (3): 14 miles
(I missed my Saturday "flop" swim after the run because a child pooped in the pool... which I was legitimately sad about because it was a short and sweet splash in the pool and I was super sweaty from the run.)
So - training is good - I love the specificity of the workouts with intervals (thanks Sonja and RTTC!).
Snowstorm is apparently coming this weekend. Even if I'm holed up in my apartment, I've got a few training rides on the books and I can always run on my beloved treadmill...
I pulled out a 1:30 trainer ride and hour swim on Wednesday - I was exhausted (still getting back into this training thing...) but I was riding that lovely exhaustion where you just want to eat and chill on the couch and relax but not pass out in a post-workout-coma. Other notable workout - 2:30 trainer ride on friday and it felt good. It was hard but I pushed it and felt pretty damn decent. so, yay.
workouts from last week:
swim (2): 7050 yds
bike (3): 110 miles
run (3): 14 miles
(I missed my Saturday "flop" swim after the run because a child pooped in the pool... which I was legitimately sad about because it was a short and sweet splash in the pool and I was super sweaty from the run.)
So - training is good - I love the specificity of the workouts with intervals (thanks Sonja and RTTC!).
Snowstorm is apparently coming this weekend. Even if I'm holed up in my apartment, I've got a few training rides on the books and I can always run on my beloved treadmill...
Thursday, January 14, 2016
Oh hi. It's me. I'm BACK.
Let's try one more time to stay on top of all things in the online world, shall we?
So we left off early November in a real slump. Its improved - in ways different than expected, but its improved.
My body is not 100%, lets admit that fact. Thanks to that good ole boot from weeks back, the left side of my body decided to stay jacked up - we're working on it. Hip flexor needs some lovin' - PT style. Don't be gross.
My motivation is back. Hello! New year, new you? Yea, I'm not buying that crap either, but in the spirit of new-gym-memberships-and-weight-loss-goals-and-improving-oneself, lets jump on the bandwagon and get this training show on the road, shall we?
I hired a new coach (happy dance). I will miss Taneen and her spirit and motivation - she and I had a great year and I learned a lot - about myself, about things I like and dislike in triathlon and training and 2015 was a great stepping stone to lead into 2016. I have 2 more Ironmans under my belt, I've been pretty consistent but its time to leap off that plateau and climb the next mountain. Its going to be tough and, let's be honest, I'll probably cry... because, you know... me... - but I'm ready.
I'm a week and a half into the first block of training. I did the first swim workout last monday and then promptly came down with some nasty virus that nearly killed me for three days. Jumped back on the horse friday with the first run in weeks... did 3.7 whole miles and felt awkward but the leg is *marginally* getting better. Is it all in my head? Maybe. But I think its better, so I'm going with that.
Saturday was a off day since we were doing a threshold test the following morning at off-season-spin. So - that threshold test eh... After having a few cocktails and staying up a tad too late at a party (with other triathletes, so I think that makes it legit), I showed up to OSS and kicked my ass. But I got it done and done effectively.
At that point is when my body decided it had had enough for the day. The intention was to follow OSS with an easy 40 minute run. And I'm going to say this out loud for accountability sake - I need to learn to to run easy when it says to "run easy". EASY. Especially with other people.
I started running and my leg felt even better than it had on Friday. So - I ran too fast. After a mile and a half or so, I felt my legs start to die and I knew the next 28 minutes were going to be quite uncomfortable. And they were. Even when I slowed down to an embarrassingly slow pace that a 3 year old could sustain, my heart rate was in the 700's and I was watching my legs move but they seemed to have a mind of their own. I mean, the heart rate *might* have been a shade lower than that exaggerated number... but lets say new numbers were showing up that the 910 has never witnessed.
I was grumpy (sorry to running partner...) and hangry after that brick workout. Though the bloody mary that followed put me in a much better mood and I recovered with tacos (thank you District Taco!) and How to Make a Murderer all afternoon/evening... As much as some workouts can suck - I love being in training again!
So we left off early November in a real slump. Its improved - in ways different than expected, but its improved.
My body is not 100%, lets admit that fact. Thanks to that good ole boot from weeks back, the left side of my body decided to stay jacked up - we're working on it. Hip flexor needs some lovin' - PT style. Don't be gross.
My motivation is back. Hello! New year, new you? Yea, I'm not buying that crap either, but in the spirit of new-gym-memberships-and-weight-loss-goals-and-improving-oneself, lets jump on the bandwagon and get this training show on the road, shall we?
I hired a new coach (happy dance). I will miss Taneen and her spirit and motivation - she and I had a great year and I learned a lot - about myself, about things I like and dislike in triathlon and training and 2015 was a great stepping stone to lead into 2016. I have 2 more Ironmans under my belt, I've been pretty consistent but its time to leap off that plateau and climb the next mountain. Its going to be tough and, let's be honest, I'll probably cry... because, you know... me... - but I'm ready.
I'm a week and a half into the first block of training. I did the first swim workout last monday and then promptly came down with some nasty virus that nearly killed me for three days. Jumped back on the horse friday with the first run in weeks... did 3.7 whole miles and felt awkward but the leg is *marginally* getting better. Is it all in my head? Maybe. But I think its better, so I'm going with that.
Saturday was a off day since we were doing a threshold test the following morning at off-season-spin. So - that threshold test eh... After having a few cocktails and staying up a tad too late at a party (with other triathletes, so I think that makes it legit), I showed up to OSS and kicked my ass. But I got it done and done effectively.
At that point is when my body decided it had had enough for the day. The intention was to follow OSS with an easy 40 minute run. And I'm going to say this out loud for accountability sake - I need to learn to to run easy when it says to "run easy". EASY. Especially with other people.
I started running and my leg felt even better than it had on Friday. So - I ran too fast. After a mile and a half or so, I felt my legs start to die and I knew the next 28 minutes were going to be quite uncomfortable. And they were. Even when I slowed down to an embarrassingly slow pace that a 3 year old could sustain, my heart rate was in the 700's and I was watching my legs move but they seemed to have a mind of their own. I mean, the heart rate *might* have been a shade lower than that exaggerated number... but lets say new numbers were showing up that the 910 has never witnessed.
