TAPER TIME

Taper time is among us is you haven’t already noticed,

it’s when triathlete's are ready to race and are focused.

Gone are the grueling hours of pushing the bike for 110 miles,

the GU, the Gatorade, the Cliff bars and bugs in your smile.

Gone are the brutal morning swims that cause a chill up your spine,

the freaky people in the pool that say the “LANE IS ALL MINE”!

Gone are the bricks and the hot hilly runs,

that beat you and bake you under the relentless sun.

Now you can rest, relax, sit back and chill out,

to kick up your feet and not carry on about.

But no you can’t do this; your body won't let you,

it sends nervous energy to your brain that really will get you.

So you become tense, emotional and sometimes unruly

with liable moments of crying, laughing, and acting all squirrely.

Your spouse and kids will look on and see such a mess

while you are blissfully unaware of your taper duress.

“What’s the matter, what’s up, why are you always so mad?”

“just go for a swim, a bike or a run if it’s that bad.”

What do you mean, I’m fine, life is good, it’s not me

it’s all you others that’s got the problem you see.

Ah yes, the old adage that insanity is blind,

like a hormonal rage that makes you out of your mind.

Watch out for those of us that are going through this time

we’re clueless you see, it’s your problem not mine.

So we are at the end, it’s here, the race is in sight

the finish line is engrained in our will and our might.

We see nothing but this, our focus is great

so please be kind and give us our last little wait.

It’s only 7 more days till the Ironman is here

and then we’ll be normal again, I promise………. till the next following year!

It Takes an Army

It Takes an Army

            Being a newbie to the Ironman distance, I’ve learned firsthand really how much preparation and time is needed to accomplish this feat! There are so many factors that have to be weighed into the training, like the logistics, the financial preparation, the execution and the recovery of this race. It is an all encompassing event that affects everyone, from participant, to family, friends, colleagues and extended acquaintances. Here is a little glimpse of how it has taken an army of people to help me prepare for this upcoming day.

            Starting with the consideration of this race, there were many conversations between us friends trying to decide which race we would do, and who we could get to go with us. This really was no small feat, since there were four girls trying to decide on one thing, while trying to incorporate other acquaintances to partake in it with us. So there was a lot of wait and see, debates, and finally coercion! Lol  Everyone wanted to do the IM distance, but we knew that we didn’t want to do it alone, so this began the start of my army of comrades. (Zoe, Moe, Angela, and Myself).

            After the money was on the table and we signed the next year of our life away, a sense of urgency to start preparing over the winter months erupted. Thanks to Zoe Metro and John Loudermilk, our fellow personal trainers and expert IM distance triathletes, a winter cycling group was formed to ride indoors every Saturday for two hours. We would meet at cross fit in Ann Arbor to ride our bikes on trainers, with the classes being lead by either one of them. These classes weren’t your usual spin class, they focused on real cycling, incorporating long endurance rides, sprints from hell that never ended, gigantic mountain/resistance rides, and lots and lots of riding while standing up, sometimes with no resistance (just to add a little bit more misery).  This was the first taste of what type of endurance one needed to build in order to have a happy race day. (Did I just say happy?) Despite lack of sleep, wild winter days, icy roads, or vacations, these two made it happen every week, and never once complained, ok maybe they did take their frustration out on us once in a while ;)

            Winter swimming I think was one of the worst things I had to endure in all this training. Fitting exercise into my life without it disrupting my family life too much really forced me to swim and train early in the mornings, like 4am! If it wasn’t for my comrades agreeing to meet me there at those ungodly hours, I probably wouldn’t have survived. It was their company that helped motivate me to roll out of bed, begrudgingly put on my swim suite, head out in the freezing snowy drive way, freeze all the way to the gym, and then plunge into the coldest possible water for the next hour. THIS WAS HELL! And just when I started to think that I didn’t need to keep this up, I would swim next to my friends, and I would be lapped time and time again by them. So I couldn’t just give up, I had to give it more, and hence I would do it all again by myself later on. Thanks all for making me swim!!!!

            Other members of my army include my running buddies, i.e. Ninjas; Angela, Christine, Moe, Dan, & Bernie.  Even though I couldn’t run as well or as much as I have in the past, I still was able to meet up with them and run outside in the wintery months and indoors when our cold intolerance reached its maximum capacity. It was the long cold days that can somehow suck all motivation and life out of a person, but with this strong group of individuals’ contagious energy and their love for fun, I was always wanting more time with them, running of course. J So my days were filled with wonderful outdoor training in the slow snow falls, on trails, through the dirt roads, and yes, sometimes even in the freezing whipping winds. I think the coldest temps that I ran with them were somewhere close to 12-14 degrees, and yes we did actually enjoy ourselves. It’s amazing how crisp fresh air can make you feel especially when most everyone else is cooped up with stagnate heat blowing on them.

            Once winter broke and we arrived into spring, well what little spring we had, it now became time to make that maiden voyage outside to ride! YIPEE! It was time to really open up and see what my new ultra light and aerodynamic piece of machinery can do. So if one is looking for speed, who better to ride with than Amy Gluck and the capacitor!  One of my first rides of the year was with Amy and we headed to Hines drive to give it a test drive. Speed was on my brain, but nails were in my tires! Lol  Within the first 5 miles, I got my first flat tire and my first go at changing it as well. This process was taking a little long, so Amy stepped up very politely to give me some lessons on quick tire changes! Thanks Amy (I felt like such a dork).  Others that have kept me company on my many long rides were Eric Hughes and Suk-Kyu, along with their army of buddies. It didn’t matter that I was the only female; they gladly rode with me rain or shine, and kept my training on track. Thanks guys!

            So I’ve been asked time and time again, how do you find the time to do this??? Well the answer is in work schedule, the 4am workouts, the babysitters that come at early hours on the weekends (thanks Hailey, Lexi, Abby, and Natalie), my mother n law that helps us with EVERYTHING (thanks Elon) and of course because of my husband Darin.  Poor Darin has had to endure the most of what IM training has to offer, a tired and sometimes crabby ME! He gave his morning gym days to me so I can train, gave up nights after work for me to train if needed, did without running with me on the weekends to reduce babysitter costs, at times taken over bedtime for the kids if I was exhausted or too sick to help, and towards the end has endured 6-8 hours at a time of me being gone over the weekends to get my long training days in.  He’s heard me moan and groan over my multiple and ever changing injuries, he’s tried to reassure me, motivate me, listen to me, and most of all, he has tried to stay out of my way at times! J Without the support of my family, friends and husband, I dare say I would not have gotten this far in my endeavor.

            Other people that I have had to lean on were my father n law, who would patiently drive his boat next to me while I swam, often times laughing when I would scream about seaweed that I would swim through. Amy and Roman who helped me figure out my nutrition and would patiently listen to my tales of bonking and dehydration. Eric McBride who has been running with me for 3 years and started riding with me, just to give me that extra push and critique needed in my biking form to go the extra mile. Erika Myers for helping me early on with swim stroke and workouts, and thanks to my swim coach Chrissie. Dan McGuire for helping me with access to his pool for swim lessons and longer swim days. Amy and Alan for taking me to Kentucky to give me an IM weekend workout, show me the bike course, give me guidance for race day, and showed me all the stuff I would need to know when I get down there. All my Warrior pals (Janet, Dina, Debbie, Niki, Andrea, Suk-Kyu) who so graciously ordered a tri jersey just so that I was able to have a jersey made for the race.  And lastly thanks to my kids who put up with mom always “training”.

            In two weeks, the IM race will be here, and all these people will be with me. All their voices of what they have said over the year, their memories of times together, their energy that they have given to me, all will be carried with me through the race and across that finish line. I just wanted to give everyone that has helped me some idea of what you mean to me, how you have helped, and how very thankful I am to have you in my life. If I didn’t have you all, I would not be half the person that I am today. Thanks for everything!

            The last part of my “Army” is Liela Shrum. She has been with me for years, and even though she is no longer here with us physically, she definitely is with me emotionally and spiritually. She lost her battle to breast cancer 1 year ago, but her spirit and love for life has continued to be carried on in memories of her through her girls, her family and her friends. This race for me will be a testament to her and to all my friends with breast cancer (Janet, Trisha, Amy, Elon, Brenda).  It will be my opportunity to experience a small portion of the struggles that they face on a daily basis. To experience the emotional, physical and psychological turmoil that they may have endured, and to really appreciate the magnitude of strength it takes to continue to go forward, when every ounce of your being is screaming for you to stop. Know that when I am in my darkest hours in this race, it will be all of you girls, especially Liela, that will give me strength. You all are amazing, and I’m so proud to call you my friend!

