Birthday Dinner and Speedwork

Yesterday was Matt's birthday!  Happy birthday Matt!!!  In celebration we got all spiffed up and went to Blue Canyon for dinner, after of course, Matt cut the lawn and I got my speed work in for the night.  Backtrack...I was supposed to do my speed work the day before, but opted to go to bed when I got home from work as I have not been feeling well lately.  As I was feeling a little better yesterday, I headed out to the towpath for a reverse ladder, negative split, speed session which consisted of:

• 1 mile w/u (recovery pace)
• 1.2 k @ 13.1 m pace, 1 min recovery pace
• 1 mile @ 10 k pace, 1 min recovery pace
• 1 k @ 5 k pace, 1 min recovery pace
• .5 m @ 3 k pace
• 1 mile c/d (recovery pace)

I wasn't sure how I would feel as I started off with a 9:30 pace and was feeling very heavy footed and dizzy.  My plan was to keep the 9:30 pace for 1.2k and then drop 30 seconds for each successive interval.  When I started hitting the faster paces I actually started to feel alot better.  It seems that 8:45-8:30 is a comfortable pace for me and probably what I should be using as my base pace.  This I need to verify as soon as I get a new battery for my HR monitor.  I was able to comfortably push through with much faster splits than I panned for.  I ended up with a sub 7 min pace on the .5 miler which I was very  VERY happy with.  Hopefully today won't be too bad of a recovery day.

That being said, I am SO thankful I decided to suck it up and get the speed work in as dinner at Blue Canyon was easily a 3000+ calorie experience...and that was splitting everything for dinner!  Matt and I had a bottle of white wine, split a maple bacon flat bread appetizer, split a Cesar salad, and then split the main course which was lobster, bacon, mac and cheese.  Yes, you read that right:  LOBSTER, BACON, MAC AND CHEESE!!!!  Does it get any better than that?!?!?!  As Matt described it, it was like a party in your mouth!  To top off the night of indulgence we split the blueberry cobbler with vanilla ice cream for desert!  If you live in the area and have not been to Blue Canyon in Twinsburg, you must put it on your list of restaurants to dine at!  It's a little more upscale than you typical franchise restaurant, but the food and atmosphere are definitely worth it (and besides Matt did the engineering work for them, so you know it won't collapse on you)!  

Here are some pics from the evening!  Enjoy, and don't drool over the mac and cheese too much ;)

Attempt #1 at a self portrait.

 

Attempt #2 at a self portrait.  Usually Matt is much better at taking these pics.

Lobster, bacon, mac and cheese in all its glory!  I SO wanted to swipe these cute little cauldron dishes!

Pure goodness!

Birthday boy looking super handsome in his new shirt (compliments of my mom)!

Hope you had a fabulous birthday Matthew Michael Oravec!  I love you with all my heart!

  

Burnt Out, But Having Fun!

So, last month it seemed like a good idea to sign up for the Akron Half Marathon which would occur two weeks after Rev3.  Two weeks = plenty of recovery time, right?  I have learned otherwise!  

After Rev3 Matt and I took one week off of EVERYTHING (minus one 20 min swim and one 30 min bike, both easy pace).  Tuesday of last week we decided to start up with running, knowing that we had registered for the Akron Half Marathon and the Towpath Half Marathon in early October.

Tuesday was an easy base pace 6 mile run, but I kind of wanted to see what my legs had in them, so I pushed harder than I should have.  This left me very sore the next day and with a slight twinge in my right glute/hamstring region.

Our workout on Wednesday was a 5.5 mile interval speed workout.  Based on the way my legs were feeling I told Matt I was not going to push the speed.  But again my need to "see what I could do" surpassed my better judgement and I pushed the speed workout.  I think the title of, "Ironman" comes with this feeling of being invincible.  Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!  The speedwork left my glute/hammy in bad shape.  Not really sure what I did, because I can't pinpoint the pain.  I just know it hurts and certain twisting and bending motions really set it off.  I took the next two days off of running completely in hopes it would get better.      

Friday evening Matt and I had a wedding to go to and we ended up having an absolute blast.  This is really the first time we have been able to let loose and enjoy ourselves since Ironman training started back in March.  Before we knew it the last song of the night was playing and it was nearly 12 pm (way past my bedtime).  Needles to say, we didn't get to be until 1:30 am.  The Akron Half was the next morning at 7 am.  NOT GOOD!

Getting up at 5 am was easier than expected...I credit this to the fact that I was still tipsy from the wedding.  With my glute/hammy issue and the amount of white wine sloshing in my stomach I knew this race was not going to be good.  Honestly I really didn't care...my head wasn't in it either.  Colleen had emailed Matt and I earlier and said she was walking the half (due to her bike accident in late August).  So, my plan was to run/walk the half with her.

That being said, we ended up running the first four miles and then run/walked the rest.  Colleen seemed to be running really strong for not having been able to train and I felt as if I was holding her back.  I told her to go on ahead if she wanted to run the rest, but being the awesome person she is, she stuck it out by my side.  I really enjoyed the company and it made walking the half much more enjoyable.

