To Arizona and Back...Again!

I just returned from Arizona for the second time in the last 2 weeks. I had the opportunity to attend a Vemma training session in Tempe, AZ last weekend. It is definitely much faster to fly than drive. The hotel I was staying in was just down from the IMAZ transition area. The park and roads seemed so empty without all the barricades, cones and triathletes wandering around.

I was actually able to run on part of the course around Tempe Town Lake on my second post IMAZ run. I'm sure I was driving my friend, Karen Yokley, nuts pointing out where all the aid stations were, where I dropped my hat and it got all dirty while trying to dump ice on my head, where the run special needs bags were, etc. While running, we found out that we were on the course of a 5k run. WHAT?!?...WHERE?...WHEN? The race volunteers pointed across the lake and said it was starting in about 10 minutes. OH MY GOSH! We both picked up the pace and headed towards the nearest bridge to get to the other side. As we ran, we were both in disbelief. This was the first time either of us could remember that we had not looked to see if there was a race where we were going to be. Since I have been in recovery mode, it had not even crossed my mind. We made it over to the start area, but unfortunately we only had $17 between us which would not cover the $25 each entry fee. I wanted to run it soooo bad! I know I have no speed in my legs, but dang it, I hate to miss out! It would have been a push to run the 8am race and then make it to the conference that started at 9, but by golly I know we could have made it! Coach probably would not have approved, so it was a good thing we missed it, but I'll definitely take my disappointment as a sign that I'm ready to get back into race mode.

Since it was hot in Arizona and I wanted to wear my new $4.99 sparkly flip flops, I had to pull out the nail polish and do a little damage control. It's amazing what a little color will do! My left big toe nail is just not sure if it wants to stay with me. From a distance with a layer of pink polish it looks like a keeper. Does anyone know if it is OK to just super glue on the side that's not attached anymore?

While in Arizona I got to go to a Phoenix Suns Playoff Game and hang out in the Verve Energy Lounge. It is on the upper level along one whole end of the arena. Next season watch for the Verve signage during a home Suns game. Unfortunately you couldn't see much of the game going on below (it wasn't pretty for the Suns anyway), but there was a great view of the score board and they had big screen TV's to catch the action on. They had Verve on tap and served many different Verve mixed drinks. I just had a straight sugar free Verve which is probably why I got kicked out of a bar for the first time in my life. Not the Verve Energy Lounge, but Hooters, which is where we went after the game since it was across from the hotel. I haven't stayed up that late in a looooong time!

Staying up turned out to be good practice. My husband, Jeff, just started a new job and is working second shift so I am trying to adjust to not having him around in the evenings. He goes in at 3 and I proceed to stay up way too late! Luckily my Tuesday/Thursday morning 6am spin class was canceled (after 10 years I was a bit devastated, but now I see it happened for a reason) so I don't need to set an alarm. His schedule will make it a different year for racing. We have had the flexibility for a while to be able to take days off as needed to hit the road and head to races. He might start working four 10 hour days which would be Sunday through Wednesday. As long as a race is on Saturday, we should be able to get it in. If a race falls on Sunday I will have to go solo or find someone to tag along. I love traveling with Jeff and he really spoils me when we are on the road. When we went to Arizona, he did not have me drive once. I suppose It will be good to practice a bit of independence, and it might just force me to learn how to do minor maintenance on my own bike. The rear derailleur has always been a mystery to me, just maybe I can solve it.

Hopefully on one of these late nights soon I will go through my Ironman Notes and fill in the holes to tell the whole story!

It was time...

It was time, I finally needed to do it. I googled 'fat free vanilla cappuccino calories'. I quickly found www.calorieking.com and drilled down to the details of my latest addiction.

16 ounces weighed in at 220 calories! I can't believe I have been sucking those down. I won't even take a sip of regular soda in order to avoid those evil empty sugar calories and now I am driving across town hunting for those sweet hot cups of empty calorie bliss. I suppose that is one of the beauties of training for an Ironman, calories become inconsequential. It becomes OK to feed the cravings and have the treats because your body needs it, wants it and will use it.

This past week my brain keeps telling me I need it, want it and must have it, but unfortunately my body does not need it anymore. My coach has me scheduled for a 20 minute easy walk today. Calorieking tells me I need to walk 61 minutes for my 16 ounces (which I think was closer to 20)!

Ironman was a week ago today. Last night before I went to bed I had Jeff help me cut off my IMAZ wristband. It had been in place since Athlete Check-In the Thursday before the big day. It was time to move on and set sights for what's to come and not what has been.