Learning Curve Pains!

Learning Curve Pains!

            Starting the training for the Ironman was the easiest thing that I have ever done. My training was pretty much the same as it has been for years, so the learning curve was zero. As the mileage and time required to train increased, I figured that just like everything else, things would fall into place as they always have. But what I didn’t account for was Murphy’s Law.

            If a 2 hour ride was possible, then a 3-6 hour ride should feel the same, just a little more tedious mentally and physically. If running was easy, then it should continue to be so even after a long ride, after all, I’m not new to the triathlon world. Well was I ever wrong. Everything I’ve read and heard never prepared me for the “on the job” learning curve. I felt cheated, like someone was purposely not giving me the dirty little secrets of the “real” things that happened while training, and how to combat and prepare for them. I was left wondering why someone hasn’t written a Tell All book like they have for women who are pregnant, or for new parents.  What I was wishing for was a manual of triathlon, but not for the nuts and bolts of it, but for the neuansous that occur and how to handle them. For all you that don’t do these things, you’re probably left wondering “what could she possibly be referring to? “, well keep reading and you will find out.

            It is my belief that the best training and education you can receive in life, is that of life’s lessons from firsthand experience. So things that occur without warning, become a lesson, leaving you to figure out the correct course of action by yourself. After dealing with many of these, I have become very good at posing questions to friends. What I’ve found is that most people have encountered many of the same situations, and have advice on how to proceed. This further compounds my conviction that it would be easier for the information to be told to me in the first place so I didn’t have to falter in order to go forward!  It’s almost like the seasoned athletes want more people to partake in these endurance races so that they can sit by and laugh when someone else is stumbling the same way they did. Now I’m sure this isn’t the case, and that there is not an unspoken pack amongst them, but it certainly feels that way sometimes.

            Case in point, I’ve known that bike seats can be uncomfortable, even downright painful, but how much pain is too much pain. And is it normal to have UNBELIEVABLE pain due to other medical conditions (i.e., allergic reactions to the glide being used on the nether regions! OUCH). Why didn’t anyone tell me that this reaction is not a normal variant and that making a change could produce a better outcome! L Nope, I had to suffer for months till I finally figured out what might be causing my pain.  

            Also it would be nice if there was a magical formula on how much fluid you have to drink, what kind, when, and what types of foods you have to eat and how much/often. This definitely is a learning curve that no one can give you the formula for. Don’t get me wrong, there are guidelines out there, but that’s it. No one is the same, and therefore what works for one person, certainly may not work for another.  To break this down more in what I’ve learned, let’s first look at fluids. There are many options of what to drink, water/Gatorade/Gu/Ironman products/Heed (well you get my point, I could go on for a while here).  All these different products will cause a different outcome for each person. One may cause severe diarrhea, one may just cause nausea and vomiting, it may make you thirstier, and it may leave you so you don’t want to or can’t drink anything more, too much will cause stomach sloshing and vomiting, too little dehydration and bonking. UGH. Next we have all the nutritional supplements. There is the thick liquid gooey stuff with or without caffeine, there are gu chomps, waffles, jelly beans, or powder to use in your water, there are salt tablets, electrolyte tablets etc…. WTF how do you know what to use and when. The process to figuring out your nutrition is really what the Ironman is all about. I think it takes 4-6 months of trial and error with keeping detailed statistical information either in your head or written down to figure out the best pairing of all the above. Then you have to throw in the weather elements as another factor, because it will create a change in your demand for all these things. Again, if you get it right, you’re well on your way to a great race, get it wrong, and you may suffer 17 hours of agony running from port o potty to port or potty, could end up road side needing medical attention, you could finish but need the medic tent, or you could just be in agony for a week trying to recover.  Ah the learning curves of the Ironman.

            My best advice for people who are thinking of doing this is to find a good mentor. I have surrounded myself with many seasoned endurance athletes, and if it wasn’t for them, I probably would be having many more problems than I currently am. I can’t thank all of my friends enough for your never ending supply of advice and patience to things that may seem quite elementary. Your unwavering support has been a blessing and has eased my learning curve pains, at least a little. Thank You!

There's no SHORT CUTS in life

There’s no SHORT CUTS in life

            The cliché of “there’s no such thing as a free lunch” can be applied to training, but reworded to say, there’s no short cuts in life.  This I have found to be very true when running, when trying to train without doing ALL the workouts and just in life in general. Last weekend at the Bernie’s and Friends Running Extravaganza, my friend Zoe and I set out on our long run. We had lots of friends with us at the start, but soon everyone paired off and went in different directions. The day was very hot, as we started our run around 11:30am with the high noon sun and not very much tree coverage. After about 11 miles, we had a choice to make, run back from where we came (which would have been maybe 3 miles) or take the short cut, as we were right by were he said it would be. We decided to do the Bernie’s Short Cut to the back of his house, as we really needed something to drink and thought it would be less than 1 mile.

            The short cut took us by the High School track (check), by the cell tower (check), and then follow the trail behind the woods to come out to his yard (WAIT, THERE’s NO TRAIL). WWWAAAA. All that could be seen was dense brush/weeds that were taller than our knees as far as the eye could see. So we decided to go through the brush to the woods and see if we could make our way through that. Once in the woods, it was too thick and we were getting scraped on our legs and bugs were attacking us. So out of the woods we came, only to venture over to the lawn mowing guy. We asked about this so called trail, and he said he’s been cutting this field for 10 years for the football guys and doesn’t know anything about a trail. So now we had a choice, go back from where we came, or continue on for our search of the SHORT CUT. Yep you guessed it; we had to press on to search for it. After walking another few hundred yards in scratchy weed infested brush, passing a little swamp lake, we realized we couldn’t get out of this situation very easily. We are now REALLY hot, Very thirsty, and about to have a temper tantrum cause of all the searching of this damn trail.  Zoe thankfully took the lead, as I’m sure she was tired of hearing me whine about my frost bite area that had started blistering and now was being ripped open from the weeds, Damn this short cut is no fun. So we finally made it to the road that would lead us back to Bernie’s, and so started another slow run to the finish. What was supposed to be a 12 mile run, ended in 15 miles. Not so short after all!

           

The Unexpected

The Unexpected

            I was asked recently what made me want to do an Ironman distance triathlon.  Without hesitation, the image of Julie Moss, a female completing the IM in Kona in 1982 popped in my head. She collapsed and was crawling to the finish, her legs and body were no longer under her control, yet her mind gave her the will to finish, and she became a legend in the sport. This is when I knew I wanted to do this race, when I was a mere 9 years of age. No, it wasn’t from that moment that I went around claiming this was my great destiny, but it was the moment the seed was planted that I could and would someday do this event.  When I gave that answer, I received a laugh with a head shake as if to show how absurd this all sounded. Really, it sounds absurd? Well I guess to some it may seem crazy, even downright unattainable. But for those who share my same “insane” desire, well they just get it, and for those who do not, well I hope one day they do get it. I hope they realize how powerful and freeing it is to ones soul to be able to overcome such an obstacle. To experience the magnitude of how it impacts your life by changing your outlook about yourself and your peers. How it enables you to put things into perspective that would otherwise seem unfeasible. It’s not that everyone has to do this kind of endurance event to feel the same way I do. I think each one of us can achieve this feeling by simply stepping outside of our comfort zones and conquering something bigger than ourselves.

            Just as in life, the journey of the Ironman is full of unexpected obstacles which give rise to the constant fluctuation of motivation and purpose behind completing it. When I started really thinking about training for this, I had ideas of grandeur and dreams of snagging a Kona spot. I saw myself breezing through the training, after all my endurance was great, and my running was only going to improve. But in an instant, in May of 2010, my nightmare of being plagued with injuries began. A pulled hamstring that arose from biking deemed it necessary for me to reassess my running capabilities and really pushed me mentally to the brink. Yes, I know for some of you the thought that I couldn’t run 7 days a week seems ridiculous to have pushed me to the brink of a mental breakdown, but it did. Running was my escape, it was easy, it was where I could turn my mind off, play with friends, and just let go. Not being able to have this was like a drug addict not having their next fix, only without the physical DT’s that come along with it. But the mental anguish, change in mood and temperament all were the same. Running was my drug, and in an instant it was taken away.

