What does it take to complete a full ironman distance triathlon???? Ever wonder if you could do it, not sure you have what it takes, afraid of the pain, concerned with time away from the family, just not that competitive or CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well I’m doing the Louiseville IM on August 28th, and I’ll let you know what it takes. I’m creating this blog for those who are curious about the preparation for such an event, and for my friends and family who are wanting to keep up with my training and progress.
I’m into week 11 of training, out of a 20 week program, and it’s been quite a journey so far. I’m training with plantar fascities and recovering from a 6 month hiatus of running until recently due to sciatica. It’s been a struggle to get my running back, and to deal with the pain in my right foot, but I’m moving forward and improving! One thing that has helped tremendously, is all my crazy friends who understand my pain (because they have been through similar situations) and don’t ever let me wallow in my self pitty! They have gotten me through my tough times because there is no sympathy, no overprotective talk, no talk of stoping, they only have words of insight and encouragement. They understand that sometimes you just have to suck it up and get through it, that one can’t always be at the top of thier game, and they make sure to remind you that your success and failures are not due to injury/problem, rather it’s because of what happened that particular day!!!!! Thank You to all my friends who think that a 6 mile run is a warm up, that a bike ride of 30 miles just isn’t enough for a lite day of training, who understands that a 7:30 min/mile is average for running, and for those that love to play in the rain/mud/snow/wind/sun and love to laugh, laugh, laugh! THANK YOU to all of you, you know who you are!
Training for the IM (ironman) takes a army of people. These people are my crew, my sherpa’s! And I just want to say, that without them, NONE of this would be possible. So I have to send out a big THANK YOU to all my peeps/family who are bending over backwards to help this go off without a hitch. I can’t tell you how special I feel to have so many people supporting me, in all sorts of ways. I have family that will babysit at the wee hours of the morning, friends that will train with me despite not really wanting to, Darin who is taking on a lot of the household responsibilities and being very understanding of the time I may need away, neighbors who are cheering me on, friends who will buy a jersey just so I can have one made for race day, friends who will come over and give me advice on everything and never get annoyed to listening to me babble. It’s to all of you that are making my dream possible, and I love you all for that.
I recently completed my first half IM race a few weeks ago with 4 of my favorite peeps who are crazier than me. And I have to say, it was a great experience to have, and I learned a lot of what I was doing wrong. I won’t bore you with too many details, but I will tell you, that despite my swim ability, I still had anxiety and had to back stroke for a short period of time till I could get a rhythm with the waves and not constantly get a mouth full of water. I saw grown men call it quites and get pulled from the water, I had doubt about my ability, but ultimately, I was able to quiet those fears, because I knew somewhere beside me or infront of me were my friends, and they were going to make it threw, and so was I.
The bike portion was fun, fun, fun. OMG did I just say that? For those who know me, I would of never said biking was fun, but because of my injuries that I mentioned earlier, I have been forced to bike a lot, and I guess it payed off. The bike was so much fun bec ause I passed so many people. It was especially fun to pass all those poser ‘s. I’m talking about all the guys I passed with race wheels, and areo helmts. It was so hilarious to come up along side of them and say “hello, nice day out”, as I passed them. Their face’s showed pure anger and terror that they just got chicked, and then they would pour on the speed to pass me. I would just maintain my speed and pass them again in a few minutes. I call this leap frog, and I played this game with many boys, and they all LOST! Lol If you’re going to have thousands of dollars of equipment on your person and your bike, you better be able to utilize it, if not, you’re gonna look really foolish when you get passed by a CHIC! Lol So much fun!
Lastly was the run. As I got off my bike, I realized that I was the 3rd female overall. I knew my foot was still an issue, but the competitive person in me thought, if I could just hold on, I could actually do well. So I started the run and the first mile was 7:50, second mile 7:55, and the third mile 8 mile, then it hit me, chest pain, hard to breath, nausea, dizziness, jaw pain, oh man, this is bad I thought. So I slowed my run and it got worse, I walked, and my heart rate was still 150, OH SHIT, I’m in trouble. So the next 13 miles was a mixture of walking, and jogging (really slowly). I meet a guy who was the VP of pepsi, and I made it my mission to not leave his side, for I was really afraid that I might fall down on the side of the path and not be found for a bit. So we stayed together, and he was my saving grace. We made it to the finish line where I saw my friend, but I couldn’t enjoy the finish because I was fighting the chest pain, the shortness of breath and I felt like I was going to pass out at any minute. So eventuatly I made my way to the medic tent where I got checked out and experienced for the first time in my life MUSCLE CRAMPS! First it was my toes, then my calves, then my stomach, and each time I would get a cramp, I would laugh. I’m sure the medic was very confused over this reaction, but I couldn’t help it, I thought it was rediculous that here I lay exposed to the world with my limbs doing some type of contorsion which couldn’t be controled. TOO FUNNY. As I lay in the ambulance, my friend finds me, she said she recognized my visor and flip flops! Geat! So she stayed with me, made sure I got to my car, laughed at me while I was shivering with goose bumps in 98 degree weather, and she gathered all my belongings and secured them in my car. She made me eat and drink and didn’t leave my side till I made her. Thank You Zoe! I love my friends, they don’t baby you, they just help you out, and then make you laugh and make fun of you once you are all better, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
So for today 6-24, I had a long training day, and it had to be done no matter what I felt like and no matter if the weather was cooperating. So my day started at 4:30 am to set up my bike and trainer in doors for a hour and a half workout before I was to meet my friend for a long ride. The weather was looking bad, so I figured I would try to get some miles in before I headed out, so that I could cut the ride short in this CRAP weather. I finished my indoor ride at 6:30 am to make sure my kids backpack for soccer camp was packed and ready to go, to have one more cup of coffee, and to say hello and goodbye to darin as he headed out the door to work. This exchange was like a comical atomic collision of mollecules, me running around trying to get everything done, darin trying to do the same but in a different fashion, and darins mom coming through the door with the dogs hot on her heels trying to take in all the instructions being yelled at her from many different rooms as we wandered around like chaiotic ants, but in reality, it really was synchronized chaios! Ah my life, I wouldn’t have it any other way. In the midst of all of this, I managed to text my friend Eric, and convince him to still ride with me at 7am, and that the weather man said it was only going to be a 10% chance of rain. So I meet up with Eric, and our ride started, and in 5 minutes or less, the rain started. I kept saying it was going to stop, but after 2 hours of riding in it, it was clear that it was not stopping soon enough. This was the first time ever that I have rode in rain, and it wasn’t that bad. I mean the water was dripping down my face, my feet were numb and water would squish out of my shoes everytime my pedal was down, but it was invigorating. We stoped 1 to 2 times to wipe our glasses, and it was at these times, that I really took in the pure joy of being outside in the rain, I mean, when was the last time you really played in the rain with a friend??? You should try it sometime, it’s fun, and you feel like a kid again!
I made it home safe and sound, but I couldn’t get myself to run outside, I was too cold and wet. I also had to wait for my foot to regain sensation, which was a really weird feeling, it was like walking on a stump that you couldn’t get rid of. FUN STUFF. So I packed up my bag, and headed to the gym to hop on the dreadmil. Here I managed to do another hour of running (7 miles) and actually felt great, did some mile pickups and excellerations, what a great feeling! Next was the swim. For those of you who are asking the question; shouldn’t you swim first???? Yes, you should, but again, I had to adjust my schedule to fit the family and the weather. So I had to swim last, and I really don’t recommend doing this. It was a nice refresher, but I was dead tired and couldn’t give it my all. So I simply swam a mile and called it quits! Ah, long day done, 5 hours of training done, now on to the family obligations.