Today I am tired and a bit sad. It is probably just a factor of lack of movement. It is strange not having a time warp workout planned for today. I actually got to sleep in, eat breakfast and then go get the paper. It's been a long time since I have had anything other than Perpetuem and Gu for my Sunday morning breakfast.

Overall, my body feels pretty good. I've got a couple toenails that just might not hang on and my wrists are peeling where I got fried, but I have no more soreness. I've done a couple easy rides and tomorrow I will try a 20 minute run and then an easy 30 minute swim.

This past week I have have gone back and forth between being eager to get some speed back in my legs and hit the races hard this season and being tired and having doubts and just wanting to be quiet and alone. There are so many things that I put off doing because I was training for Ironman. I am really going to miss that excuse.

I still need to go though my post race notes and spend some time sorting out my experiences and learning's so I can pass them on and record them for myself to reference when IM comes around again.

Ironwoman Back in Kansas

Jeff and I finally arrived at home in Topeka, KS after an amazing week away. Luckily the house is still intact and the internet connection is working. I wanted to blog right away after finishing my first Ironman as I was soaking in the tub filled with 3 bags of ice while sipping a large fat free vanilla cappuccino that Jeff fetched from QT, but the hotel internet connection decided to crap out just like my heart rate monitor did at the start of the bike. The drive home never presented a time to get online since we were either eating, sleeping or driving. I did make Jeff park outside a hotel in Flagstaff, AZ so I could cabbage off their internet and reserve a hotel room in Gallup, NM that night, but he wouldn't wait any longer for me to blog too.

I did spend some time while on the road typing on my Eee PC, so I will post those ramblings here and then fill in the missing details later.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Somewhere in Texas....

Well, we are on the road home from Arizona. This adventure is almost completely a “Been There, Done That”. Weird!

I am an Ironman...or rather Ironwoman!!!!!

Going into this I was not sure what to expect. The unknowns is what makes it fun and terrifying all in one tidy package.

Not that I want to downplay the effort, but it didn't seem like such a big deal. It was a long day of swimming and biking and running but each lap just kept going by and I actually enjoyed the whole day. There was the heat to contend with which slowed me waaaay down on the run for a while but in a way I welcomed the discomfort since this was supposed to hurt and test me. It was frustrating to watch others run by me so fast and not be able to pick it up at all. I never walked (walking was NOT an option) and only stopped each lap at the Jiffy Lube aid station to hit the porta potty. I knew it was a good sign I had to pee. I'm sad that I don't get another chance at this race at the same time next year. I was devising a plan to train in a dry sauna to get acclimated to the heat. We could construct a cedar hot box in the basement big enough to wheel in the treadmill or computrainer and build up some sweat equity to cash in on the next 94 degree Ironman!

Up to race time, the swim is what had me the most scared. The run conjured up the the most respect. The bike between the 2 only concerned me for possible mechanical reasons, I knew I would be able to keep the pedals going around.

The swim was absolutely nuts! What's with all the Nincompoops that want to make a Leslie sandwich or suddenly decide to swim a diagonal across traffic. The worst are the kickers that kick harder when you get too close...HELLOOOOO, I would not be here if I had a choice, cut me some slack, let's be reasonable here! I will admit I did throw an elbow once, but only when some guy held me under with a hand on my back. I think he used me to get leverage for a better view. On the way back I finally had some clean water for a while until the sandwich makers returned. I used the space to play with my technique and gage how I was doing compared to those around me. When I would focus on creating the armpit dent (thanks to Jennifer Harrison for that tip) and get my hips and shoulders to rotate together I would pull ahead a bit. I've got a lot of work to do to keep that elbow up for longer durations...no more excuses, I need to use the dryland elastic bands and work on my shoulder flexibility!

The wetsuit strippers were awesome! My T1 wetsuit is a chore to get out of so it was wonderful to have 2 enthusiastic volunteers help de-rubberize me.

Finally time to ride!

I remembered to hit the lap button on my Polar HR monitor so I could keep track of my lap times and regulate my effort. I had all my HR zones listed on my VemmaStrong wristband so I would keep it honest and smart out there. Once I was out on the road, I started the countdown timer on the watch I had taped to my bike to remind me to eat/drink every 15 minutes. Hmmmm, the numbers on my Polar kept getting dimmer and dimmer. Sure enough, about the time my watch beeped the first 15 minutes, my Polar had decided it had had enough. I guess all the long training sessions took it to the edge and the event itself took it over. That made me laugh. I have had a watch die at the start of a race once before. It was at the Dannon Duathlon in Naperville, IL several years ago. I survived then, so I would again. Karen Buxton, my awesome coach, had me train using watts while paying attention to my effort. I knew what my effort was supposed to feel like, so it was probably a good thing to just go and not get caught up in numbers. Maybe I kept it a little too conservative, but there was no way I was going to jeopardize the run by going a little hot on the longest ride I have ever ridden.