Honestly, I kind of felt like a poser and felt guilty that I had just done the Rev3 Full and was now walking a half marathon.  I kept running the excuses through my head....your leg hurts, you stayed up too late and had too much to drink, it's only two weeks after Rev you aren't fully recovered, but honestly I HATE EXCUSES.  They are meaningless and get you nowhere.  Truth be told, even if I felt my best and hadn't gone to the wedding the night before I don't think I could have finished the half without walking.  Right now, running is just not in my heart and I am burnt out.  I have come to grips with the fact that my season is over.  We have one more half marathon that we are signed up for on October 9th and most likely I will be run/walking that one as well (unless I have a change of heart).  Although I would love to set a new Half Mary PR (who wouldn't?) I know it's not in the cards right now.  I need to enjoy  the race instead of pushing something that just isn't there right now. I absolutely love this sport and pushing myself to do something I'm not feeling may lead to resentment.  I don't want to ever NOT have fun at this!

On the bright side, I am looking forward to changing things up and starting up Yoga and weight training again.  I hope to keep up with the base that I have built by getting in some swimming, biking, and running here and there, but I don't want to force myself to stick to a plan.  I need a break before this becomes "not enjoyable" for me.

Sunday, we enjoyed taking the day off, tailgating, and then going to the Browns game.  WHAT A WIN!  I didn't think they would pull it off!  Today I am feeling under the weather, which is a definite sign that I need to take a break already.  This is the time of year I usually get the flu and I am hoping to avoid that this year.  I have done enough post race puking to make up for the flu anyways!        

Thanks for reading and I hope everyone is finishing up their tri/running seasons on an excellent note!  It's not worth doing if it's not fun!

 

Should I or Shouldn't I?

So, I think Matt has committed to getting his M-Dot tattoo when we go down to Florida for IMFL.  My immediate response when someone asks me if I am getting "the tattoo" as well is, "NO."  I have said this without hesitation for the past nine months of training.

When we started training I told Matt instead of the tattoo, if we finished the 140.6, I wanted to go to our jeweler and have him make a custom M-Dot necklace with a small diamond in the dot.  I was dead set on getting this for about six months.  Then I started thinking about all the things one thinks about when spending money...do I really need it, am I really going to wear it, will anyone even know what it means.  Then I got into the whole tangled web regarding the fact that we really didn't do a "WTC Ironman" event which is what the M-Dot logo really represents...a corporate logo.  Yes, we did 140.6 and can call ourselves Ironmen, but would people questions the M-Dot versus the Rev3 logo and do I really want to have to go through all the trouble of explaining why I got an M-Dot necklace when I did a Rev3 event.  And the saga goes on from there....you've all heard it before.

So, recently I have been toying with the idea of getting a simple, "140.6" in some fancy script font tattooed on my foot.  Reasons I want it are the following:

• Because I know when Matt goes to get his I will really really want one.
• There is alot of meaning behind it with all the training we went through and with the fact that this is something Matt and I did together.
• It represents the fact that nothing is unattainable.   
• I would feel like I am more a part of "the club."

But then there are several reasons I don't want it:

• Because my parents ingrained in my head that if I ever got a tattoo I would not be allowed to come home.  I feel like I would be really disappointing them and I don't like hiding things from them.  You should have seen my mom's face when Matt told her he was getting the tattoo.  She finally approved it after some explanation, but immediately turned to me and said, "You're not getting one are you?" with a look of desperation in her eyes.  
• Granted this event was not easy by any means, it wasn't really a "life changing event"....do I really need the tattoo?
• Because sometimes tattoos have the stereotype of "white trash" associated with them.  Granted we all know that this is not true (well in certain cases it is, but we all know that type), I think this has been ingrained in my head since I was little.
• I'ts permanent and I am a perfectionist.  If there is one imperfection in it I will dwell on it for the rest of my life.
• It's permanent and I am a perfectionist!  I have a feeling I will change my mind at some point in my life and regret getting it, just like I did when I got my belly button pierced.....wish I never got it done!  

So, I guess I am asking for your thoughts and opinions.  Should I or shouldn't I and why? Do you have an M-dot or triathlon related tattoo?  Do you love it or do you regret it?  

Time to Bring it on Home! Rev3 140.6 Race Report Continued...

Where did I leave off....OH YES.  I just got on my bike and my mom told me Matt was about 4 minutes ahead of me.  So I was off to try and figure out where the heck he was.  I started out at a pretty fast pace and remembered thinking how great I felt.  I then had a discussion with myself about how if I kept going this pace I was sure to die halfway through the bike.  This is what myself said to myself, "Self, oh well, lets just see what happens."  So I kept the pace pretty strong.

It wasn't but about two or three miles in when I heard some dude behind me shout, "Hey 363!" My initial thought...oh God its only two miles in and already I am getting a penalty for something.  Then I heard him finish with, "Your tattoos are on crooked!"  I laughed out loud realizing it was Matt.  I was so thankful to see him so quickly on the bike, but I couldn't figure out for the life of me how I passed him without seeing him.  I thought well maybe he pulled off to the side and just waited for me, then pulled up behind me when he saw me.  It wasn't until the run when he told me that he was farting around in transition because he didn't expect me so soon out of the swim.  I ended up beating him out of transition and he was chasing me down.  What's even funnier is that Colleen later told me that they were all laughing trying to picture Matt and I finding each other on the bike course because my mom had told me he was ahead of me and Colleen had told Matt I was ahead of him.  So they all pictured me hammering to find Matt and Matt hammering to try and catch up to me and it just being one big chasing game.  Too funny!  It all worked out in the end though.