I was grumpy (sorry to running partner...) and hangry after that brick workout. Though the bloody mary that followed put me in a much better mood and I recovered with tacos (thank you District Taco!) and How to Make a Murderer all afternoon/evening... As much as some workouts can suck - I love being in training again!
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
It turns out I don't suck.
Keep it appropriate kids. This is a PG-13 blog with occasional profanity, not sexual interludes.
One of the cool things about the triathlon world is being part of a team. Whether its the local tri club, an ambassador program, a racing team - triathlon accepts any and all people and encourages participation regardless of ability.
This past year, I had an awesome opportunity to represent SOAS - a women-specific brand created by women. The company is amazing, I love their vision for active women - just being a part of it this year and seeing it grow by leaps and bounds in 2015 alone has been exciting! They constantly seek our input and take our ideas into account - and make them happen! Our private facebook group is a safe haven for the "SOAS sisters" and is a constant go-to source for inspiration and motivation. I feel like I know so many of them through our interactions on facebook, messages, texts, etc. This past year, I had multiple opportunities to meet some of the fellow ambassadors and have even stayed in close contact with some of them - plus the fact that one of my best friends is on the team is incredibly awesome. I've even found an awesome teammate that lives local that I've ridden with and become friends with! I wouldn't have had these opportunities without SOAS and I'm so grateful.
This being my second year of racing (and the first year of having some semblance of knowledge about the sport), representing SOAS increased my confidence level which pushed me to apply for a local "elite" team, the Snapple Tri Team.
Lo and behold, they actually accepted me. Whaaaaaaat!
*happy dancing all around*
Despite the annoying, nagging, OBNOXIOUS injuries plaguing me - I'm pumped and excited for 2016. I get to hang with a team of awesome people and hopefully their awesomeness rubs off on me!
(Plus District Taco is a sponsor... HELLO, WELCOME TO MY DREAM WORLD.)
And look, I even became famous in the online world.
Cheers to an amazing 2016!
One of the cool things about the triathlon world is being part of a team. Whether its the local tri club, an ambassador program, a racing team - triathlon accepts any and all people and encourages participation regardless of ability.
This past year, I had an awesome opportunity to represent SOAS - a women-specific brand created by women. The company is amazing, I love their vision for active women - just being a part of it this year and seeing it grow by leaps and bounds in 2015 alone has been exciting! They constantly seek our input and take our ideas into account - and make them happen! Our private facebook group is a safe haven for the "SOAS sisters" and is a constant go-to source for inspiration and motivation. I feel like I know so many of them through our interactions on facebook, messages, texts, etc. This past year, I had multiple opportunities to meet some of the fellow ambassadors and have even stayed in close contact with some of them - plus the fact that one of my best friends is on the team is incredibly awesome. I've even found an awesome teammate that lives local that I've ridden with and become friends with! I wouldn't have had these opportunities without SOAS and I'm so grateful.
This being my second year of racing (and the first year of having some semblance of knowledge about the sport), representing SOAS increased my confidence level which pushed me to apply for a local "elite" team, the Snapple Tri Team.
Lo and behold, they actually accepted me. Whaaaaaaat!
*happy dancing all around*
Despite the annoying, nagging, OBNOXIOUS injuries plaguing me - I'm pumped and excited for 2016. I get to hang with a team of awesome people and hopefully their awesomeness rubs off on me!
(Plus District Taco is a sponsor... HELLO, WELCOME TO MY DREAM WORLD.)
And look, I even became famous in the online world.
Cheers to an amazing 2016!
Thursday, November 5, 2015
Choices.
This is the most severe post-season funk I have ever been in. Depression even. The injury hasn't helped (some sort of stress fracture/tendinitis that resulted in a walking boot), but I have lacked any and all motivation to be active or even just to complete the small, everyday tasks that need doing. Example - I forced myself to wash my sheets. Then I waited 9 days before making the bed and chose instead to sleep on the couch. I had laundry in piles on the bed that I refused to put away for over a week. I have bills that need paid - this involved less than 5 minutes of my day, but its this 5 minute task that I haven't actually had the will power to complete. I refused to go to the grocery store until I had no milk, eggs, bread, or ANYTHING edible left in the house.
It was ridiculous and I'm almost ashamed by how much life was getting away.
I've been on an emotional roller coaster since the race. Actually, it started well before the race, but I've let it get the better of me these last few weeks. I've said things I'm not proud of; harsh things, mean things, stupid things to friends. I've reacted to situations in ways that are unlike me. And though I've forced myself to step outside and stop floundering in the comfort of my living room - deep down I just wanted to *be* alone, though not *left* alone. It makes no sense...
So, I had the day off yesterday. I woke up at 5 am, sat up on the couch, and turned on the TV. An hour later, I had a chat with myself. It went something like - Self, I said - get your ASS off this couch and choose to do better.
I made a grocery list and went to two grocery stores to complete that list so that I could make a real meal for dinner for the first time in weeks.
I paid bills.
I did three more loads of laundry. And put it all away.
I put my bed back together.
I cleaned out my closet.
I cleaned out my desk and the dresser, I purged many things that I have been holding on to for no reason at all. Things that I should have tossed when I got divorced. Or moved.
I cleaned the kitchen/dining area and did dishes.
In a few words - I actually acted like a normal, functioning, adult member of the world.
And once that was all well and good - I put both wheels back on my bike, loaded it up in the trunk and headed to hains point to enjoy the latter half of an absolutely gorgeous afternoon.
I took off my walking boot and slipped the bike shoes on. I had no expectations - I fully expected to be slow as shit. But I made the conscious decision that today, I wouldn't let that bother me. That being said - I felt a weird little sensation of excitement when I saw a couple dudes fly past me just as I was clipping in.
Rosie wanted to fly - so we did. No warm-up, just balls to the wall for the first mile and a half. No humidity, but it was a little breezy. It felt like a tailwind so we cruised along to the top of HP. Usually this means that as soon as you make the turn, the headwind hits you. We turned, but I still felt like I was riding the tailwind, so we continued to fly along at the same speed. I caught up to a couple of those dudes at the stop sign and hung behind them for a mile or so until the one-way started and I gleefully passed them.
I started timing my laps and began racing myself. This one will be faster, I told myself. And the next one even faster. On the 4th or 5th lap I started daydreaming while stealing glances at the boats to my left. I decided I was done with speed for the day, but planned on doing an easy 2 or 3 more laps before calling it good as the sun was starting to go down.
