The alarm went off at 3:30 am, however I was already awake. I had my brown rice with sweet potatoes for breakfast before the 9 minute snooze alarm went off. Brushed my teeth, combed my hair, and picked up my bags that were packed the night before. All I had to do was get myself to ‘Transition’ (the place we needed to be before the race) before 6 am. I was working on 4 hours of sleep, two nights in a row. It may have been nerves, it may have been the pillows, but I’ll never really know specifically . . . → Read More: transition(s)
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On Saturday, the day before the event, we were allowed to partake in a practice swim in the lake. It was either going to be a good thing or a bad thing. It would only be my third time in open water and if I felt comfortable that day, I would have a positive feeling going into the event. If however, I didn’t have a good time, it would make it that much more difficult the following morning. The race organizers were to open the lake at 9 am. At 8:30, there was already a line waiting to jump . . . → Read More: distance to length At 9:33:46 pm (or 14 hours 33 minutes and 46 seconds after I started the day) I raised my hands at the finish line. Those last few seconds running up the finish line shoot seeing my Dad first on the right with a huge smile and a thumbs up, then looking left and hearing my brother Steve giving me a big “YOU are an Ironman”, seeing Kirstin and Anthony with giant smiles, a few steps further on the right I see a hand shoot out of nowhere and I look up to see it was Fawn with her infectious . . . → Read More: starting at the finish line This is a list of what I need to bring with me for the run: sneakers, thin socks, braces, shorts, hat, gps watch. I still have a hard time calling sneakers, running shoes, but I have to bring a pair with me no matter what they are called. The other day I was running in my sneakers with a pair of ordinary socks and after I got home, my pinky toe was crying ‘Wee Wee’ for a few days. So to avoid that again I’m going to wear a pair of thinner socks. I use braces on my left ankle . . . → Read More: Run Checklists These are the items I need in order to do the bike portion of the event: bike, bike shoes, thin socks, helmet, gloves, computer, hydration belt, chafing stuff, tools, extra tire tube, food, sunscreen. My super fast bike was picked up in Philly by TriBikeTransport on Friday morning. It’s being carried by truck to Arizona. Barring any issues, it should be there on Thursday when I get there. I have bike shoes that clip onto the pedals of the bike. At first, I didn’t like using them, but it’s certainly more comfortable because my feet aren’t moving around or . . . → Read More: Bike Checklists I need to bring the following items with me: goggles, wetsuit, trisuit, wetronome, and a towel (I’m guessing on the towel) We all know or have an idea what goggles are. The wetsuit keeps my body warm and afloat. The water temperature is currently 61 degrees and I’m fairly confident it won’t get any warmer, so I’m very glad I opted for the full length wetsuit. No hypothermia for me please. A trisuit is a one piece shorts and shirt that makes me look like a wrestler from the early days. I’m going to wear it under the wetsuit . . . → Read More: Swim Checklists As the countdown progresses quickly toward 11202011, my workout schedule is slowing down equally as much. My long ride this weekend was only 50 miles. How crazy did that sound?! Only 50 miles! I remember not too long ago, I did my first 50 mile ride and I thought was not going to make it through the night (I did though). Luckily I didn’t feel like that this weekend. After my last long run (13 miles) on Wednesday, I got home and felt really good. I said to myself “Self, you are ready for this”. I really think I . . . → Read More: t-2 weeks At 4 pm the delivery came! I was expecting it about an hour before, and that last hour went so slowly. I began to prepare myself to forget about today and hope for the next day delivery, but that all changed when the big brown truck pulled up. From that point on, it was like slow motion. The delivery guy sleepily walked out of the truck with a box. A box that had crossed the country five times. The taped edges showing the wear of excited attempts to open it to reveal the contents. The only difference with this . . . → Read More: You can’t imagine! I have a feeling, no matter how I end up doing next month, I’ll wonder if I should have done more or did things differently. Is that natural thinking? Would it ever be enough, or would the ’satisfactory’ amount make me even more anti-social? Does it really matter anyhow? I had a little trouble with energy earlier this past week, so getting past this weekend the way I did was wonderful. Having a lack of energy is enough to discourage you from thinking that it will ever get better. To date, the longest run I’ve had was nowhere near long enough. I had to run at least 20 miles to stay on track. The theory goes….if you can run 20 miles, you can complete a marathon. Sounds a little strange, but I’ll buy it. In my mind, leading up to this weekend, I resolved myself to accepting having . . . → Read More: certain |
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