The beginning portion of the bike was the part that had the biggest change from the original course.  Instead of going East on Cleveland Road we went West and then turned off on Route 250.  Matt and I know this area really well, so it was no big deal.  Overall the bike started off really comfortable.  We were going at a good pace and I felt amazing.   I lead for about the first 20 miles and was waiting for Matt to tell me to slow down, but he never said anything.  I figured he was comfortable with the pace.  I was, however, consciously awaiting that bonk period though, which thankfully never ended up happening.

Matt took over when we reached River Road where the buffaloes are.  This road is where he tended to gain the most distance on me because he is stronger at the hills than I am.  I kept calm though and didn't try to keep up with him.  I just figured he would eventually look back and see that I wasn't there.  For the most part we were able to maintain a comfortable distance between ourselves without one or the other getting too far ahead.  Route 113 was next.  This road was the biggest gamble with the wind as it was a 13 mile stretch.  I don't think there was a headwind,but there definitely was not a tailwind to help us along. We were able to maintain a comfortable pace though with Matt leading for most of the way.

At the turnoff I took over once again which was awesome because this is my favorite part of the course.   Its a short little jaunt down Route 60 (I think?), but every time we have ridden it, no matter which direction the wind is coming from we are able to maintain 20+ mph.  It must have a slight decline or something, but it is always the fastest part of the course for me.

It was about this time when I realize I was getting a headache.  Not from lack of nutrition, but from  my aero helmet.  We had only worn them once before on a short 30 min training ride.  I remembered after that ride Matt was making fun of me because I had a huge red mark on my forehead.  I didn't really think anything of it because I like my helmets to fit securely.  My other helmet always leaves red marks too, but I don't get a headache from it.  This one was just way too tight though.  I tried to adjust it while I was riding, but to no avail.  All I could do was push it forward once in awhile to let my forehead breathe.  To give you an idea of just how tight it was, I ended up with a bruise right in the middle of my forehead the next day.  Matt was calling me his Indian Princess.  Lesson Learned!  And no wonder I had trouble getting the thing on in transition!

Mason Road was next, which was another change to the course.  Instead of only being on this chip and seal road for a mile we stayed on it until we got to Frailey.  This was good and bad.  Bad because we were in a headwind and the road sucked.  Not only was it fresh chip and seal, but it also had tractor tire grooves in it which made it even more bumpy.  There was one point where I got so frustrated I actually screamed out to myself, "COME ON!!!"    The good part was that we cut off half of Frailey which was the hilly part, and ended up on the good portion of Frailey.  Overall I can't complain.  It was a good course change.

Mile 50 came up quickly which was where our special needs bags were.  I was so happy to stop as I forgot to put my Chamois Butter on in transition.  We pulled over and I lubed up.  I also took the opportunity to pop some Ibuprofen as my knees were killing me.   Usually they will start hurting on longer rides if we are stopping and starting alot (taking breaks and traffic lights, etc.).  I'm not sure why they were hurting so bad this time, but it was nothing the Ibuprofen didn't fix.  I only wished I took it a little earlier in the ride.

Before we knew it we were at the start of the second loop.  This loop was relatively uneventful and went by pretty fast.  The wind had shifted and made 113 a little better with some tailwind.  Mason Road sucked again, but not really as bad as the first time.  I attribute this to my mom.  See, she is a very religious person, and when I was a kid and had trouble sleeping or was worried about something she always told me to just keep repeating the Lord's prayer in my head.  Though I am not a super religous person, It always helped to clam me down and make me fall asleep.  I don't know if it was just repeating something over and over or if it was some Godly intervention.  But on Mason road when I started to struggle with the bike I decided to repeat the Lord's prayer in my head.  I did this until I could no longer remember the words and at that point I figured I must just be getting delusional. So I laughed at myself and just kept trucking along.  It seemed to make the time go by faster though.

My nutrition on the bike was pretty much spot on.  I had Honey Stinger Gummies, 2 Honey Singer Waffles, 2 Honey stinger gels, 3 PB and J halves, and Infinite.  I also had a granola bar and Rice Krispy treat which I didn't end up eating.  Honestly the Honey Stinger gel went down the easiest, but the PB and J seemed to give me the most energy after eating them.  I also took plenty of water and a little bit of Gatorade from the rest stops.

Finally, Matt and I turned the corner to the final four mile stretch.  Matt let me take over the lead again and I hammered it home.  It seemed like at this point everyone in front of us had slowed way down and were just lollygagging.  So I took full advantage of this and was passing people left and right (well really only on the left).  I was ready to be done with the bike and didn't want it to take any longer than it needed to.  I think we averaged about 19-20 mph on this back stretch before Matt told me to gear down and start spinning out the legs.  I looked at my watch when we got to transition and it said 6:30 something.  We had crushed our goal on the bike and had plenty of time to spare on the run!  I felt great!  