All of a sudden, a guy in aero (on a very nice bike) passed me. I shook myself out of the daydream and increased my cadence in an attempt to catch him. He stopped pulling away and very slowly I started to catch up. This was at the cost of doing 23+ mph and a steadily rising heart rate, but why the hell was I even looking at my watch? Its an addiction.
Eventually I caught him at the stop sign and he promptly went in a different direction so fate decided I was done racing for the afternoon. I slowed down and caught the sun peeking through the trees to my right as it continued to get lower in the sky. On the airport side, I stopped and took pictures of the sun setting over the airport. An older gentleman was sitting on a bench at the water's edge with his bike leaned up against the fence and I took a minute to watch him (in a non-creepy way); I watched in a sense of admiration about the peaceful way he sat and watched the planes take-off and land across the water. I haven't felt that relaxed in a long time.
As I went to clip back in and finish the ride, 2 dudes flew past. And then it was on, again.
Dusk was setting in as I loaded Rosie back in my trunk. I was happy and at peace and I realized how silly and stupid I'd been acting for the past few weeks.
But it happens to all of us (and if it doesn't ever happen to you, pretend for me). Yesterday, I made the choice to be better than I was the day, week, even month before. Its hard to crawl out of that little hole that I've been hiding in, but I quite literally saw the sunlight and damn it, isn't life great?
Until next time my friends - I'll be around.
(There's also an IMLOU race report that I was half-heartedly writing so I'll post that soon.)
It was ridiculous and I'm almost ashamed by how much life was getting away.
I've been on an emotional roller coaster since the race. Actually, it started well before the race, but I've let it get the better of me these last few weeks. I've said things I'm not proud of; harsh things, mean things, stupid things to friends. I've reacted to situations in ways that are unlike me. And though I've forced myself to step outside and stop floundering in the comfort of my living room - deep down I just wanted to *be* alone, though not *left* alone. It makes no sense...
So, I had the day off yesterday. I woke up at 5 am, sat up on the couch, and turned on the TV. An hour later, I had a chat with myself. It went something like - Self, I said - get your ASS off this couch and choose to do better.
I made a grocery list and went to two grocery stores to complete that list so that I could make a real meal for dinner for the first time in weeks.
I paid bills.
I did three more loads of laundry. And put it all away.
I put my bed back together.
I cleaned out my closet.
I cleaned out my desk and the dresser, I purged many things that I have been holding on to for no reason at all. Things that I should have tossed when I got divorced. Or moved.
I cleaned the kitchen/dining area and did dishes.
In a few words - I actually acted like a normal, functioning, adult member of the world.
And once that was all well and good - I put both wheels back on my bike, loaded it up in the trunk and headed to hains point to enjoy the latter half of an absolutely gorgeous afternoon.
I took off my walking boot and slipped the bike shoes on. I had no expectations - I fully expected to be slow as shit. But I made the conscious decision that today, I wouldn't let that bother me. That being said - I felt a weird little sensation of excitement when I saw a couple dudes fly past me just as I was clipping in.
Rosie wanted to fly - so we did. No warm-up, just balls to the wall for the first mile and a half. No humidity, but it was a little breezy. It felt like a tailwind so we cruised along to the top of HP. Usually this means that as soon as you make the turn, the headwind hits you. We turned, but I still felt like I was riding the tailwind, so we continued to fly along at the same speed. I caught up to a couple of those dudes at the stop sign and hung behind them for a mile or so until the one-way started and I gleefully passed them.
I started timing my laps and began racing myself. This one will be faster, I told myself. And the next one even faster. On the 4th or 5th lap I started daydreaming while stealing glances at the boats to my left. I decided I was done with speed for the day, but planned on doing an easy 2 or 3 more laps before calling it good as the sun was starting to go down.
All of a sudden, a guy in aero (on a very nice bike) passed me. I shook myself out of the daydream and increased my cadence in an attempt to catch him. He stopped pulling away and very slowly I started to catch up. This was at the cost of doing 23+ mph and a steadily rising heart rate, but why the hell was I even looking at my watch? Its an addiction.
Eventually I caught him at the stop sign and he promptly went in a different direction so fate decided I was done racing for the afternoon. I slowed down and caught the sun peeking through the trees to my right as it continued to get lower in the sky. On the airport side, I stopped and took pictures of the sun setting over the airport. An older gentleman was sitting on a bench at the water's edge with his bike leaned up against the fence and I took a minute to watch him (in a non-creepy way); I watched in a sense of admiration about the peaceful way he sat and watched the planes take-off and land across the water. I haven't felt that relaxed in a long time.
As I went to clip back in and finish the ride, 2 dudes flew past. And then it was on, again.
Dusk was setting in as I loaded Rosie back in my trunk. I was happy and at peace and I realized how silly and stupid I'd been acting for the past few weeks.
But it happens to all of us (and if it doesn't ever happen to you, pretend for me). Yesterday, I made the choice to be better than I was the day, week, even month before. Its hard to crawl out of that little hole that I've been hiding in, but I quite literally saw the sunlight and damn it, isn't life great?
Until next time my friends - I'll be around.
(There's also an IMLOU race report that I was half-heartedly writing so I'll post that soon.)
Monday, October 19, 2015
Race Recap: Ironman Louisville... an unexpected lesson in mental toughness.
For those keeping track (this one's for you, my negative 3 readers), Ironman number 3 is in the books. What I realized immediately following this last race is that I have now done 3 Ironmans in just over a year. And folks, I have to admit something that I don't really want to admit... I'm tired. I'm spent both mentally and physically and this off-season can't come soon enough.
Anyway. Grab a drink or two (because off-season, yay) and hunker down because this might get long.
I arrived in Louisville after an uneventful ten hour solo road trip to find that our house was unfortunately located in a less-than-awesome area of Lou. Travis and Kim had arrived earlier that afternoon and helped me unpack the car and settle in. Dinner involved BBQ at the Redneck Jew's restaurant (this is a legit establishment). The brisket sandwich wasn't great, but it did the job and we headed home to relax and watch the Maze Runner.