To be continued....we are now in Elk City, Oklahoma for the night. We lost an hour when we hit New Mexico and another at the Texas border. It's midnight in this timezone so time to sleep so we can hit the road at a decent time in the morning!

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

We just now crossed the border from Oklahoma into Kansas. The wind is finally pushing us home. It is now 3 days since IMAZ, and it already seems like a distant memory. Well, that is until each time I go to get out of the car. I am definitely a bit stiff and slow moving.

As I reflect, there is nothing I would do differently throughout my IM day. I swam and biked and ran within myself and abilities. I was conservative in my pacing in order to ensure I got to the finish line. Going into Sunday, my main goal was to finish before the sun went down. I picked up my reflective tape in the run special needs bag, but I did not want to have to stick it on. When I was able to begin to pick up the pace over the last 4 miles when the temperature dropped, I knew I could make it. I took my sunglasses off a little less than 2 miles out and was relieved to see there was still plenty of sunlight. I didn't know how fast the sun would sink behind the Arizona landscape so I ran with a bit of urgency. I was a little disappointed when I got my finish photo and it appears much darker than it was. Luckily Jeff's finish photo's capture a much brighter sky.

On the drive out to Tempe, I did finally make myself figure some different pacing options for the swim, bike and run. I tend not to be a numbers person and would rather just let things play out, but I wanted to at least have a realistic time frame to target.

Here is what I picked as my projected splits for an optimal performance:

Swim: 1:15:00

(actual 1:11:22)

T1: 0:05:00

(actual 0:07:03)

Bike: 6:00:00

(actual 5:55:51)

T2: 0:05:00

(actual 0:03:39)

Run: 4:00:00

(actual 4:48:48)

Total: 11:25

(actual 12:06:43)

If the heat didn't shut me down on the run, I believe I would have been pretty darn close.

I do wish I would have been able to break the 12 hour mark, but since the watch I started with died, I had no way to know where I was. In the end I am glad I was not racing for a time, I might have pushed myself too hard in the heat and done more damage than I could overcome. I ran how my body told me I could. I trust what my body tells me and I respect it. Every race I do, especially when I have doubts about my abilities, my body surprises me when the gun goes off by putting forth an effort beyond that moments belief. I suppose that is why I love to race. If you never get to the start line you will never know what your body can do that you thought you couldn't.

I had picked up Triathlete Magazine's 2008 Official Ironman & 70.3 Qualifier's Guide at the race expo and pulled it out on the way home. I was wondering what I should put next on the radar. I had to laugh when I read the Publisher's note:

“How proud are the athletes who finish an Ironman or Ironman 70.3 race? Well, just look at all the athletes who still wear their wristband long after the event has finished.”

I looked at my own wrist and there is the wristband. I have yet to have an urge to reach for the scissors and remove the last physical evidence of my 140.6 mile day.

Hmmmmm, for some reason the Louisville IM jumped out at me from the Ironman Guide pages. I hate to have to wait over a year to give IM another go.

I know I can do the distance now, so next time I want to race it!

Thank you to everyone that followed me along during the day. I greatly appreciated your energy. I want you to know I waved hello every time I crossed a timing mat. I wish I could have sent a message to let you know that yes indeed I was still running and not walking even though the run splits showed a different story! HTFU does not translate to walking!

:-)

I aM crAZy

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Jeff and I rolled into Tempe at about 2pm and headed straight to athlete check-in. I hate to admit that I was dreading the weigh in. I tend to operate on the quality over quantity method of weight. I know when the quality scales are tipped the wrong way. I am not where I would ideally like to be, but I am fine with the fact that what I've got is coming with me the entire 140.6! I was pleasantly surprised with an official weigh in of 115! I was hoping this Ironman training would get me lean and mean and ripped, but training over the winter in the basement and under many insulated layers when outdoors led me instead to get hooked on the fat free vanilla cappuccino's at the local convenience store. By golly after all that unnatural winter time activity I deserved a treat...or 2...or 3. Of course there was also the gumball addiction to feed. I did kick the dt. soda habit for the most part at least, but now that it is warming up my cravings will probably shift from hot treats back to cold. I am committed however to avoid the dark sodas with the evil phosphoric acid and stick with caffeine free options as much as possible.