Bike: 6:31:51 (17.15 mph pace) 
          Overall Female: 44/88
          Division: 12/19 


T2: 5:09

Unfortunately there were not enough bike catchers so Matt and I had to rack our own bikes, but that was fine as my rack was literally like two feet away from the Bike In.  I saw my mom cheering for us and waved to her as I grabbed my transition bag and headed to the tent.  It was amazing the rush of energy I gained just from seeing my mom, Colleen, Annie, and the rest of the crew cheering for us!  I knew it was a super long day for them too, but am truly thankful that they were there to support us!

I told Matt I had to pee and that afterwards I would start walking because I knew he would take longer changing his shorts and putting his socks on.  I didn't want to stand around and cramp up.  He is so high maintenance that one.  I figured he would catch up soon enough.  The only problem with this plan was that coming out of transition with the huge crowds of people cheering I didn't want to walk.  I felt like I was letting everyone down by walking at the very beginning of the run.  So, I started jogging.  I kept stopping and turning around though to see if I could spot Matt.  I made it to mile one and saw our friend Natalie finishing up her HIM.  She was shocked to see that Matt was not with me, but when I explained he had to change she laughed and shook her head....typical Matt, we all know him so well!.  I'm glad I saw her though because she is the reason Matt eventually found me.

I could tell he was a bit peeved when he finally reached me.  I tried to play it off like I was walking the whole thing, but he knew better.  Oh well, we had found each other and that was all that mattered.  We quickly got into our run/walk groove and things were going ok for the first few miles.  I could feel a cramp coming on in my stomach so I opted to take two salt tabs at one of the rest stops.  This would prove to be one of the worst decisions of the race as I had never used a salt tab before.  Instead of preventing the cramps it gave me major stomach bloat which turned into a gassy crampy mess.  Lesson learned.

We ended up walking the entire mile from 6 to 7 and then were able to pick up with our run walk again.  I had taken orange slices with me as I knew they would not have any on the course and this is what really helped me get through Muncie 70.3 earlier in the year.  They didn't seem to be hitting the spot though.  Pretty much at this point I knew I was done with any type of solid food and was only took in ice chips and a very little bit of cola.  Ice chips were by far the best!

The first loop ended up being a suffer fest.  It ended up being a really hot day (but I am not complaining....thank God for the sun and the beautiful race weather we had).  There was very little shade on the run course. I was sweating so bad that it was burning my eyes.  I really wish I had opted to wear my visor or had grabbed my little hand towel to run with.  I really couldn't stop dripping (which I guess was a good thing).  I felt dizzy at a few points, but was able to shake it off.  Matt said my face was so red he though I was starting to have heat exhaustion, but I think that is just normal for me.  We pushed through regardless and really ended up not caring about our run time.  We went with how we felt.  If we needed to walk we walked.  If we needed to run we ran.  It ended up working out well.  

The second loop was much better because by that time the sun had started going down and it cooled off a bit.  We were able to run alot more, until Matt got GI issues at about mile 15.  From there on out we pretty much traded off GI issues.  Our plan was that when one of us was using the facilities the other would walk to keep forward progress.  Then the other would run to catch up.  It worked out really well and by mile 20 both of our GI issues had seemed to settle down.  At this point we were really feeling great.  I'm not sure if it was because it had cooled off so much or if it was the thrill of almost being done!  We killed those last six miles though and walked very little.

When it came down to the final stretch Matt and I planned out our victory shenanigans.  We were going to leap frog each other to the finish line.  However, when we got to where my mom, colleen, Jeff, and Annie were cheering we busted out a few dance moves.  These dance moves made me feel like I was going to vomit.  So we decided not to do the leap frog.  The finish line was still amazing though!  We each got to carry an American Flag and it was all smiles from there on out!  


Run: 5:20:21 (12.14 min/mile)
               Overall Female: 47/88
               Division: 14/19


Overall: 13:24:33


Some thoughts about the run:  our number one priority is to figure out our run nutrition for next year.  This is key for a successful run.  I think we could have easily hit a 5 hour and maybe a sub 5 hour marathon if we didn't have the GI issues that we both had.  Other than that I think this was the easiest marathon we have ever run.  It really felt like it flew by.  At no point did I feel like I wouldn't be able to finish.  We were both pretty relaxed and had some great conversation along the way.  We laughed and talked about the day, talked about our journey, talked about the good and bad parts of our training plan and what we wanted to change for next time, talked about what we wanted to do after the race.  It really was wonderful.  I never got tired of Matt talking and I never got mad at him or frustrated with the run.  Which was also funny because everyone was placing bets at dinner on Friday as to what mile I would start yelling at Matt.  Sorry everyone, but it never happened.  This was honestly our best run together to date!  At one point I complimented Matt and told him how impressed I was that he stayed with me the whole time on the bike.  He said, yeah well, I made a deal with myself that I couldn't eat my Snickers bar unless I was with you....LOL!  I can't say that I wasn't hurt that just riding with his lovely wife wasn't enough motivation to stay with me, but it was quite funny and I let it slide.    