The next morning, I made waffles (breakfast of CHAMPIONS) and James joined us for breakfast so that we could head over to check-in together. Obtained the key for the weekend - the blue wristband - and had the pleasure of seeing both Erin and Meredith at check-in! Reunited! And it feels good! This would be their first IM (along with Travis), while James also had Wisconsin under his belt. It was raining off and on, so we escaped the rain in the Normatech tent and tried that out - Normatech virgin no more, it felt pretty nice. Yea, yea, that's what she said... or something.
Once the rain cleared for a bit, James and I did a quick bike/run on the course and got covered in mud. Poor Rosie went from sparkling clean to looking like she'd face planted in a pigpen. Headed home to spend the next hour cleaning her up and adjusting the speed/cadence sensor that had somehow worked itself loose. While I was outside riding up and down the street, I noticed that it wasn't shifting correctly (it was jumping gears) so I fiddled with that for awhile until it was running relatively smooth again.
We (Travis, Kim, James, Erin and I) headed out to drive the bike course and check out the hills. The loop is only 30 miles, so we ended up driving 80 plus miles but it was good to see the course - especially the "dreaded" out and back on 1694. That part actually looked pretty fun, but I heard stories about people recklessly descending and that made me a little nervous - especially since it was newly paved and pretty.
Dinner was italian beef which was delicious. We came home to pack transition bags and I tried to go to bed early... which ended up being 11pm (or later), but oh well.
The next morning, we nixed the practice swim (why chance the suspect blue-green algae bloom?) and I finished packing transition bags and headed over to meet a few of the SOAS girls. It was awesome. Jo, Andrea, Erin and I were there (Jenn, we missed you!) and Jo and Andrea's husbands and Erin's mom. We had a great time talking and laughing and before we knew it, it was past noon. I do feel like we are a close team, despite being scattered across the globe. The beauty of social media and our facebook group is that we get a glimpse into who each other is and once we meet in person, its not like we are complete strangers. I love that there is this network of women with similar yet different mindsets and goals and we are supportive and encouraging of each other - plus, it gives us a great sense of belonging.
Mom and Laurie arrived shortly after I returned home from brunch. I can't put into words how much it meant for them to be there. My moms - My MOMS! Spectating an Ironman is not for the weak of heart, its a long day and I so appreciated them coming to support us! I really missed Dad, but I knew that he was doing the supportive Dad thing from back home. We rounded up all our gear and headed to bike and gear check. My volunteer, Teri, was amazing. I gave her a hug, she made me cry, it was all very typical Heather behavior for the day before an Ironman.
Stopped at Joe's Crab Shack for a snack (mmm... lobster...) and they dropped me off at the house so I could hunker down and watch Kona all afternoon.
About an hour later, I was thoroughly immersed in my iPad, phone, and Travis's laptop with Kona coverage. Travis nudged me and said, "I think your mom is here". I looked out the window and didn't see the car so I sat back down. "You should answer the door", he said.
With the neighborhood that we were in, I opened the door and slowly peered around the door so I could see who was out there.
It was Dayle and Kevin.
I broke down. I made some noises that didn't sound quite human. I couldn't stop hugging them. It was pure, raw emotion and Travis captured the whole moment on video. I was thoroughly surprised, shocked... overwhelmed. She knows how important this is to me and when they showed up - I finally felt excited to get out there and race!
We Kona'd for the rest of the afternoon. Mom and Laurie came back and brought food so we could eat together for our "last" meal. After they left, Kevin, Dayle and I lounged in the living room and watched Ironminds and another motivational video. It was bedtime and I laid there for awhile, just picturing how the following day was going to go. Before I knew it, 3:45 am arrived and the alarm jolted me awake.
Half a Thomas blueberry bagel with peanut butter at 4am. 2 scrambled eggs at 4:30am. I dressed, packed my waterbottles + osmo and morning clothes bag with swimming gear and we headed to transition. We actually arrived shortly before 5:15 and the line was long. I checked on my bike, inflated the tires and loaded the water bottles. I saw Andrea, Jo, and Erin in transition and we hugged and wished each other safe and good races. Erin and I met up with Meredith and we headed down to swim start to wait in line. At 6:15 when we arrived at the swim start, the line was already more than 1000 people long. We walked and walked and walked to the end and Dayle, Kevin, Mom and Laurie met us down there. 7:30 was the official start and it was obvious that slower swimmers had positioned themselves at the start to give themselves the maximum amount of time to finish the swim/race - we saw them swim by as our line moved toward the start.
We donned our wetsuits, caps, and goggles and ended up at the start a little after 7:45am.
SWIM:
I jumped in and immediately began swimming past people. The initial 1/3 of the race is an upstream swim in the small channel between an island and the mainland. It didn't feel like we were swimming upstream, thankfully, and I unintentionally made my way toward the island until I hit sand with my hand. I got back on track and tried to swim straight, but it was a little difficult to do while constantly passing people and maneuvering around swimmers. The group thinned out significantly on the way back, though again, I didn't feel the downstream current that people speak so highly about. It was really difficult to spot the buoys, they seemed very spread out - but otherwise the swim was uneventful. I kept a comfortable pace, the water temperature was a glorious 69 degrees and I felt loose and ready to bike. The swim seemed to fly by and before I knew it, I arrived at the stairs to the swim exit.
Swim Time: 58:35
T1:
A bit of a jog to T1 from the swim. I had decided to don a sports bra and tri shorts under the wetsuit so that I'd have a dry top to start out with on the bike since it was likely to be chilly after the swim. I immediately regretted this decision when 1. the weather was only slightly chilly, 2. I got stuck taking off the sports bra and 3. I got stuck putting my tri top on. It took awhile to change clothes which made for another slow transition (someday... I will get better). I nixed the bike socks and arm warmers, though I (regrettably) elected to wear the calf sleeves (again, in the name of warmth) - have you tried to put these on with damp legs? Better yet, have you tried to put these on quickly? Fail, fail, fail! Helmet and sunglasses on, bike shoes in hand, nutrition in pockets and I headed out to see Rosie. Some amazing soul left a washcloth on the ground next to my bike - perfect for wiping some of the mud off my feet... I thank you kind soul... and I'm sorry if your washcloth was sacrificed to the transition gods but surely I was not the only one to borrow it...
T1 Time: 7:58 (yikes).