            The next 6-8 months became a battle of hamstring pain, butt pain, leg pain, and then the return of plantar fasciitis. Yikes, can a girl get a break (and her poor husband). Some would think that the logical thing to do would be to stop and just not workout, but this was not an option, I had Ironman on the brain, on the calendar, and in my heart. So since running was out, I turned to biking as my mainstay of exercise. For those close to me, they know that I hated biking, that it hurt, that my heart rate was always too high, and I really was not that skilled at it.  But I guess the old saying is true, Practice makes Perfect! After a year of biking indoors at spin class, on my trainer, with friends and finally outdoors, my ability improved. Now I’m able to hold 20 mph on average for over 60 miles on the bike with my heart rate in the 140’s. My legs feel great, I’m really not taxed, and I can hang with most guys now on the bike (not the serious bikers who hold 24-27 mph though J ). You would think I’m happy…... nope still not thrilled, as I’m still cursed with pain with running.

            So my dreams of Kona are by the wayside, but I still held out hope for a good time on the race, and was hoping to finish under 12 hours (ok really closer to 11).  As I continued to try everything on my leg, it actually improved and the constant burning down my leg was soon replaced with only pain in my foot, YEAH I CAN DO THIS. So I upped my mileage and speed on my running days, and things were falling into place. I was still struggling with every step I took, but it was just one body part hurting not my whole lower half, so I could manage. Well at least I thought I could. After every run, I would start to have more intense pain in my foot, and by the next morning, there were days that I couldn’t even walk on my foot for an hour due to the intensity of the pain. (all you plantar fasciitis people out there know what I’m talking about). Darin would just look at me, shake his head, say something of concern, and then go back to bed. He realized saying anything more was just a futile attempt, and it was usually too early in the morning to muster any desire to fight with me over my thick headedness.

            Again, reassessment needed to be made, and this time I decided I just wanted to finish the run without having to walk a 7 hour marathon. The idea of being in the blazing sun with high humidity, walking 26.2 miles with no iPod, no family support on the course, and knowing I would be in pain really started to sound like hell to me. So I gave up wanting a specific time, and now am focused on doing everything in my power to not walk the entire thing. It’s funny how you can feel good about a new goal even though it is so far from the original one.  As training continued, another unexpected setback came. One day running, the pain in my foot intensified and it lead to that all too familiar burn in my leg (OH HELL NO!). Yep, that pain was back and now I can’t do a thing. So without hesitation, I reached out to all my colleges who could heal me, started the dreaded steroids, had pain patches all over my leg, ice bags taped to different regions, and was using my mother’s scooter. Man I was a mess. Not to mention that I was pissy from this set back, but I was also in a steroid rage with PMS! I have to publicly apologize to my saint husband for making it through that week! Lol  In one of my many mumblings of misery at the pool, I remember the conversation I had with a friend (Jay) who mentioned that he had similar problems and used a therapist to help him, which worked. So I called up Whitaker Therapy and sang my sad tale to him. Yes he too thought I was nuts! After one session, the leg pain disappeared, YAHOO. But the foot pain was much more persistent and required a second session. My leg remains pain free, the heal pain is still present, but I’m able to run pain free for 9-10 miles at a time. My foot still hurts the next day, but is significantly reduced. So my sad tale of injuries should be over right? NOPE, I’ve now encountered another ache, pressure within my knee after running. There is no outward swelling, but I don’t have the ability to bend completely due to some type of inflammation within it. So I’ve been icing my knee which seems to have worked out great. Only problem is, as of 7/24/11, I apparently left the ice on too long and caused frost bite to my knee! MAN I COULD REALLY USE A BREAK. So I’m treating it with a lot of laugher, Silvadene cream, Motrin and throwing in a hope and a prayer for good measure.

            Yes the road to doing an Ironman is long and full of twists and turns that are not ever expected. It really is a test to the human spirit and perseverance. I sometimes wonder how much more pain I will experience the actual day of the race, and how it will compare to all that I have encountered so far. I imagine the race being something like childbirth. I know that it’s going to hurt and I’m preparing myself for the physical and emotional pain that I will endure. I know there is no turning back, and that I just have to continue to go forward till I reach the end, because that is the only option that is available! It’s that finish line that I’m looking forward to the most. Not because I will win it, or win my age group, or get money, but because I will have won something that no one can ever give me or take away, personal accomplishment with a dash of Euphoria.

IRONMAN CAMP

 