Speaking of hot drinks, I was ecstatic when we pulled into our hotel and there was a QT next door! YIPEEEEEE I can finally get my fat free vanilla capp fix. It was just horrid on the road trip here. I was having such a hankering for my hot fix through Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, but nowhere we stopped had the magic mix I was craving. Even though it is in the 80's and I am sweating for the first time in months, I was over at that QT just as soon as we dropped the bags off in the room!

Get this...there were NO goggles at the Expo!!!! What is up with that? I am still trying to get over my disappointment that TriSports is in Tuscon and Jeff will not drive me the 2 hours to get there and do some last minute critical shopping. I was really hoping to use my gift certificates on goggles, Carbo Pro and a white helmet! Luckily I have just enough Carbo Pro to cover my fueling, but I must get some goggles and it sure would be nice to have a white noggin protector instead of the black aero monster that I have since Sunday will be a 90+ degree day!

I did locate a local tri shop in Scottsdale that I will hit tomorrow and I'm sure there are plenty of big box sporting goods stores within a close radius.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

It's Saturday afternoon already and my bike is in transition. I am in a bit of transition myself. Transitioning from dream to reality. I am here in Arizona, thanks to Jeff and his driving expertise. I did not once have to take the wheel! Even though there was no Sudoku, I still did not get my planned uniform chafe free patch sewing done. Never fear, Mom and Dad are now here! Ironman itself is a solitary pursuit, but WOW does it take a team to make it all happen. I am so lucky to have such a supportive and loving family.

Jeff just ran up to the bike shop down the street to see if they had any cheap water bottles. I am a sentimental fool and brought the bottles that mean something to me. My favorite racing bottles and my bottles that I got in South Carolina while at Camp HTFU. I can't bear the thought of throwing them aside on the course or chopping one up to put my spare in.

YAHOOOO...Jeff located a GoodWill store with cheap bottles. I can now throw to the curb with no regrets! Although I really liked Marit's suggested solution that she would send me some cool bottle replacements to allay my fear of loss.

Next on the agenda this afternoon is to drive the course with my parents. It means so much to me that they are here. Whenever they are at my races it makes it so much more fun. I do the race for myself and for them. I love trying to find them on the course and I hold the smile after I pass them for several miles.

For dinner, much to my husbands non-delight, will be Subway. That has been my pre-race traditional meal for nearly 20 years...I'm not going to mess with that the night before my most epic event ever!

Then it comes down to mixing up my fuel bottles and finalizing all the details.

Once that gun goes off tomorrow I will finally be able to just GO...in a conservative way, Coach, I promise! I will spend the day swimming and biking and running. I will have what I have and I will deal with what I have to deal with. Sounds good to me!

Elizabeth, Mary, Jennifer, Marit, Ashley; you will all be a large part of my Iron day! I look forward to putting to the test the lessons I learned from each of you in South Carolina at Camp HTFU.

Oh Marit, I so wish you were here so I could give you a great big hug! Your words of encouragement are priceless and mean so much to me. This journey of 140.6 miles began before I met you, but you will be with me all day on Sunday. I know I will experience all ranges of emotions but with you along in spirit I will smile and laugh and be challenged to dig deeper than I ever have before. HTFU baby, HTFU!!!!!

After 20-year drought, Kansas rallies to beat Memphis for NCAA title

The headline sent a little shockwave through me. I thought I'd pop over to my blog to congratulate KU on their victory. I was thinking how the last time they won the championship I was a senior in high school. I plugged in www.espn.com to get the highlights and was face to face with the 20-year reference. I don't think about my age too much and I certainly don't try to act it, but that kind of hit me in a not so 'ha ha' funny way. I certainly don't mind being as far away from those high school days as possible, but I don't want to grow up either!

I'm so thankful that I still love to play and get to swim and bike and run almost every day!

It's after 11pm and I still have yet to pack a bag! I have plenty of piles and printed and mental lists, but the Element is still empty.
I have a short bike and run and swim in the morning before we hit the road...correction...before I pack and we hit the road. I know Jeff won't be waiting on me since he was focused on the game instead of packing too!

GO KU!!!!!! I am very proud to be a KU alumnus at this moment! At least I have until 2014 to hit that 20 year mark.