Post race I felt pretty good.  My legs held up fine and I didn't get sick....right away.  I couldn't really eat anything or drink anything. But I had my Mylar blanket to keep me warm and I was just sitting and chilling watching people come finish the race.  It wasn't until we went home and I took a shower that shit hit the fan.  The warm water must have shocked my body or something because from there on out I was puking for the rest of the night.  Matt, bless his heart, wanted to go back to Cedar Point to watch the final finishers which was fine with me.  I had my mom to keep me company, but he decided to go to the grocery store get me a can of chicken noodle soup and sit with me for the rest of the night (he also ate his greasy bacon cheeseburger sitting right next to me too....thanks!).  Love him!      


I can't say enough how much it meant to have my mom, Matt's parents, Colleen, Tom, Annie, Jeff, Colleen's parents and everyone else there cheering us on!  What a rush of emotions!  Thank you to everyone for your support and for believing in us that we could accomplish this goal.  You all believed in us even when we had doubts.  Your emails, kind words, advice, etc. really helped us out more than you can imagine.  


Most of all I wanted to thank Matt.  Without him I don't think I would have ever attempted this distance.  Actually without him I wouldn't even be doing triathlons.  And the fact that he wanted to do this and DID do this race side by side with me for 140.6 miles was absolutely amazing.  I could not ask for a better husband and friend!  I am definitely looking forward to our next adventure together!  


Thanks for reading everyone!!!!

Rev3 140.6 Race Report

 Where to start....there is way too much going on in this little head of mine to think coherently, so forgive me if this post is all over the place.

Thursday

Matt and I took Thursday through Wednesday off of work for the race.  Mentally I had checked out a week ago and was not being very productive at work so I'm glad we took the two days off before hand to get situated in Sandusky.  We arrived at the cottage Thursday evening, hit up the grocery store, and grabbed some dinner at Olive Garden before heading to bed.

Friday

Friday morning we headed up to Cedar Point to meet up with Colleen and Tom, for the practice swim, and to pick up our race packets.  I was a bit nervous  terrified of the swim because of all the storms pushing through.  Upon seeing the lake, my fear was increased by a factor of ten as there were 4 foot waves and the practice swim had been cancelled.  And not only had it been cancelled, but they were not even allowing people to go into the water at their own risk.  It was not looking good for race day.

Tom, Matt, Ben (TT1),  and I really wanted to get a swim in so we decided to go over to the bay where the water was like glass and put in a few yards over there.  Mission accomplished, but I still did not feel better about the swim for race day.  Afterwards we headed home to shower and then back to Cedar Point for packet pickup and to meet up with some other creepy internet stalkers.

Packet pickup was a bit shaky.  I felt really bad for the volunteers because they clearly were not prepared for the mass of people they would soon get.  I understand that these are volunteers and most of them were older and probably have not ever done a triathlon before.  Plus it was the first day of registration and they were not yet in a groove, so I am not going to harp on the subject, but I will say that I was glad that I knew what I needed because I had to go back three times and get something they forgot to give me (race numbers, special needs bags, transition bags...the bare necessities).  I am hoping for that things got better for the volunteers the second day.  

Next, we hit up the expo and loaded up on Rev3 paraphernalia.  I am always nervous about getting race gear before actually finishing the event, but in this case there was not much to be purchased and I did not want to miss out in case there was not finishers gear afterward.  Plus it gave me an extra reason that I HAD to finish this race.  I definitely am not allowed to wear a shirt for a race that I didn't finish (I'm sure that's in BDD's race shirt etiquette).

Friday was capped off with a wonderful gala hosted by Colleen and Tom for Team Type 1, Trakkers, and some blogger friends.  I'm not really a social butterfly so large social gatherings really intimidate me, but I have to admit that this was a blast!  Who knew that a group of people who have never actually met face to face before could have so much fun!  It was a totally chill group and I finally got to meet fellow bloggers Jeff (Dangle the Carrot), Annie (Retail Runner), Kristin (Ocular Triathlete), and Mark  (Tri Dad of Five)!  Love being able to put a face with the name now!  We ate, chatted, laughed, ate some more, and continued to laugh.  It really was a fun an relaxing night...just what everyone needed before the big day.  I am still shocked that you can meet such wonderful people on the internet :)  I also found out that Kristen would be racked right next to me on the bike which calmed my nerves quite a bit knowing that I would see a familiar face in transition (not that I ever saw her as she was keeping up with the pros on race day)!

Saturday

Saturday was filled with more of the same.  We went to CP for the morning practice swim.  The lake was much more calm and we were able to get a decent swim in minus the 3 feet of muck.  I will say that the swim course always looks so freaking long when you are standing on the beach!  As Matt and I were walking up to the start buoy I told him I hope they changed the course and this is only one loop because it certain looks longer than it should!  No luck.  It was still a two loop course.  Guess my calibrated eyeball is not so calibrated!  After the swim Matt and I did a quick 20 min bike and a 10 min run to keep the legs in check.  Then we went to check out the new bike course as they had changed it at 3 am due to a bridge that was under construction on the original route.  The change was no big deal and actually it cut the evil Frailey Road in half so I gladly welcomed the last minute snaffoo.  I just hoped that since we had ridden the original course so much that I didn't lose track and follow the original course accidentally.

The rest of the day we spent getting our transition and special needs bags ready.  We must have checked them over 500 times to make sure we had everything.  With the weather forecast calling for thunderstorms I wasn't sure what to pack, but wanted to be over prepared rather than under prepared.  I felt like I had my entire closet in my bags.  For my future reference this is what I put in my bags (if you don't care feel free to skip this section).  The items that have stars* by them means I didn't end up using them.