Last weekend I attended my first (unofficial) ironman camp, Amy Gluck style!  I headed to Kentucky with Amy (multi-time Kona Qualifier) and her friend Alan (multi-ironman finisher).  So to say that I was a bit intimidated was an understatement. My anxiety of traveling and training with these two people in an unknown area was extremely nerve racking.  I had visions of trying to stay with them on the bike course and getting lost and stranded in the horse farms of Louisville, nightmares of boinking and not being able to get back, concerns of ruining their training plans and never being invited to train with them again.  As a newbie to the Ironman distance, I really have no concept of what a REAL Ironman finisher does to make it to the race, and was feeling quit unprepared.  I have been putting in the time and effort, but being plagued with injuries and not training to the full potential that I feel I have, I was worried that it would really show, and would be considered very weak!             Friday came and Alan and Amy picked me up at work, with the car packed and bikes racked, we were off and driving! I’m not sure my nerves showed too much, but I can tell you, the chest pressure from envisioning the unknown was well in full force! But as the drive went on, I relaxed and really enjoyed their conversation and company, and took in all the stories, advice and tips that they had to offer. I laugh now to think that I must have looked like a little kid with my head tilted up with big bug eyes, wide with wonderment, with my mind reeling on how these too have done so many, and how I was going to learn to apply all their experiences to my race.             The hotel we stayed at was right off the highway, and was on the same road as the bike course for the race in August, so it was a perfect location. We headed to the bar after settling in, ordered up some important carb loading foods, 2 pitchers of beer with chips and salsa, and relaxed for a bit before we had to head to bed.  Our plans were made for a 90-100 mile ride in the am, followed by a 6 mile run. Cool, I could do this, after all, I heard the course had some rolling hills, and that didn’t seem to worry me too much.             Saturday morning rolled around, and we made our last minute preparations after eating a very large breakfast. Well some peoples' were larger than others. I have to say, seeing what they ate in the morning made me realize that my morning meals may not be sufficient. Not wanting to name names (cough, AMY!), someone had a Belgian Waffle, with two packets of maple syrup oatmeal placed on top of it, with a banana sliced on the very top for breakfast! This along with juice, coffee, and 2 enduralyte tablets. Wow, now that’s a breakfast of champions! Lol  It didn’t really compare to my bagel with peanut butter and coffee, maybe I was missing something here!             The weather was in the 80’s with extremely high humidity, which made the air feel so very thick. The sky had cloud cover, so I was thankful for the lack of blazing sun to add to the mix. We started our ride near the start of the ironman bike course and headed out of town to get this thing done. Alan led us, with Amy in the middle, and me heading up the rear. We started out with a comfortable pace around 19-20 mph on a relatively flat stretch of land. It was very scenic and allowed me to get into a comfortable pace, as well as helped flush out the mounting anxiety of not wanting to have to drop them too early in the ride. We started hitting the “rolling hills” which seemed easy to take on thanks to the draft of the two speedsters ahead of me.  As we reached the out and back section of the course, I was warned that I would encounter my first hill on the return stretch of the hill (and here I was thinking that I already had seen the hills). The first hill we encounter is a downhill, and they yell back, to be careful, it’s a long hill. YOU AREN’T KIDDING, this hill just twists and turns, and all you see are signs for “watch for falling rocks”!  As I’m speeding down the hill around 38-40 mph, there are riders heading up the hill, and they look like they are standing still! OMG, I have to go back up this thing, AAAAAHHHHHHHH! The hill was so fun to ride down; it almost trumped the feeling of dread about the return, almost! At the bottom of this monster hill, I was met with a pleasant uphill that Amy and Alan had no problem maneuvering up. Once at the top we had to continue on, and it was at this point that I realized that I needed a head start back up that hill if I was to stay with them, so I opted to turn around at the designated turnaround, while they rode further a little ways to help me make up time. The return climb seemed to come fast and furious after a fun descent, and I watched my speed go from 30mph (on a downhill) to a cool 6mph if I was lucky. The hill was maybe a half mile or more filled with dangerous blind turns, so I kept my eyes peeled on the yellow line looking for any crazy ass biker who may plummet down the road and cross the yellow line out of control.  In doing this, I just focused on my breathing trying to stay relaxed, increased my cadence (pedaling speed), and kept moving forward. Before I knew it, I was at the top and very excited to have tackled such a feat for me, wow, now that was cool. Amy and Alan found me, and we proceeded to make our way to the course’s 2 loop section of horse farm countryside.  As we begin the first loop, they tell me, that it’s here that I’m really going to hit the hills. WTF???? Didn’t I already do 30 miles of hills? What did I get myself into? So the anxiety of falling behind begins mounting in my chest again, and the thought of being left behind in the back hills of Kentucky was setting in as a real possibility. So I put my head down, stared at the wheel in front of me, and started my new chant of “don’t lose that wheel, don’t lose that wheel”. This seemed to help me until I was half way through the loop when I suddenly heard and felt rubbing on my front tire. I started fiddling with my front brakes thinking I could fix it while riding, but all I did was burn my fingers a little when I would hit the tire. By the time I knew I had to stop, I had fallen away so much that when I called out for them, they didn’t hear me. So there I am, stopped literally in the middle of horse farms by myself. AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH It did come true.  