Bike:
I felt awesome as I rode away from transition. The first flat 10 miles flew by and my average speed was shocking to me since I wasn't putting a lot of effort into the ride. At mile 10.5 was the beginning of some rolling hills and climbs but I kept a good pace throughout. I got really frustrated around mile 20 with the 1694 out and back. People were riding 2 abreast slowwwwwwly on the descents in the center of the lane - i was off the aero bars ready to brake anyway, but this ridiculous situation kept happening and there was no safe way to pass them at the speeds we were reaching on the descents. Once off 1694, a guy rode up next to me and said, "Hey - i really like how you tackle the descents - it shows confidence". Oh tri guy - keep talking dirty to me... I eventually passed him and left him behind, but that comment made me laugh whenever I thought about it later. I started to feel some fatigue after the first loop (mile 60) and rolled into bike special needs in need of some EL Fudge cookies and a swig of dew. They didn't grab the bag the first few times the number was called so that caused a delay and I was antsy as it was. I switched out bottles and grabbed some more food (bonk breaker, GU chomps, and powerbar wafer) and headed out within 2 minutes or so.
I attempted to stick with a couple of salt tabs on the hour and about 250 cals/hour nutrition on the bike. I was not hungry whatsoever, but forced it down nonetheless, knowing my run would suffer greatly if I didn't plan ahead. My stomach held up pretty well, but I was fading on the second half of the bike. I was looking forward to the last 30 miles which appeared to be mainly downhill, but when I approached 80, the headwinds set it and it felt like a continuous uphill climb until the final 10 miles back into town. That part, as you recall, was totally flat, but that headwind was exhausting! I tried to save my legs as much as I could but those 10 miles seemed to stretch into forever and the guys I was trying to chase down disappeared in the distance. The dismount line loomed ahead and it was like a beacon drawing me in. So ready to run - my favorite part!
Bike Time: 5:46:55
T2:
Put on socks, shoes, race belt, visor and grabbed the handheld water bottle. I'm really not sure how T2 took so long...
T2 Time: 5:49 (again, yikes)
Run:
After a few steps of jogging, I knew something wasn't right. My legs were utterly dead. I had no rhythm and my legs felt disjointed, as if one was longer than the other. My left knee was twingy, but not bad - that had been my biggest fear going into the race itself. The first mile seemed to take forever - I squeezed that out in under 8:40 but it physically felt like I'd just run a sub 5 minute mile (as if I have any concept of that speed). I knew my heart rate was high but I honestly felt too tired to do any sort of excess movement (like hit the one button on my watch to scroll to the next screen to show heart rate). Jo passed me between miles 1 and 2 and she asked how I was doing. "I'm hurting Jo", I replied. She said the same, but she looked good as she ran away from me. I willed myself through the next 2 miles because I knew the cheer squad would be stationed around mile 4 and I just wanted to see my people. From a distance, I could see the green and pink shirts and the posters hanging from the umbrella at a mexican restaurant's outdoor seating area. "I'm dying guys", I admitted as I ambled past. They told me to keep it up and they'd see me at 10. A girl in my age group sped by around that time and I had a gut feeling I would be out of the top 5 in the age group.
"Just gotta make it to 10" I told myself. I intermittently glanced at my watch which seemed to take far more energy than I had to give. My pace gradually slowed as the miles crept by. I started walking the aid stations to catch my breath and give my legs a break. I indulged in cola after a single failed attempt at gatorade (WAY TOO SWEET).
Somewhere near the turn around (mile 7ish) I had one of my famous internal chats with myself - Self, sometimes races don't go as planned, and logically, I know you know this, even if your heart does not. If you keep this pace, you'll finish with a 4:15-4:20 marathon and that's nothing to be ashamed of. You can continue to shuffle through this. It's not going to be pretty and it's not going to be fun - but you can do it. If you need to walk, don't be ashamed to walk. Don't just say fuck it and mentally quit, even if every fiber of your being is begging you to. You are not a quitter.
Self and I then shared a mental hug and high five. For a second, I questioned my sanity. But I continued to run.
After that hard-hitting talk with myself, I shuffled through to mile 10 and walked a little past the end of the aid station. A VERY ATTRACTIVE man touched my shoulder and said, "come on, I know you've got this" as he looked back at me. I looked him in the eye and all I could muster was a quiet "thanks". He turned back around and jogged away and I switched into a jog as I approached my people. "How are you doing?" they asked, a concerned look on their faces. I can't even remember what I answered, but I tried to muster a smile as I crept past.
Three more to halfway. Those few passed fairly quickly and I found myself on 4th street staring at the finish line. "Just a couple more hours and that'll be you", I thought to myself as I took the right turn to return back to the beginning of the loop.
As I ran past the now familiar course, I felt a bit of energy creep in. As if afraid to scare it away, I ever so slightly ran a touch faster for that 13th and 14th mile. My gait smoothed out and I started to finally feel more comfortable. It only took a 13 mile warm-up, but I found my legs out there near the finish line. 15 and 16 ticked by as I tried to maintain that pace and before I knew it, I could see the familiar faces. Dayle ran over to my side of the road, "You look so much better!" Oh thank God it wasn't just in my head! I asked them if they were going to the finish line and they said yes, so I bid them good-bye, knowing I wouldn't be seeing them after the turn-around.
I continued to feel better and better. I had my customary GU every 45 minutes and continued to indulge in the icy-delcious-not-quite-flat cola. Once I hit the turn-around, I found a girl with a "32" on her calf and it was on. I passed her, suspicious that she too was on her second loop. My speed continued to increase marginally and I could see my overall pace slowly ticking down. My goal was to be under 9:30/mile (that seems painfully slow) so I increased my turnover a smidge more with each passing mile.
I ran through the final few aid stations (Ain't nobody got time for that!) and realized I had no concept of my overall time. I tried to do triathlon math, I knew what my swim and bike were, knew transitions were slow and my run was slow - I was thinking it was going to be 11:10 or around that time, but I still don't know how to do multisport mode on this watch and I had no idea what time I ended up starting the swim...
Clearly, I utilize the 910 to the fullest extent possible.
Before I knew it, it was mile 25. Time to moveand finish this thing! As I turned onto 4th and could see the finish line and the sign says "left to finish", I felt that familiar creep of emotion and that tingle of tears. I was too mentally drained to have the full out emotional outpouring that I usually feel, but a hint of it was there. As I ran down the chute, I pondered what I would do once I got there. I considered jumping (as per usual) but in the seconds that I had left on the approach to the finish line, I changed my mind thinking that my legs would surely fail me if I attempted a jump.