Swim to Bike:

• Bike shoes/helmet/sunglasses
• Arm warmers*
• Towel
• PB and J (2 halves)
• Honey Stinger Gel (1)
• Sunscreen* (should have used it)
• Headband
• Socks
• Extra Contacts*
• Extra Hair Tie*
• Chamois Butt Butter* (wish I used it)
• Ibuprofen* (should have used it)
• Tums*
• Biofreeze Packets*

Bike Special Needs:

• PB and J (1 half)
• Rice Crispy Treat*
• Granola Bar*
• Chamois Butt Butter
• Hand Towel
• Ibuprofen
• Tums*
• Biofreeze Packets*
• Extra Contacts*
• Extra Tube*

Bike to Run:

• Shoes
• Socks
• Compression Socks*
• Visor* (wish I used it)
• Handheld Water Bottle*
• Extra hair tie*
• Body Glide*
• Orange Slices (should NOT have used it)
• Gu (2)*
• Hand Towel
• Longsleeve Dri Fit Shirt*
• Ibuprofen*
• Tums*
• Biofreeze*

Run Special Needs:

• Rice Krispy Treat*
• Snickers Bar*
• Orange Slices (should NOT have used it)
• Reflective Running Jacket* 
• Tums*
• Ibuprofen*
• Biofreeze*

We dropped off our bikes on Saturday afternoon, showed my mom where the best spots for cheering would be, and then headed home to eat some chicken and pasta and get some sleep.  

Race Day

4am came way to early as usual, but I was ready to get up.  Sleep had been on and off all night as I expected it to be.  One 'complaint' regarding the temporary tattoos that we got for race numbers was that they were super sticky and I kept sticking to the sheets every time I rolled over in bed.  I was actually surprised at how calm and relaxed I felt race morning.  Everything was ready to go, Matt was running on time, and I was ready to get this thing done!  We got to transition and started getting ourselves organized.  The wonderful Kristen had covered my bike for me the night before so Eduardo was dry as a bone.  No morning dew for him!  Thanks Kristen!  I put my nutrition in my Bento box, filled my Speedfill bottle with Infinite, had Matt pump my tires (I had pumping my own tires on race day....make me nervous), hung up my transition bags, and dropped off my special needs bags.  We had plenty of time until the swim so Matt and I picked a spot on the ground next to the port-a-pots and just chilled out for a while.  This was the best place to do so as there were no facilities near the swim start.  We needed to hang out and make sure we got everything out before heading down to the swim start.  Surprisingly I was still mega calm.  Not like me.  Usually I am flipping out and butterflies are tearing my insides apart.  I don't think I even had butterflies that morning.  Weird, but gladly welcomed!  

As we walked down to the swim start the water couldn't have been more calm!  You could not even hear the water reaching the shoreline.  Pure glass!  That made me extremely happy!  What did not make me happy was the fact that every 5 minutes Matt would say, "I think there is a 75% chance this race will be cancelled."  There was heat lightening like 100 miles off in the distance and Matt was worried about them calling the swim.  I had no doubt that it would be on.  I could just feel it in my bones that this race was going to happen!  Regardless we lathered up in Body Glide and Tri Slide and suited up.  It seemed like no sooner did we get our suits on than we were lining up at the start line!  There really was no down time which was probably good in that it didn't give me too much time to think about things and get my nerves worked up.  Pretty much I was going into this thing to finish.  As far as the swim, I this was my most feared part of the day.   I knew if I could get through the swim I would be able to relax a little bit for the rest of the day.  I just hoped to do so in a decent time and without a panic attack.

And then it happened....Matt and I kissed each other good luck and the horn went off.  It was go time.  There was no turning back now.  Me and 500 of my new best friends were off into the muck filled water!  I seated myself towards the back of the pack (but not so that I was dead last).  The first 50 yards or so was a walk due to the muck and then from there it went to a slow swim.  I was really nervous about the mass start, but honestly it was not that bad.  I wasn't there to race this thing so I wasn't trying to jockey past people.  I was just trying to get into a groove that was comfortable for myself.  For probably the first 200 yds it was elbow to elbow with people.  The pace was slow and I kept having to pick my head up to see where everyone was with respect to me and to try not to get clobbered on the head.  I actually tried doing a breath stroke as I thought it might work better for this initial portion, but it turns out I suck at the breath stroke...hahaha.  So I just kept swimming along until I found a little nook for myself to swim freely in without getting attacked.  Things started to break up along the back stretch and were getting much more comfortable.  I am still amazed though that I did not have a panic attack at all.  I was really really calm and just did my thing.  The first loop went by in no time.  Initially we were supposed to get out of the water to start the second loop, but due to the muck they added another buoy and let us keep swimming....well walking through the muck.  There was no swimming through that sludge, but it was a nice break from swimming before starting the second loop.  I saw the clock on the beach which marked our first loop time and it said 41 min (this included the pro start which I didn't realize at the time...so I was doing better than I even knew).  I was right on track and was very happy with where I was at in the water!  