I quickly assessed my tire, and thankfully it wasn’t flat, but my tire was bulging out in a spot and I had to let the air out some, push the tire side back in and fill it up with air, NO PROBLEM. I calmly started fixing the problem while saying hello to the nice black horse that stood watch over me by the nearby fence. I dug out my CO2 cartridge, and proceeded to fill the tire, well at least I tried. The darn connector was stuck, it has to slide backwards but it wouldn’t, it was stuck!!!!!!! So I tried letting some of the pressure off by unscrewing the cartridge, but no luck, it wouldn’t move. So I had to waste my whole CO2 cartridge, damn. As I grabbed for my second cartridge, I realized I had one with no threads so I couldn’t use it, and that meant I only had one left. One shot left to get it right and get out of here. OH SHIT. Quickly I started working on getting the adapter to slide backward to ensure it would work, and damn it was stuck. I couldn’t get it to loosen. WTF, I pushed, pulled, twisted, spit on it, cursed at it and then gave up. I even went so far as to try to call the bike store back in canton to see if they could give me any tips on how to make sure this last time would work, but I never got through. A biker came by, but didn’t even look at me or ask if I was ok! NOT COOL. A truck pulls up and wants to know if I need help. Seeing as how he’s a middle aged man alone in a large truck, I politely declined and he thankfully pulled away. So I gave one last try to get this thing to work, and what do you know, it started to move. YEAH I CAN DO THIS.  I attached my last cartridge, said a little prayer and proceeded to try to inflate the tire. HISSSSSSSSS, yes it’s working. The tire is inflated and I think to myself, “who was worried, not me I knew I had it all the time, well at least I hoped”. Lol  Just then Amy called me and said they were on their way back to get me, SIGH, what a relief! Once again we were on our way, enjoying the never ending shifting of the gears to accommodate the hills. We passed by the sharp turns, the gradual climbs and yes even the steep climbs without much fuss. As we started on the straight away, heading back to the beginning of the loop for our second go, I felt myself starting to fade in the heat under the pressure of the relentless hills, and resided with myself that it was ok if I let them go. I watched them get farther and farther away tackling the hills with the greatest of ease, while I struggled mentally to keep myself at a steady pace. Thankfully they waited for me at the beginning of the second loop, and we made our way in again to now tackle what I knew was going to be a lot of hard work. Sometimes I think ignorance is bliss! We made a pit stop at the gas station, and I never knew how good a coke and a payday candy bar could taste. I downed the coke, downed more water, refilled Gatorade, and realized how thirsty I really was, and that I had no urge to pee, uh oh, must be getting dehydrated.  It was then that I started taking enduralyte tablets, and let me tell you, these are life savers. All the cramps I started getting in my feet, calves, hamstrings, started fading away, ahh why didn’t I think of this sooner. I managed to keep up with Amy and Alan for a short straight away, and then let them go as we headed into the land of the horse farms. There was no way I could maneuver those hills with the same speed and stamina that they had. How the hell are they capable of that? This was my never ending thought of the day! Lol I managed to find my way out and back to the main stretch of road that takes me back home. But I distinctly remember them saying “the worse part of the ride is the long ride home”. Well they were not lying. Those hills just keep rolling up and down with no flat stretch of land, and I think I was praying to the bike gods to just let me get out of this ride before I cried and gave up! I now was uncomfortable, having to sit straight up to stretch off and on, repositioning on my seat as I felt certain unmentionable areas really start to burn, felt the searing ache in my shoulders/neck from holding the aero position for so long. This ride could certainly not end soon enough.  As luck would have it, I managed to drop my chain, get stopped by a car blocking the road right in the middle of an uphill, and have to fix my bag on my bike all in this relatively short time span. OH HAVE MERCY ON ME! Lol When I made it back home, I saw Amy and Alan already a mile or so into their run, and a renewed interest in this whole insane endeavor came over me, YES I CAN DO THIS. I got off my bike, ate a banana, downed more enduralytes, cooled off in the air conditioning while changing clothes and headed out. I actually felt great. How quickly I forgot about the searing pain of a few moments ago. It was almost like labor, going through horrible pain, only to experience euphoria. My legs felt great, not heavy surprisingly, no foot pain, I was going to be able to complete my set mileage, or so I thought. What I didn’t anticipate was a cramping/burning like pain that would surround the front of my ribs and make breathing evenly very difficult. When I slowed to a walk, the pain would subside, but when I would start to run, the pain would return. So what do you think I decided to do????  Of course I kept running! lol  But as I got a mile out, I realized that my legs still were holding up, but the chest pain was getting worse, so I headed back. After only 2 miles I called it quits and joined the rest of the group to chat. What a great day! I know some of you after reading this might not understand how I can say that this was a great day. But the feeling of accomplishment, the euphoric feeling that washes over you when it’s done, is better than any drug you can get on the street. And the beauty is, it was created by me and no one can take away this feeling and accomplishment. It’s overwhelming and really leaves you wanting more! The next day was to be all about running, and a 20 mile run was planned followed by an easy bike ride. We woke bright and early to start our run by 6am. Again my legs felt great, light and very bouncy. I actually had to force myself to keep a slow pace so not to aggravate my nagging foot/leg. First 5 miles was nice, second 4 miles felt well too. But it was at the dreaded 9 mile marker that my foot and leg decided to begin to burn, OH NOOOOOOOOOOO! I made it to 10 miles and then did a pity dance in front of the hotel. After this was complete, I decided to continue to try to run and see how far I could get. After hobbling another quarter mile, I then began to do the DAMIT dance, and stomped on home with a body full of anger and anxiety. Here I iced my foot till complete numbness set in, and wallowed in my self pity. Once Amy an Alan returned, I was eager to get on the bike and flush out my tension. We decided to do an easy 20 mile bike, and it felt great. The rain came down on us the last 2 miles home, and I think I laughed the whole way home as I was constantly sprayed by the rooster tail of water coming off Amy’s bike. What a great weekend. I never knew training could be so hard and yet so fun. With this weekend behind me, a new sense of calmness has replaced my dreaded fear of the unknown. But I have to admit there is just a little bit of anxiety left now knowing what lays ahead of me on the bike course, but I have 5 more weeks to prepare, and I hope to make the most of it!