It was one of those magical instances where you try to say two things at the same time and it becomes a new mangled word. I thought about jumping and my body got ready to do it, but at the exact same, I decided I would just stop at the line. Therefore, I didn't slow down on the approach. Can you see where this is going? At the line, something spectacular happened - I tripped over my own foot and slammed into the ground on my hands and knees. It was excellent! I looked up, volunteers didn't really look concerned (dudes, it looks like I just collapsed at the finish line of an Ironman), so I stood up, took a bow and heard the announcer say, "she's still smiling!". Another stellar finish in the books.
I headed immediately away from the cameras/live feed and I could almost sixth-sense the texts coming through on my phone questioning what just happened.
Run Time: 4:07:40
Overall Time: 11:06:56, 6th AG
Initially, I was super disappointed. In the minutes and hours that followed the finish, I thought logically through the day and gave myself a mental "get-it-together" smack in the face. It was PR, I did great in the swim and I came back from that awful run to put together a decent negative split (something like 2:08 for the first half and 1:59 for the back half) and I should really be proud of that mental toughness.
So, IMLOU - I can't say I came out and crushed you, but I learned a lot out there on the course that I will keep with me in my back pocket for future training and races.
For now... rest. recover. spend happy times with friends and family. next year will be here before we know it and we can do this dance all over again.
Cheers!
Anyway. Grab a drink or two (because off-season, yay) and hunker down because this might get long.
I arrived in Louisville after an uneventful ten hour solo road trip to find that our house was unfortunately located in a less-than-awesome area of Lou. Travis and Kim had arrived earlier that afternoon and helped me unpack the car and settle in. Dinner involved BBQ at the Redneck Jew's restaurant (this is a legit establishment). The brisket sandwich wasn't great, but it did the job and we headed home to relax and watch the Maze Runner.
The next morning, I made waffles (breakfast of CHAMPIONS) and James joined us for breakfast so that we could head over to check-in together. Obtained the key for the weekend - the blue wristband - and had the pleasure of seeing both Erin and Meredith at check-in! Reunited! And it feels good! This would be their first IM (along with Travis), while James also had Wisconsin under his belt. It was raining off and on, so we escaped the rain in the Normatech tent and tried that out - Normatech virgin no more, it felt pretty nice. Yea, yea, that's what she said... or something.
Once the rain cleared for a bit, James and I did a quick bike/run on the course and got covered in mud. Poor Rosie went from sparkling clean to looking like she'd face planted in a pigpen. Headed home to spend the next hour cleaning her up and adjusting the speed/cadence sensor that had somehow worked itself loose. While I was outside riding up and down the street, I noticed that it wasn't shifting correctly (it was jumping gears) so I fiddled with that for awhile until it was running relatively smooth again.
We (Travis, Kim, James, Erin and I) headed out to drive the bike course and check out the hills. The loop is only 30 miles, so we ended up driving 80 plus miles but it was good to see the course - especially the "dreaded" out and back on 1694. That part actually looked pretty fun, but I heard stories about people recklessly descending and that made me a little nervous - especially since it was newly paved and pretty.
Dinner was italian beef which was delicious. We came home to pack transition bags and I tried to go to bed early... which ended up being 11pm (or later), but oh well.
The next morning, we nixed the practice swim (why chance the suspect blue-green algae bloom?) and I finished packing transition bags and headed over to meet a few of the SOAS girls. It was awesome. Jo, Andrea, Erin and I were there (Jenn, we missed you!) and Jo and Andrea's husbands and Erin's mom. We had a great time talking and laughing and before we knew it, it was past noon. I do feel like we are a close team, despite being scattered across the globe. The beauty of social media and our facebook group is that we get a glimpse into who each other is and once we meet in person, its not like we are complete strangers. I love that there is this network of women with similar yet different mindsets and goals and we are supportive and encouraging of each other - plus, it gives us a great sense of belonging.
Mom and Laurie arrived shortly after I returned home from brunch. I can't put into words how much it meant for them to be there. My moms - My MOMS! Spectating an Ironman is not for the weak of heart, its a long day and I so appreciated them coming to support us! I really missed Dad, but I knew that he was doing the supportive Dad thing from back home. We rounded up all our gear and headed to bike and gear check. My volunteer, Teri, was amazing. I gave her a hug, she made me cry, it was all very typical Heather behavior for the day before an Ironman.
Stopped at Joe's Crab Shack for a snack (mmm... lobster...) and they dropped me off at the house so I could hunker down and watch Kona all afternoon.
About an hour later, I was thoroughly immersed in my iPad, phone, and Travis's laptop with Kona coverage. Travis nudged me and said, "I think your mom is here". I looked out the window and didn't see the car so I sat back down. "You should answer the door", he said.
With the neighborhood that we were in, I opened the door and slowly peered around the door so I could see who was out there.
It was Dayle and Kevin.
I broke down. I made some noises that didn't sound quite human. I couldn't stop hugging them. It was pure, raw emotion and Travis captured the whole moment on video. I was thoroughly surprised, shocked... overwhelmed. She knows how important this is to me and when they showed up - I finally felt excited to get out there and race!
We Kona'd for the rest of the afternoon. Mom and Laurie came back and brought food so we could eat together for our "last" meal. After they left, Kevin, Dayle and I lounged in the living room and watched Ironminds and another motivational video. It was bedtime and I laid there for awhile, just picturing how the following day was going to go. Before I knew it, 3:45 am arrived and the alarm jolted me awake.
Half a Thomas blueberry bagel with peanut butter at 4am. 2 scrambled eggs at 4:30am. I dressed, packed my waterbottles + osmo and morning clothes bag with swimming gear and we headed to transition. We actually arrived shortly before 5:15 and the line was long. I checked on my bike, inflated the tires and loaded the water bottles. I saw Andrea, Jo, and Erin in transition and we hugged and wished each other safe and good races. Erin and I met up with Meredith and we headed down to swim start to wait in line. At 6:15 when we arrived at the swim start, the line was already more than 1000 people long. We walked and walked and walked to the end and Dayle, Kevin, Mom and Laurie met us down there. 7:30 was the official start and it was obvious that slower swimmers had positioned themselves at the start to give themselves the maximum amount of time to finish the swim/race - we saw them swim by as our line moved toward the start.