As I started the second loop I was counting down buoys in my head.  As I passed them I said to myself, "Hello buoy, I will gladly never see you again!"  One by one I knocked them out until I saw that candy corn buoys marking the finish straightaway.  I couldn't have been happier.  I felt comfortable, calm, relaxed, and not at all tired or like I couldn't finish the swim.  As I ran up on shore I had no idea how I did, but felt great.

 My mom and Matt's parents were right there and they were cheering their heads off!  It was the best.  Even better were the wetsuit stripper!  How cool is that.  They had me on my back, ripped my wetsuit off, and had me back on my feet in like 2 seconds flat!  AMAZING!  

Some random thoughts/things that occurred during the swim:        

• I learned how to spit underwater!  Works amazing!
• I kept thinking, "boy am I glad I learned how to breathe bilaterally...otherwise this would have really sucked!"
• I learned that if you think you have to burp during the swim, it's most likely vomit trying to cover itself as a burp.  Honey Stinger vomit burps underwater = gross!
• Why is it that my goggles fog up on every swim in the pool, every practice swim in the lake, but NEVER on race day?  Is it an act of God?  I think so!  
• Best advice ever, "Just keep swimming!"  
• A 2.4 mile swim is not longer terrifying in my book!

After the wetsuit strippers I grabbed my bag and headed to the tent to get my bike gear on.  At this point I really don't know what I was doing.  I was just throwing stuff in my pockets and didn't realize I packed half that stuff to put on or take (nutrition) in transition before I got on the bike.  Silly me, I forgot to eat my Honey Stinger and I forgot to put on my Butt Butter, but the good news was that it was in my pockets so I could at least eat the Honey Stinger after I got on the bike.  I saw Colleen when I was running to get my bike and she was cheering her heart out!  I was so excited and my hands were so shaky I had trouble getting my aero helmet on and buckled.  So that took longer than expected, but soon enough I was on my way.  

As I was mounting my bike I saw my mom and Matt's parents and shouted to them, "Where is Matt?"  They shouted back, "He's about four minutes ahead of you."  This meant one of two things....either I did really good on the swim, or Matt did really bad on the swim.  I was glad to look down and my Garmin and see that it was 8:30.  That means I did really good on the swim!  I was ecstatic.....now all I had to do was catch up to Matt...

Swim Time:  1:22:49

                     38/88 overall female

                     13/19 division

                     2:09 min/hm pace

T1 Time: 4:22 

(my hands are cramping up, so this is too be continued)

A Day All to Myself!!!

Matt and I planned to take off work Thursday through Wednesday for Rev3 and stay in Sandusky.  However, Matt and his ADD made us go home on Tuesday because he was bored and wanted to go to work today.  I, however, took full advantage of my final day off today.

I talked to Matt in the morning and he asked me if I was going to work.
My response, "NOPE!"
His response, "Well then you can do [insert multiple tasks here that I don't remember because I put up a mental block]."
My response, "NOPE, Today I am doing what I want to do!!!"

I had the entire day to myself with absolutely nothing planned.  This is the first time probably since I graduated in 2009 that I have had an entire day to do whatever I wanted to do!  SO. FREAKING. EXCITING.

So, here is what a girl does with her day off:

1. Add some bling to her ride!
2. Take the pups for a 2.5 mile morning stroll on the towpath!  They had SO MUCH fun, I haven't seen them this happy in a long time!!!
3. Watch the Price is Right.  Wow, did Drew Carey get old!
4. Eat leftover Chinese for lunch!
5. Go shopping at the best store on earth...HOBBY LOBBY!
6. Organize the closet.  We have way too many running hats and visors now!
7. Nap!
8. Wait for the hubs to come home and go to the rec for a recovery swim!
9. Make Halloween Jello Jigglers and dinner!
10. Enjoy the rest of then night!  

Ironman Bling!

Yum!

Sophie in her favorite spot after her walk.

Frankie cashed out after his walk.

$1 Bob!!!

New hooks for running hats.

Race report to come soon!  I am still trying to collect all my thoughts on this whirlwind and EPIC weekend!

Thanks for reading!

Couldn't Wait to Share!

My friend at work just sent this to me!  How inspirational is this?!?!?!

The greatest battle is not physical but psychological. The demons telling us to give up when we push ourselves to the limit can never be silenced for good. They must always be answered by the quiet the steady dignity that simply refuses to give in. Courage. We all suffer. Keep going.

- Graeme Fife

Anticipated Game Plan

I am using the term "anticipated" times instead of "goal" times because my only goal is to finish this race (in the allotted time)!  I have no idea how I will feel and don't want to put extra pressure on myself to hit "goal" times this time around.  Come IMFL 2012 you bet I will have goal times, but for right now here is my anticipated game plan (best case and worst case):

Swim
Best case: 1:30:00
Worst case: 2:00:00

In the pool my average split all season has been 2:00 per 100 yds.  This averages out to a 1:24:29 if my math is correct.  However, I know open water will be much more of a challenge especially if this wind keeps up.  Couple that with a mass start and guaranteed panic attack and this could bump up my time significantly.