No time for Sudoku

There is a lot more calculating and attention to details with Ironman. I have had every intention to sit down and put in writing my IM plan. I keep putting it off….I have plenty of time. But, just like how those long training sessions created a time warp in my day, there has been a time warp over the last several months and now I am a week away. One of my greatest weaknesses is turning good intentions into actions. Unfortunately, I can’t undo the not doing of the things I have intended to do. I am working on letting go of the guilt of my not done’s and trying to use that energy instead to actually do the things I intend to do.

For example, I have a stack of many months worth of triathlon and running magazines that I have yet to read. A lot of times I don’t feel worthy of taking the time to read them, because I have too many to do’s that I need to get done first. Sometimes I know I will just get overwhelmed after reading them because I will end up creating too many good intentioned to do’s for myself. Other times, they just make me cry, and I just don’t have the strength to deal with it. I know, pretty silly, but that’s just me.

I’m down to just packing up and hitting the road to AZ. I wish the drive were longer than 18 hours. I have A LOT to do in that precious time before IMAZ! I have plenty of calculating, strategizing and reading of all those magazines and printed blogs of my friends who have been to Ironman before to fill up the drive. Oh yeah…and stretching my spare tubulars and sewing anti-chafe patches on my uniform. ACK…I hope Jeff can handle all the driving, I have every intention of being very busy. If I just keep feeding him, all should be good. I’ll have to leave the Sudoku book at home though; there will be no time for that!

One week till takeoff...

Today marks one week till we start the drive to Arizona! That means I need to make sure I have everything together and ready to go to cover every possible Ironman contingency. OK, I need to just breathe here for a minute..................................I'm back, but I'm having a tough time keeping the panic at bay. I still haven't stretched and practiced changing my spare tubulars yet, I need to chafe free some spots on my uniform with a bit of moleskin and needle and thread and then I was also thinking of adding a little flap of thin fabric on the bottom of my jersey to prevent the low back sunburn fry smile. I still need to finalize the calorie calculation and in how many bottles and what concentration will work the best. Ack...how on earth am I going to stick this all on my bike. I guess that is where the special needs bags come into play. I tend to like to have everything with me, just in case, so it will be hard for me to put into a bag what I just might need before I can get to said bag (if you saw my car you would understand...I like to have it ALL with me!). My husband just started a new job today (Yay!), but that also means that I have to do all the things that he so wonderfully usually does. I'm not so excited about going to get new tires put on my Honda Element today, but the countdown to AZ is on and it has to be done. I am also a little embarrased to admit that I need to go tan today too. I was going to go to IMAZ proud of my pale pastiness earned training over the winter in the basement, but in a moment of weakness I found myself at the tanning salon paying way too much for 4 Utrabronze sessions. 1 down, 3 to go.

The biggest crisis to date as the big day gets closer has involved my shoes. I run in Asics Gel Cumulus. It took me a while to find the shoes that my feet feel like home in. I started out my running career in Nike Air Pegasus, but several years ago had a nasty breakup when Nike tweaked them a bit too much the wrong way. I've had some success with a few other brands, but every new model seemed to muck things up. I went and got a new pair of my tried and trues but they turned out to be a reject pair (one was too narrow). I went back and stepped up on the treadmill for analysis and was told I needed more of a support shoe since I had some definite pronation going on. I know from past experience that shoes with support mess with my knees, so I don't go there. Desperate for some new shoes since my old pair were beyond dead and I didn't want to risk hurting myself with worn out shoes, I went there. I was excited because the shoes were Vemma orange and white. I really wanted them to work. The knees told a different tale however and I went back to try something different. Aha, a new Asics shoe had just arrived and it was neutral and light and would be perfect for IM! They felt good so I took them home. I had a 3 hour ride with a short 15 minute run on Sunday. After 5 minutes I had to get off and put back on the old burned out shoes. They were too narrow, I wanted to cry. My local running store that I LOVE and want to support couldn't seem to get a 7.5 Cumulus in stock and not sell it before I got there. Since now there is not enough time to order a pair, I had to do the unspeakable and go to Dick's to get my new shoes. They feel like home to my tootsies and I'll test them out on my Wednesday morning run. I'd like to wear a lighter shoe during the IM, but I also want my feet to be as happy as possible!

It just amazes me how much there is to consider with my first Ironman QUICKLY approaching. I've got a week to get it figured out and loaded up. Fortunately I've got a couple Trisports.com gift certificates to take with me. I'm sure I can find whatever I might possibly need at their store in Arizona!