We donned our wetsuits, caps, and goggles and ended up at the start a little after 7:45am.
SWIM:
I jumped in and immediately began swimming past people. The initial 1/3 of the race is an upstream swim in the small channel between an island and the mainland. It didn't feel like we were swimming upstream, thankfully, and I unintentionally made my way toward the island until I hit sand with my hand. I got back on track and tried to swim straight, but it was a little difficult to do while constantly passing people and maneuvering around swimmers. The group thinned out significantly on the way back, though again, I didn't feel the downstream current that people speak so highly about. It was really difficult to spot the buoys, they seemed very spread out - but otherwise the swim was uneventful. I kept a comfortable pace, the water temperature was a glorious 69 degrees and I felt loose and ready to bike. The swim seemed to fly by and before I knew it, I arrived at the stairs to the swim exit.
Swim Time: 58:35
T1:
A bit of a jog to T1 from the swim. I had decided to don a sports bra and tri shorts under the wetsuit so that I'd have a dry top to start out with on the bike since it was likely to be chilly after the swim. I immediately regretted this decision when 1. the weather was only slightly chilly, 2. I got stuck taking off the sports bra and 3. I got stuck putting my tri top on. It took awhile to change clothes which made for another slow transition (someday... I will get better). I nixed the bike socks and arm warmers, though I (regrettably) elected to wear the calf sleeves (again, in the name of warmth) - have you tried to put these on with damp legs? Better yet, have you tried to put these on quickly? Fail, fail, fail! Helmet and sunglasses on, bike shoes in hand, nutrition in pockets and I headed out to see Rosie. Some amazing soul left a washcloth on the ground next to my bike - perfect for wiping some of the mud off my feet... I thank you kind soul... and I'm sorry if your washcloth was sacrificed to the transition gods but surely I was not the only one to borrow it...
T1 Time: 7:58 (yikes).
Bike:
I felt awesome as I rode away from transition. The first flat 10 miles flew by and my average speed was shocking to me since I wasn't putting a lot of effort into the ride. At mile 10.5 was the beginning of some rolling hills and climbs but I kept a good pace throughout. I got really frustrated around mile 20 with the 1694 out and back. People were riding 2 abreast slowwwwwwly on the descents in the center of the lane - i was off the aero bars ready to brake anyway, but this ridiculous situation kept happening and there was no safe way to pass them at the speeds we were reaching on the descents. Once off 1694, a guy rode up next to me and said, "Hey - i really like how you tackle the descents - it shows confidence". Oh tri guy - keep talking dirty to me... I eventually passed him and left him behind, but that comment made me laugh whenever I thought about it later. I started to feel some fatigue after the first loop (mile 60) and rolled into bike special needs in need of some EL Fudge cookies and a swig of dew. They didn't grab the bag the first few times the number was called so that caused a delay and I was antsy as it was. I switched out bottles and grabbed some more food (bonk breaker, GU chomps, and powerbar wafer) and headed out within 2 minutes or so.
I attempted to stick with a couple of salt tabs on the hour and about 250 cals/hour nutrition on the bike. I was not hungry whatsoever, but forced it down nonetheless, knowing my run would suffer greatly if I didn't plan ahead. My stomach held up pretty well, but I was fading on the second half of the bike. I was looking forward to the last 30 miles which appeared to be mainly downhill, but when I approached 80, the headwinds set it and it felt like a continuous uphill climb until the final 10 miles back into town. That part, as you recall, was totally flat, but that headwind was exhausting! I tried to save my legs as much as I could but those 10 miles seemed to stretch into forever and the guys I was trying to chase down disappeared in the distance. The dismount line loomed ahead and it was like a beacon drawing me in. So ready to run - my favorite part!
Bike Time: 5:46:55
T2:
Put on socks, shoes, race belt, visor and grabbed the handheld water bottle. I'm really not sure how T2 took so long...
T2 Time: 5:49 (again, yikes)
Run:
After a few steps of jogging, I knew something wasn't right. My legs were utterly dead. I had no rhythm and my legs felt disjointed, as if one was longer than the other. My left knee was twingy, but not bad - that had been my biggest fear going into the race itself. The first mile seemed to take forever - I squeezed that out in under 8:40 but it physically felt like I'd just run a sub 5 minute mile (as if I have any concept of that speed). I knew my heart rate was high but I honestly felt too tired to do any sort of excess movement (like hit the one button on my watch to scroll to the next screen to show heart rate). Jo passed me between miles 1 and 2 and she asked how I was doing. "I'm hurting Jo", I replied. She said the same, but she looked good as she ran away from me. I willed myself through the next 2 miles because I knew the cheer squad would be stationed around mile 4 and I just wanted to see my people. From a distance, I could see the green and pink shirts and the posters hanging from the umbrella at a mexican restaurant's outdoor seating area. "I'm dying guys", I admitted as I ambled past. They told me to keep it up and they'd see me at 10. A girl in my age group sped by around that time and I had a gut feeling I would be out of the top 5 in the age group.
"Just gotta make it to 10" I told myself. I intermittently glanced at my watch which seemed to take far more energy than I had to give. My pace gradually slowed as the miles crept by. I started walking the aid stations to catch my breath and give my legs a break. I indulged in cola after a single failed attempt at gatorade (WAY TOO SWEET).
Somewhere near the turn around (mile 7ish) I had one of my famous internal chats with myself - Self, sometimes races don't go as planned, and logically, I know you know this, even if your heart does not. If you keep this pace, you'll finish with a 4:15-4:20 marathon and that's nothing to be ashamed of. You can continue to shuffle through this. It's not going to be pretty and it's not going to be fun - but you can do it. If you need to walk, don't be ashamed to walk. Don't just say fuck it and mentally quit, even if every fiber of your being is begging you to. You are not a quitter.
Self and I then shared a mental hug and high five. For a second, I questioned my sanity. But I continued to run.
After that hard-hitting talk with myself, I shuffled through to mile 10 and walked a little past the end of the aid station. A VERY ATTRACTIVE man touched my shoulder and said, "come on, I know you've got this" as he looked back at me. I looked him in the eye and all I could muster was a quiet "thanks". He turned back around and jogged away and I switched into a jog as I approached my people. "How are you doing?" they asked, a concerned look on their faces. I can't even remember what I answered, but I tried to muster a smile as I crept past.