Last weekend I attended my first (unofficial) ironman camp, Amy Gluck style!  I headed to Kentucky with Amy (multi-time Kona Qualifier) and her friend Alan (multi-ironman finisher).  So to say that I was a bit intimidated was an understatement. My anxiety of traveling and training with these two people in an unknown area was extremely nerve racking.  I had visions of trying to stay with them on the bike course and getting lost and stranded in the horse farms of Louisville, nightmares of boinking and not being able to get back, concerns of ruining their training plans and never being invited to train with them again.  As a newbie to the Ironman distance, I really have no concept of what a REAL Ironman finisher does to make it to the race, and was feeling quit unprepared.  I have been putting in the time and effort, but being plagued with injuries and not training to the full potential that I feel I have, I was worried that it would really show, and would be considered very weak!             Friday came and Alan and Amy picked me up at work, with the car packed and bikes racked, we were off and driving! I’m not sure my nerves showed too much, but I can tell you, the chest pressure from envisioning the unknown was well in full force! But as the drive went on, I relaxed and really enjoyed their conversation and company, and took in all the stories, advice and tips that they had to offer. I laugh now to think that I must have looked like a little kid with my head tilted up with big bug eyes, wide with wonderment, with my mind reeling on how these too have done so many, and how I was going to learn to apply all their experiences to my race.             The hotel we stayed at was right off the highway, and was on the same road as the bike course for the race in August, so it was a perfect location. We headed to the bar after settling in, ordered up some important carb loading foods, 2 pitchers of beer with chips and salsa, and relaxed for a bit before we had to head to bed.  Our plans were made for a 90-100 mile ride in the am, followed by a 6 mile run. Cool, I could do this, after all, I heard the course had some rolling hills, and that didn’t seem to worry me too much.             Saturday morning rolled around, and we made our last minute preparations after eating a very large breakfast. Well some peoples' were larger than others. I have to say, seeing what they ate in the morning made me realize that my morning meals may not be sufficient. Not wanting to name names (cough, AMY!), someone had a Belgian Waffle, with two packets of maple syrup oatmeal placed on top of it, with a banana sliced on the very top for breakfast! This along with juice, coffee, and 2 enduralyte tablets. Wow, now that’s a breakfast of champions! Lol  It didn’t really compare to my bagel with peanut butter and coffee, maybe I was missing something here!             The weather was in the 80’s with extremely high humidity, which made the air feel so very thick. The sky had cloud cover, so I was thankful for the lack of blazing sun to add to the mix. We started our ride near the start of the ironman bike course and headed out of town to get this thing done. Alan led us, with Amy in the middle, and me heading up the rear. We started out with a comfortable pace around 19-20 mph on a relatively flat stretch of land. It was very scenic and allowed me to get into a comfortable pace, as well as helped flush out the mounting anxiety of not wanting to have to drop them too early in the ride. We started hitting the “rolling hills” which seemed easy to take on thanks to the draft of the two speedsters ahead of me.  As we reached the out and back section of the course, I was warned that I would encounter my first hill on the return stretch of the hill (and here I was thinking that I already had seen the hills). The first hill we encounter is a downhill, and they yell back, to be careful, it’s a long hill. YOU AREN’T KIDDING, this hill just twists and turns, and all you see are signs for “watch for falling rocks”!  As I’m speeding down the hill around 38-40 mph, there are riders heading up the hill, and they look like they are standing still! OMG, I have to go back up this thing, AAAAAHHHHHHHH! The hill was so fun to ride down; it almost trumped the feeling of dread about the return, almost! At the bottom of this monster hill, I was met with a pleasant uphill that Amy and Alan had no problem maneuvering up. Once at the top we had to continue on, and it was at this point that I realized that I needed a head start back up that hill if I was to stay with them, so I opted to turn around at the designated turnaround, while they rode further a little ways to help me make up time. The return climb seemed to come fast and furious after a fun descent, and I watched my speed go from 30mph (on a downhill) to a cool 6mph if I was lucky. The hill was maybe a half mile or more filled with dangerous blind turns, so I kept my eyes peeled on the yellow line looking for any crazy ass biker who may plummet down the road and cross the yellow line out of control.  In doing this, I just focused on my breathing trying to stay relaxed, increased my cadence (pedaling speed), and kept moving forward. Before I knew it, I was at the top and very excited to have tackled such a feat for me, wow, now that was cool. Amy and Alan found me, and we proceeded to make our way to the course’s 2 loop section of horse farm countryside.  As we begin the first loop, they tell me, that it’s here that I’m really going to hit the hills. WTF???? Didn’t I already do 30 miles of hills? What did I get myself into? So the anxiety of falling behind begins mounting in my chest again, and the thought of being left behind in the back hills of Kentucky was setting in as a real possibility. So I put my head down, stared at the wheel in front of me, and started my new chant of “don’t lose that wheel, don’t lose that wheel”. This seemed to help me until I was half way through the loop when I suddenly heard and felt rubbing on my front tire. I started fiddling with my front brakes thinking I could fix it while riding, but all I did was burn my fingers a little when I would hit the tire. By the time I knew I had to stop, I had fallen away so much that when I called out for them, they didn’t hear me. So there I am, stopped literally in the middle of horse farms by myself. AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH It did come true.  I quickly assessed my tire, and thankfully it wasn’t flat, but my tire was bulging out in a spot and I had to let the air out some, push the tire side back in and fill it up with air, NO PROBLEM. I calmly started fixing the problem while saying hello to the nice black horse that stood watch over me by the nearby fence. I dug out my CO2 cartridge, and proceeded to fill the tire, well at least I tried. The darn connector was stuck, it has to slide backwards but it wouldn’t, it was stuck!!!!!!! So I tried letting some of the pressure off by unscrewing the cartridge, but no luck, it wouldn’t move. So I had to waste my whole CO2 cartridge, damn. As I grabbed for my second cartridge, I realized I had one with no threads so I couldn’t use it, and that meant I only had one left. One shot left to get it right and get out of here. OH SHIT. Quickly I started working on getting the adapter to slide backward to ensure it would work, and damn it was stuck. I couldn’t get it to loosen. WTF, I pushed, pulled, twisted, spit on it, cursed at it and then gave up. I even went so far as to try to call the bike store back in canton to see if they could give me any tips on how to make sure this last time would work, but I never got through. A biker came by, but didn’t even look at me or ask if I was ok! NOT COOL. A truck pulls up and wants to know if I need help. Seeing as how he’s a middle aged man alone in a large truck, I politely declined and he thankfully pulled away. So I gave one last try to get this thing to work, and what do you know, it started to move. YEAH I CAN DO THIS.  I attached my last cartridge, said a little prayer and proceeded to try to inflate the tire. HISSSSSSSSS, yes it’s working. The tire is inflated and I think to myself, “who was worried, not me I knew I had it all the time, well at least I hoped”. Lol  Just then Amy called me and said they were on their way back to get me, SIGH, what a relief! Once again we were on our way, enjoying the never ending shifting of the gears to accommodate the hills. We passed by the sharp turns, the gradual climbs and yes even the steep climbs without much fuss. As we started on the straight away, heading back to the beginning of the loop for our second go, I felt myself starting to fade in the heat under the pressure of the relentless hills, and resided with myself that it was ok if I let them go. I watched them get farther and farther away tackling the hills with the greatest of ease, while I struggled mentally to keep myself at a steady pace. Thankfully they waited for me at the beginning of the second loop, and we made our way in again to now tackle what I knew was going to be a lot of hard work. Sometimes I think ignorance is bliss! We made a pit stop at the gas station, and I never knew how good a coke and a payday candy bar could taste. I downed the coke, downed more water, refilled Gatorade, and realized how thirsty I really was, and that I had no urge to pee, uh oh, must be getting dehydrated.  It was then that I started taking enduralyte tablets, and let me tell you, these are life savers. All the cramps I started getting in my feet, calves, hamstrings, started fading away, ahh why didn’t I think of this sooner. I managed to keep up with Amy and Alan for a short straight away, and then let them go as we headed into the land of the horse farms. There was no way I could maneuver those hills with the same speed and stamina that they had. How the hell are they capable of that? This was my never ending thought of the day! Lol I managed to find my way out and back to the main stretch of road that takes me back home. But I distinctly remember them saying “the worse part of the ride is the long ride home”. Well they were not lying. Those hills just keep rolling up and down with no flat stretch of land, and I think I was praying to the bike gods to just let me get out of this ride before I cried and gave up! I now was uncomfortable, having to sit straight up to stretch off and on, repositioning on my seat as I felt certain unmentionable areas really start to burn, felt the searing ache in my shoulders/neck from holding the aero position for so long. This ride could certainly not end soon enough.  As luck would have it, I managed to drop my chain, get stopped by a car blocking the road right in the middle of an uphill, and have to fix my bag on my bike all in this relatively short time span. OH HAVE MERCY ON ME! Lol When I made it back home, I saw Amy and Alan already a mile or so into their run, and a renewed interest in this whole insane endeavor came over me, YES I CAN DO THIS. I got off my bike, ate a banana, downed more enduralytes, cooled off in the air conditioning while changing clothes and headed out. I actually felt great. How quickly I forgot about the searing pain of a few moments ago. It was almost like labor, going through horrible pain, only to experience euphoria. My legs felt great, not heavy surprisingly, no foot pain, I was going to be able to complete my set mileage, or so I thought. What I didn’t anticipate was a cramping/burning like pain that would surround the front of my ribs and make breathing evenly very difficult. When I slowed to a walk, the pain would subside, but when I would start to run, the pain would return. So what do you think I decided to do????  Of course I kept running! lol  But as I got a mile out, I realized that my legs still were holding up, but the chest pain was getting worse, so I headed back. After only 2 miles I called it quits and joined the rest of the group to chat. What a great day! I know some of you after reading this might not understand how I can say that this was a great day. But the feeling of accomplishment, the euphoric feeling that washes over you when it’s done, is better than any drug you can get on the street. And the beauty is, it was created by me and no one can take away this feeling and accomplishment. It’s overwhelming and really leaves you wanting more! The next day was to be all about running, and a 20 mile run was planned followed by an easy bike ride. We woke bright and early to start our run by 6am. Again my legs felt great, light and very bouncy. I actually had to force myself to keep a slow pace so not to aggravate my nagging foot/leg. First 5 miles was nice, second 4 miles felt well too. But it was at the dreaded 9 mile marker that my foot and leg decided to begin to burn, OH NOOOOOOOOOOO! I made it to 10 miles and then did a pity dance in front of the hotel. After this was complete, I decided to continue to try to run and see how far I could get. After hobbling another quarter mile, I then began to do the DAMIT dance, and stomped on home with a body full of anger and anxiety. Here I iced my foot till complete numbness set in, and wallowed in my self pity. Once Amy an Alan returned, I was eager to get on the bike and flush out my tension. We decided to do an easy 20 mile bike, and it felt great. The rain came down on us the last 2 miles home, and I think I laughed the whole way home as I was constantly sprayed by the rooster tail of water coming off Amy’s bike. What a great weekend. I never knew training could be so hard and yet so fun. With this weekend behind me, a new sense of calmness has replaced my dreaded fear of the unknown. But I have to admit there is just a little bit of anxiety left now knowing what lays ahead of me on the bike course, but I have 5 more weeks to prepare, and I hope to make the most of it!

