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!