Three more to halfway. Those few passed fairly quickly and I found myself on 4th street staring at the finish line. "Just a couple more hours and that'll be you", I thought to myself as I took the right turn to return back to the beginning of the loop.
As I ran past the now familiar course, I felt a bit of energy creep in. As if afraid to scare it away, I ever so slightly ran a touch faster for that 13th and 14th mile. My gait smoothed out and I started to finally feel more comfortable. It only took a 13 mile warm-up, but I found my legs out there near the finish line. 15 and 16 ticked by as I tried to maintain that pace and before I knew it, I could see the familiar faces. Dayle ran over to my side of the road, "You look so much better!" Oh thank God it wasn't just in my head! I asked them if they were going to the finish line and they said yes, so I bid them good-bye, knowing I wouldn't be seeing them after the turn-around.
I continued to feel better and better. I had my customary GU every 45 minutes and continued to indulge in the icy-delcious-not-quite-flat cola. Once I hit the turn-around, I found a girl with a "32" on her calf and it was on. I passed her, suspicious that she too was on her second loop. My speed continued to increase marginally and I could see my overall pace slowly ticking down. My goal was to be under 9:30/mile (that seems painfully slow) so I increased my turnover a smidge more with each passing mile.
I ran through the final few aid stations (Ain't nobody got time for that!) and realized I had no concept of my overall time. I tried to do triathlon math, I knew what my swim and bike were, knew transitions were slow and my run was slow - I was thinking it was going to be 11:10 or around that time, but I still don't know how to do multisport mode on this watch and I had no idea what time I ended up starting the swim...
Clearly, I utilize the 910 to the fullest extent possible.
Before I knew it, it was mile 25. Time to moveand finish this thing! As I turned onto 4th and could see the finish line and the sign says "left to finish", I felt that familiar creep of emotion and that tingle of tears. I was too mentally drained to have the full out emotional outpouring that I usually feel, but a hint of it was there. As I ran down the chute, I pondered what I would do once I got there. I considered jumping (as per usual) but in the seconds that I had left on the approach to the finish line, I changed my mind thinking that my legs would surely fail me if I attempted a jump.
It was one of those magical instances where you try to say two things at the same time and it becomes a new mangled word. I thought about jumping and my body got ready to do it, but at the exact same, I decided I would just stop at the line. Therefore, I didn't slow down on the approach. Can you see where this is going? At the line, something spectacular happened - I tripped over my own foot and slammed into the ground on my hands and knees. It was excellent! I looked up, volunteers didn't really look concerned (dudes, it looks like I just collapsed at the finish line of an Ironman), so I stood up, took a bow and heard the announcer say, "she's still smiling!". Another stellar finish in the books.
I headed immediately away from the cameras/live feed and I could almost sixth-sense the texts coming through on my phone questioning what just happened.
Run Time: 4:07:40
Overall Time: 11:06:56, 6th AG
Initially, I was super disappointed. In the minutes and hours that followed the finish, I thought logically through the day and gave myself a mental "get-it-together" smack in the face. It was PR, I did great in the swim and I came back from that awful run to put together a decent negative split (something like 2:08 for the first half and 1:59 for the back half) and I should really be proud of that mental toughness.
So, IMLOU - I can't say I came out and crushed you, but I learned a lot out there on the course that I will keep with me in my back pocket for future training and races.
For now... rest. recover. spend happy times with friends and family. next year will be here before we know it and we can do this dance all over again.
Cheers!
Sunday, October 4, 2015
Its the most wonderful time... of the year.
Taper. The most beautiful, sacred part of training for a race. While some seem to go crazy and get nervous about a decrease in mileage and training time, I embrace this all-too-short stint of relaxation and scaled back workouts with an emphasis on sleeping more.
Taper and I have been buddies since I was in middle school. I was that kid that began bouncing off the walls in the days leading up to big meets... when coach said "rest" I heard "more time and energy to play". I remember sitting in class feeling like I had restless leg syndrome because I legitimately could NOT sit still.
Training for ironmans and the associated tapers have been a little different. I feel more exhausted than anything else though workouts have been pretty spot-on. I did find that little piece of missy franklin-katie ledecky that has been hiding since "retiring" from competitive swimming.
I love swimming again.
Its taken years to be able to say that. I haven't loved swimming since I graduated from college. I liked it, sure. Its always been a strength in racing. But did I enjoy practicing? Nope. Did I love the swim in races? Not really. I found a semblance of speed again and its comforting and motivating and encouraging.
In the past few weeks I did a 5800 yard workout - its been 10 years since I did that! Last week in the midst of the work-out I had 5 x 100's on 1:25. And I did it - with REST. Its awesome to see improvements like that in training. I know that the swim isn't going to win me a race, but to be comfortable coming out of the water and onto the bike is a pleasant advantage.
Aside from swimming, biking and running has been sustainable. Its hard to say how I feel, given a nagging IT band issue, but come race day, I'll be ready.
One week.
Taper and I have been buddies since I was in middle school. I was that kid that began bouncing off the walls in the days leading up to big meets... when coach said "rest" I heard "more time and energy to play". I remember sitting in class feeling like I had restless leg syndrome because I legitimately could NOT sit still.
Training for ironmans and the associated tapers have been a little different. I feel more exhausted than anything else though workouts have been pretty spot-on. I did find that little piece of missy franklin-katie ledecky that has been hiding since "retiring" from competitive swimming.
I love swimming again.
Its taken years to be able to say that. I haven't loved swimming since I graduated from college. I liked it, sure. Its always been a strength in racing. But did I enjoy practicing? Nope. Did I love the swim in races? Not really. I found a semblance of speed again and its comforting and motivating and encouraging.
In the past few weeks I did a 5800 yard workout - its been 10 years since I did that! Last week in the midst of the work-out I had 5 x 100's on 1:25. And I did it - with REST. Its awesome to see improvements like that in training. I know that the swim isn't going to win me a race, but to be comfortable coming out of the water and onto the bike is a pleasant advantage.
Aside from swimming, biking and running has been sustainable. Its hard to say how I feel, given a nagging IT band issue, but come race day, I'll be ready.
One week.
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