Last weekend I attended my first (unofficial) ironman camp, Amy Gluck style!  I headed to Kentucky with Amy (multi-time Kona Qualifier) and her friend Alan (multi-ironman finisher).  So to say that I was a bit intimidated was an understatement. My anxiety of traveling and training with these two people in an unknown area was extremely nerve racking.  I had visions of trying to stay with them on the bike course and getting lost and stranded in the horse farms of Louisville, nightmares of boinking and not being able to get back, concerns of ruining their training plans and never being invited to train with them again.  As a newbie to the Ironman distance, I really have no concept of what a REAL Ironman finisher does to make it to the race, and was feeling quit unprepared.  I have been putting in the time and effort, but being plagued with injuries and not training to the full potential that I feel I have, I was worried that it would really show, and would be considered very weak!             Friday came and Alan and Amy picked me up at work, with the car packed and bikes racked, we were off and driving! I’m not sure my nerves showed too much, but I can tell you, the chest pressure from envisioning the unknown was well in full force! But as the drive went on, I relaxed and really enjoyed their conversation and company, and took in all the stories, advice and tips that they had to offer. I laugh now to think that I must have looked like a little kid with my head tilted up with big bug eyes, wide with wonderment, with my mind reeling on how these too have done so many, and how I was going to learn to apply all their experiences to my race.             The hotel we stayed at was right off the highway, and was on the same road as the bike course for the race in August, so it was a perfect location. We headed to the bar after settling in, ordered up some important carb loading foods, 2 pitchers of beer with chips and salsa, and relaxed for a bit before we had to head to bed.  Our plans were made for a 90-100 mile ride in the am, followed by a 6 mile run. Cool, I could do this, after all, I heard the course had some rolling hills, and that didn’t seem to worry me too much.             Saturday morning rolled around, and we made our last minute preparations after eating a very large breakfast. Well some peoples' were larger than others. I have to say, seeing what they ate in the morning made me realize that my morning meals may not be sufficient. Not wanting to name names (cough, AMY!), someone had a Belgian Waffle, with two packets of maple syrup oatmeal placed on top of it, with a banana sliced on the very top for breakfast! This along with juice, coffee, and 2 enduralyte tablets. Wow, now that’s a breakfast of champions! Lol  It didn’t really compare to my bagel with peanut butter and coffee, maybe I was missing something here!             The weather was in the 80’s with extremely high humidity, which made the air feel so very thick. The sky had cloud cover, so I was thankful for the lack of blazing sun to add to the mix. We started our ride near the start of the ironman bike course and headed out of town to get this thing done. Alan led us, with Amy in the middle, and me heading up the rear. We started out with a comfortable pace around 19-20 mph on a relatively flat stretch of land. It was very scenic and allowed me to get into a comfortable pace, as well as helped flush out the mounting anxiety of not wanting to have to drop them too early in the ride. We started hitting the “rolling hills” which seemed easy to take on thanks to the draft of the two speedsters ahead of me.  As we reached the out and back section of the course, I was warned that I would encounter my first hill on the return stretch of the hill (and here I was thinking that I already had seen the hills). The first hill we encounter is a downhill, and they yell back, to be careful, it’s a long hill. YOU AREN’T KIDDING, this hill just twists and turns, and all you see are signs for “watch for falling rocks”!  As I’m speeding down the hill around 38-40 mph, there are riders heading up the hill, and they look like they are standing still! OMG, I have to go back up this thing, AAAAAHHHHHHHH! The hill was so fun to ride down; it almost trumped the feeling of dread about the return, almost! At the bottom of this monster hill, I was met with a pleasant uphill that Amy and Alan had no problem maneuvering up. Once at the top we had to continue on, and it was at this point that I realized that I needed a head start back up that hill if I was to stay with them, so I opted to turn around at the designated turnaround, while they rode further a little ways to help me make up time. The return climb seemed to come fast and furious after a fun descent, and I watched my speed go from 30mph (on a downhill) to a cool 6mph if I was lucky. The hill was maybe a half mile or more filled with dangerous blind turns, so I kept my eyes peeled on the yellow line looking for any crazy ass biker who may plummet down the road and cross the yellow line out of control.  In doing this, I just focused on my breathing trying to stay relaxed, increased my cadence (pedaling speed), and kept moving forward. Before I knew it, I was at the top and very excited to have tackled such a feat for me, wow, now that was cool. Amy and Alan found me, and we proceeded to make our way to the course’s 2 loop section of horse farm countryside.  As we begin the first loop, they tell me, that it’s here that I’m really going to hit the hills. WTF???? Didn’t I already do 30 miles of hills? What did I get myself into? So the anxiety of falling behind begins mounting in my chest again, and the thought of being left behind in the back hills of Kentucky was setting in as a real possibility. So I put my head down, stared at the wheel in front of me, and started my new chant of “don’t lose that wheel, don’t lose that wheel”. This seemed to help me until I was half way through the loop when I suddenly heard and felt rubbing on my front tire. I started fiddling with my front brakes thinking I could fix it while riding, but all I did was burn my fingers a little when I would hit the tire. By the time I knew I had to stop, I had fallen away so much that when I called out for them, they didn’t hear me. So there I am, stopped literally in the middle of horse farms by myself. AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH It did come true.  I quickly assessed my tire, and thankfully it wasn’t flat, but my tire was bulging out in a spot and I had to let the air out some, push the tire side back in and fill it up with air, NO PROBLEM. I calmly started fixing the problem while saying hello to the nice black horse that stood watch over me by the nearby fence. I dug out my CO2 cartridge, and proceeded to fill the tire, well at least I tried. The darn connector was stuck, it has to slide backwards but it wouldn’t, it was stuck!!!!!!! So I tried letting some of the pressure off by unscrewing the cartridge, but no luck, it wouldn’t move. So I had to waste my whole CO2 cartridge, damn. As I grabbed for my second cartridge, I realized I had one with no threads so I couldn’t use it, and that meant I only had one left. One shot left to get it right and get out of here. OH SHIT. Quickly I started working on getting the adapter to slide backward to ensure it would work, and damn it was stuck. I couldn’t get it to loosen. WTF, I pushed, pulled, twisted, spit on it, cursed at it and then gave up. I even went so far as to try to call the bike store back in canton to see if they could give me any tips on how to make sure this last time would work, but I never got through. A biker came by, but didn’t even look at me or ask if I was ok! NOT COOL. A truck pulls up and wants to know if I need help. Seeing as how he’s a middle aged man alone in a large truck, I politely declined and he thankfully pulled away. So I gave one last try to get this thing to work, and what do you know, it started to move. YEAH I CAN DO THIS.  I attached my last cartridge, said a little prayer and proceeded to try to inflate the tire. HISSSSSSSSS, yes it’s working. The tire is inflated and I think to myself, “who was worried, not me I knew I had it all the time, well at least I hoped”. Lol  Just then Amy called me and said they were on their way back to get me, SIGH, what a relief! Once again we were on our way, enjoying the never ending shifting of the gears to accommodate the hills. We passed by the sharp turns, the gradual climbs and yes even the steep climbs without much fuss. As we started on the straight away, heading back to the beginning of the loop for our second go, I felt myself starting to fade in the heat under the pressure of the relentless hills, and resided with myself that it was ok if I let them go. I watched them get farther and farther away tackling the hills with the greatest of ease, while I struggled mentally to keep myself at a steady pace. Thankfully they waited for me at the beginning of the second loop, and we made our way in again to now tackle what I knew was going to be a lot of hard work. Sometimes I think ignorance is bliss! We made a pit stop at the gas station, and I never knew how good a coke and a payday candy bar could taste. I downed the coke, downed more water, refilled Gatorade, and realized how thirsty I really was, and that I had no urge to pee, uh oh, must be getting dehydrated.  It was then that I started taking enduralyte tablets, and let me tell you, these are life savers. All the cramps I started getting in my feet, calves, hamstrings, started fading away, ahh why didn’t I think of this sooner. I managed to keep up with Amy and Alan for a short straight away, and then let them go as we headed into the land of the horse farms. There was no way I could maneuver those hills with the same speed and stamina that they had. How the hell are they capable of that? This was my never ending thought of the day! Lol I managed to find my way out and back to the main stretch of road that takes me back home. But I distinctly remember them saying “the worse part of the ride is the long ride home”. Well they were not lying. Those hills just keep rolling up and down with no flat stretch of land, and I think I was praying to the bike gods to just let me get out of this ride before I cried and gave up! I now was uncomfortable, having to sit straight up to stretch off and on, repositioning on my seat as I felt certain unmentionable areas really start to burn, felt the searing ache in my shoulders/neck from holding the aero position for so long. This ride could certainly not end soon enough.  As luck would have it, I managed to drop my chain, get stopped by a car blocking the road right in the middle of an uphill, and have to fix my bag on my bike all in this relatively short time span. OH HAVE MERCY ON ME! Lol When I made it back home, I saw Amy and Alan already a mile or so into their run, and a renewed interest in this whole insane endeavor came over me, YES I CAN DO THIS. I got off my bike, ate a banana, downed more enduralytes, cooled off in the air conditioning while changing clothes and headed out. I actually felt great. How quickly I forgot about the searing pain of a few moments ago. It was almost like labor, going through horrible pain, only to experience euphoria. My legs felt great, not heavy surprisingly, no foot pain, I was going to be able to complete my set mileage, or so I thought. What I didn’t anticipate was a cramping/burning like pain that would surround the front of my ribs and make breathing evenly very difficult. When I slowed to a walk, the pain would subside, but when I would start to run, the pain would return. So what do you think I decided to do????  Of course I kept running! lol  But as I got a mile out, I realized that my legs still were holding up, but the chest pain was getting worse, so I headed back. After only 2 miles I called it quits and joined the rest of the group to chat. What a great day! I know some of you after reading this might not understand how I can say that this was a great day. But the feeling of accomplishment, the euphoric feeling that washes over you when it’s done, is better than any drug you can get on the street. And the beauty is, it was created by me and no one can take away this feeling and accomplishment. It’s overwhelming and really leaves you wanting more! The next day was to be all about running, and a 20 mile run was planned followed by an easy bike ride. We woke bright and early to start our run by 6am. Again my legs felt great, light and very bouncy. I actually had to force myself to keep a slow pace so not to aggravate my nagging foot/leg. First 5 miles was nice, second 4 miles felt well too. But it was at the dreaded 9 mile marker that my foot and leg decided to begin to burn, OH NOOOOOOOOOOO! I made it to 10 miles and then did a pity dance in front of the hotel. After this was complete, I decided to continue to try to run and see how far I could get. After hobbling another quarter mile, I then began to do the DAMIT dance, and stomped on home with a body full of anger and anxiety. Here I iced my foot till complete numbness set in, and wallowed in my self pity. Once Amy an Alan returned, I was eager to get on the bike and flush out my tension. We decided to do an easy 20 mile bike, and it felt great. The rain came down on us the last 2 miles home, and I think I laughed the whole way home as I was constantly sprayed by the rooster tail of water coming off Amy’s bike. What a great weekend. I never knew training could be so hard and yet so fun. With this weekend behind me, a new sense of calmness has replaced my dreaded fear of the unknown. But I have to admit there is just a little bit of anxiety left now knowing what lays ahead of me on the bike course, but I have 5 more weeks to prepare, and I hope to make the most of it!