Bike
Best case:  6:30:00 (~17 mph)
Worst case:  7:30:00 (~15 mph)


My bike average for longer distances this season has been right around 16 mph.  For HIM distance I am capable of hitting 18.5 mph (flat course), but that's not in the cards for this distance even though I'm sure adrenaline will play a part.  Matt and I have ridden the full course twice this summer.  The first time we did it in around 7:30:00 and the second time we did it in 6:30:00.  I have no idea how I will feel coming off of the swim.  The wind is also going to be a heavy factor in my bike time.  My plan is to take the first lap relatively easy, which won't be too hard since it usually takes me a whole lap to get my bike legs on anyways =)  I've been told this ride should be the easiest ride of the year.  I will see how I feel on my second lap and take it from there.  I plan on taking full advantage of any tailwind the weather has to offer that day.


Run
Best case:  4:30:00 (~10 min/mile)
Worst case:  5:30:00 (~12.5 min/mile)

My standalone marathon PR is around 4:10:00 which was done using the run-walk method at the Cleveland Marathon (run a mile/walk a minute).  Prior to this I had around a 4:37:00 marathon at San Francisco where I blew up at mile 16 and walked alot after that.  My only other marathon time is around 5:35:00.  That was my first marathon in San Diego that I decided to do last minute because I wanted the shirt.  This was done on minimal 5K training.  That being said I think with the run walk method I am very capable of getting a 5:30:00 marathon time.  Matt and I have been training at a 9:30 pace, but lately have been crushing that time especially off the bike.  But then again I have no idea how I will feel after the swim and the bike.  The only major factor in my run time will be nutrition and stomach issues which could make for a really crappy run (pun intended).

Transitions

I have no idea what to expect in transition.  I don't even really know how these things work for the full iron distance.  Changing tents, wetsuit peelers, and special needs bags scare me!  So, I am going to give myself ample time and say 15 minutes for each, though I'm positive I won't take this long unless something bad happens.

Overall Anticipated Time
Best case: 13:00:00 (Uhhhh I think I would crap my pants if I actually hit this time!)
Worst case: 15:30:00  (That's more realistic!)

...and if I average the best case and worst case scenarios I should be somewhere around 14:15:00.

Remember that Matt and I plan on doing this "together".  Our plan for that is to meet up at mile 3 of the run.  Whoever gets there first will just wait for the other to catch up.  The more I think about it the more I question the logistics behind this plan.  Knowing how Matt is come race day (balls to the wall) he will forget about pacing and be way ahead of me on the swim and bike.  It would really suck for him to have to wait like an hour or more for me to catch up.  And then it wouldn't really be fair to me that he had an hour + to recover.  There is also a good chance that his legs will seize up while waiting around.  And then what happens if, God forbid, one of us gets injured, doesn't make the cut off, or what have you.  Then what?  The other person will have no way of knowing and will be waiting for a really really really long time at mile 3.  Any suggestions as to how to make this work?  The point is to be a support system for each other during the run and to get our pic taken together coming down the finishers shoot.

My biggest fear is that the weather is not going to cooperate on Sunday.  This is what the weather forecast looks like right now:

Each day the % chance of rain has increased and the rip currents warning has not gone away.  I really really really hope they don't cancel the swim.  But I also don't want to be swimming two miles in horrible conditions.  If you believe in the power of prayer please pray that the weather cooperates on Sunday and that the water is like glass.  I am freaked out enough by the swim that I really could do without rough waters.

OK now I am really freaked out and must go deal with this panic attack!!!!  Thanks for reading!

5 Days to Go!

...And with 5 days to go I had an appointment with the pulmonary specialist today at the Cleveland Clinic.  A four hour appointment turned out to be just what I had anticipated: exercised induced asthma (EIA).  I've been having trouble with this for a few months now and just kind of hoped it would go away on its own.  Leave it to me to wait until the last minute to see a doctor.  Oh well.  He hooked my up with an inhaler and a backup script for Singulair so I should be good to go for this weekend!  Not that that would have stopped me from racing anyways =)  

So, other than that taper has been pretty uneventful.  Our workouts have been short and sweet.  We have been battling some really strong winds lately.  Yesterday we tried out our aero helmets for the first time.  I almost got blown off my bike sideways!  I can't imagine having disc wheels and riding in that!

My appetite is still through the roof and I'm kind of worried about weight gain this week.  My wetsuit is tight enough as it is!  Without the 2-3 hour daily workout I have been really bored and am probably eating more because of being so bored.  What better to do with down time than shove your face full of food.  Matt and I even sat down for a game of Scrabble the other night...that's how bad the boredom is!  So I'm kind of excited to get this race over with so I can start training for something else ;)  

The good news is with all this free time I was finally able to get my house clean!  It's been neglected for over six months now and I was starting to feel dirty....really really dirty!!!!  So I spent yesterday dusting, vacuuming, washing floors, scrubbing toilets, and catching up on laundry.  The pups even managed to get a bath ;) Cleaning never felt so good!  Plus it was a good way to keep my mind off of the race.  The nerves only get to me when I have down time to think about it and during our final workouts.  I actually got chills and goosebumps the other day during our 90 min run imagining what it would feel like to cross the finish line on Sunday.  This is some powerful stuff!  I can hardly wait to toe the line!

And with that I wanted to thank everyone for their emails, comments, and kind words of support!  As those of you who have attempted this feat well know the encouragement and support is greatly appreciated!!!