Last weekend I attended my first (unofficial) ironman camp, Amy Gluck style!  I headed to Kentucky with Amy (multi-time Kona Qualifier) and her friend Alan (multi-ironman finisher).  So to say that I was a bit intimidated was an understatement. My anxiety of traveling and training with these two people in an unknown area was extremely nerve racking.  I had visions of trying to stay with them on the bike course and getting lost and stranded in the horse farms of Louisville, nightmares of boinking and not being able to get back, concerns of ruining their training plans and never being invited to train with them again.  As a newbie to the Ironman distance, I really have no concept of what a REAL Ironman finisher does to make it to the race, and was feeling quit unprepared.  I have been putting in the time and effort, but being plagued with injuries and not training to the full potential that I feel I have, I was worried that it would really show, and would be considered very weak!             Friday came and Alan and Amy picked me up at work, with the car packed and bikes racked, we were off and driving! I’m not sure my nerves showed too much, but I can tell you, the chest pressure from envisioning the unknown was well in full force! But as the drive went on, I relaxed and really enjoyed their conversation and company, and took in all the stories, advice and tips that they had to offer. I laugh now to think that I must have looked like a little kid with my head tilted up with big bug eyes, wide with wonderment, with my mind reeling on how these too have done so many, and how I was going to learn to apply all their experiences to my race.             The hotel we stayed at was right off the highway, and was on the same road as the bike course for the race in August, so it was a perfect location. We headed to the bar after settling in, ordered up some important carb loading foods, 2 pitchers of beer with chips and salsa, and relaxed for a bit before we had to head to bed.  Our plans were made for a 90-100 mile ride in the am, followed by a 6 mile run. Cool, I could do this, after all, I heard the course had some rolling hills, and that didn’t seem to worry me too much.             Saturday morning rolled around, and we made our last minute preparations after eating a very large breakfast. Well some peoples' were larger than others. I have to say, seeing what they ate in the morning made me realize that my morning meals may not be sufficient. Not wanting to name names (cough, AMY!), someone had a Belgian Waffle, with two packets of maple syrup oatmeal placed on top of it, with a banana sliced on the very top for breakfast! This along with juice, coffee, and 2 enduralyte tablets. Wow, now that’s a breakfast of champions! Lol  It didn’t really compare to my bagel with peanut butter and coffee, maybe I was missing something here!             The weather was in the 80’s with extremely high humidity, which made the air feel so very thick. The sky had cloud cover, so I was thankful for the lack of blazing sun to add to the mix. We started our ride near the start of the ironman bike course and headed out of town to get this thing done. Alan led us, with Amy in the middle, and me heading up the rear. We started out with a comfortable pace around 19-20 mph on a relatively flat stretch of land. It was very scenic and allowed me to get into a comfortable pace, as well as helped flush out the mounting anxiety of not wanting to have to drop them too early in the ride. We started hitting the “rolling hills” which seemed easy to take on thanks to the draft of the two speedsters ahead of me.  As we reached the out and back section of the course, I was warned that I would encounter my first hill on the return stretch of the hill (and here I was thinking that I already had seen the hills). The first hill we encounter is a downhill, and they yell back, to be careful, it’s a long hill. YOU AREN’T KIDDING, this hill just twists and turns, and all you see are signs for “watch for falling rocks”!  As I’m speeding down the hill around 38-40 mph, there are riders heading up the hill, and they look like they are standing still! OMG, I have to go back up this thing, AAAAAHHHHHHHH! The hill was so fun to ride down; it almost trumped the feeling of dread about the return, almost! At the bottom of this monster hill, I was met with a pleasant uphill that Amy and Alan had no problem maneuvering up. Once at the top we had to continue on, and it was at this point that I realized that I needed a head start back up that hill if I was to stay with them, so I opted to turn around at the designated turnaround, while they rode further a little ways to help me make up time. The return climb seemed to come fast and furious after a fun descent, and I watched my speed go from 30mph (on a downhill) to a cool 6mph if I was lucky. The hill was maybe a half mile or more filled with dangerous blind turns, so I kept my eyes peeled on the yellow line looking for any crazy ass biker who may plummet down the road and cross the yellow line out of control.  In doing this, I just focused on my breathing trying to stay relaxed, increased my cadence (pedaling speed), and kept moving forward. Before I knew it, I was at the top and very excited to have tackled such a feat for me, wow, now that was cool. Amy and Alan found me, and we proceeded to make our way to the course’s 2 loop section of horse farm countryside.  As we begin the first loop, they tell me, that it’s here that I’m really going to hit the hills. WTF???? Didn’t I already do 30 miles of hills? What did I get myself into? So the anxiety of falling behind begins mounting in my chest again, and the thought of being left behind in the back hills of Kentucky was setting in as a real possibility. So I put my head down, stared at the wheel in front of me, and started my new chant of “don’t lose that wheel, don’t lose that wheel”. This seemed to help me until I was half way through the loop when I suddenly heard and felt rubbing on my front tire. I started fiddling with my front brakes thinking I could fix it while riding, but all I did was burn my fingers a little when I would hit the tire. By the time I knew I had to stop, I had fallen away so much that when I called out for them, they didn’t hear me. So there I am, stopped literally in the middle of horse farms by myself. AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH It did come true.  I quickly assessed my tire, and thankfully it wasn’t flat, but my tire was bulging out in a spot and I had to let the air out some, push the tire side back in and fill it up with air, NO PROBLEM. I calmly started fixing the problem while saying hello to the nice black horse that stood watch over me by the nearby fence. I dug out my CO2 cartridge, and proceeded to fill the tire, well at least I tried. The darn connector was stuck, it has to slide backwards but it wouldn’t, it was stuck!!!!!!! So I tried letting some of the pressure off by unscrewing the cartridge, but no luck, it wouldn’t move. So I had to waste my whole CO2 cartridge, damn. As I grabbed for my second cartridge, I realized I had one with no threads so I couldn’t use it, and that meant I only had one left. One shot left to get it right and get out of here. OH SHIT. Quickly I started working on getting the adapter to slide backward to ensure it would work, and damn it was stuck. I couldn’t get it to loosen. WTF, I pushed, pulled, twisted, spit on it, cursed at it and then gave up. I even went so far as to try to call the bike store back in canton to see if they could give me any tips on how to make sure this last time would work, but I never got through. A biker came by, but didn’t even look at me or ask if I was ok! NOT COOL. A truck pulls up and wants to know if I need help. Seeing as how he’s a middle aged man alone in a large truck, I politely declined and he thankfully pulled away. So I gave one last try to get this thing to work, and what do you know, it started to move. YEAH I CAN DO THIS.  I attached my last cartridge, said a little prayer and proceeded to try to inflate the tire. HISSSSSSSSS, yes it’s working. The tire is inflated and I think to myself, “who was worried, not me I knew I had it all the time, well at least I hoped”. Lol  Just then Amy called me and said they were on their way back to get me, SIGH, what a relief! Once again we were on our way, enjoying the never ending shifting of the gears to accommodate the hills. We passed by the sharp turns, the gradual climbs and yes even the steep climbs without much fuss. As we started on the straight away, heading back to the beginning of the loop for our second go, I felt myself starting to fade in the heat under the pressure of the relentless hills, and resided with myself that it was ok if I let them go. I watched them get farther and farther away tackling the hills with the greatest of ease, while I struggled mentally to keep myself at a steady pace. Thankfully they waited for me at the beginning of the second loop, and we made our way in again to now tackle what I knew was going to be a lot of hard work. Sometimes I think ignorance is bliss! We made a pit stop at the gas station, and I never knew how good a coke and a payday candy bar could taste. I downed the coke, downed more water, refilled Gatorade, and realized how thirsty I really was, and that I had no urge to pee, uh oh, must be getting dehydrated.  It was then that I started taking enduralyte tablets, and let me tell you, these are life savers. All the cramps I started getting in my feet, calves, hamstrings, started fading away, ahh why didn’t I think of this sooner. I managed to keep up with Amy and Alan for a short straight away, and then let them go as we headed into the land of the horse farms. There was no way I could maneuver those hills with the same speed and stamina that they had. How the hell are they capable of that? This was my never ending thought of the day! Lol I managed to find my way out and back to the main stretch of road that takes me back home. But I distinctly remember them saying “the worse part of the ride is the long ride home”. Well they were not lying. Those hills just keep rolling up and down with no flat stretch of land, and I think I was praying to the bike gods to just let me get out of this ride before I cried and gave up! I now was uncomfortable, having to sit straight up to stretch off and on, repositioning on my seat as I felt certain unmentionable areas really start to burn, felt the searing ache in my shoulders/neck from holding the aero position for so long. This ride could certainly not end soon enough.  As luck would have it, I managed to drop my chain, get stopped by a car blocking the road right in the middle of an uphill, and have to fix my bag on my bike all in this relatively short time span. OH HAVE MERCY ON ME! Lol When I made it back home, I saw Amy and Alan already a mile or so into their run, and a renewed interest in this whole insane endeavor came over me, YES I CAN DO THIS. I got off my bike, ate a banana, downed more enduralytes, cooled off in the air conditioning while changing clothes and headed out. I actually felt great. How quickly I forgot about the searing pain of a few moments ago. It was almost like labor, going through horrible pain, only to experience euphoria. My legs felt great, not heavy surprisingly, no foot pain, I was going to be able to complete my set mileage, or so I thought. What I didn’t anticipate was a cramping/burning like pain that would surround the front of my ribs and make breathing evenly very difficult. When I slowed to a walk, the pain would subside, but when I would start to run, the pain would return. So what do you think I decided to do????  Of course I kept running! lol  But as I got a mile out, I realized that my legs still were holding up, but the chest pain was getting worse, so I headed back. After only 2 miles I called it quits and joined the rest of the group to chat. What a great day! I know some of you after reading this might not understand how I can say that this was a great day. But the feeling of accomplishment, the euphoric feeling that washes over you when it’s done, is better than any drug you can get on the street. And the beauty is, it was created by me and no one can take away this feeling and accomplishment. It’s overwhelming and really leaves you wanting more! The next day was to be all about running, and a 20 mile run was planned followed by an easy bike ride. We woke bright and early to start our run by 6am. Again my legs felt great, light and very bouncy. I actually had to force myself to keep a slow pace so not to aggravate my nagging foot/leg. First 5 miles was nice, second 4 miles felt well too. But it was at the dreaded 9 mile marker that my foot and leg decided to begin to burn, OH NOOOOOOOOOOO! I made it to 10 miles and then did a pity dance in front of the hotel. After this was complete, I decided to continue to try to run and see how far I could get. After hobbling another quarter mile, I then began to do the DAMIT dance, and stomped on home with a body full of anger and anxiety. Here I iced my foot till complete numbness set in, and wallowed in my self pity. Once Amy an Alan returned, I was eager to get on the bike and flush out my tension. We decided to do an easy 20 mile bike, and it felt great. The rain came down on us the last 2 miles home, and I think I laughed the whole way home as I was constantly sprayed by the rooster tail of water coming off Amy’s bike. What a great weekend. I never knew training could be so hard and yet so fun. With this weekend behind me, a new sense of calmness has replaced my dreaded fear of the unknown. But I have to admit there is just a little bit of anxiety left now knowing what lays ahead of me on the bike course, but I have 5 more weeks to prepare, and I hope to make the most of it!