Swim, bike, run - How Bad ASS can I be?

Coles notes version - just call me Ms IRONMAN!!! 16:21 and some change. For those ready for a long and hopefully good read - grab a wobbly pop (I know I have) a comfy cushion and settle in - story time is about to begin boys and girls. There is sooo much to talk about but I will just cover day of the rest will be in another post with some pics. The alarm went off at 4:30 am and I was up like a shot - another great sleep - thankfully I am pretty much naracaleptic (?spelling?). Kettle on, bagel buttered, OJ poured and yogurt opened. Tylenol 8 hour taken breakfast eaten. Bottles out of fridge in appropriate bags and clothes on - 5:20 out the door. I felt ridicuously calm - on the drive in as we made the last turn Joe cranked IRONMAN by Ozzy Osbourne on the car stereo - it made me smile. I hopped out of the car gave him a kiss grabbed my bags and headed off to the special needs trucks. The energy was amazing - wow I was at Ironman. After I dropped my special needs bags I headed t...

this will be my last post before the race and in the end there is not much left to say. I have been a little paniced because yesterday I woke up and my neck was siezed and I could not turn it at all. It it is still pretty sore but I went to the doctor and had some xrays done and he says it is just a stiff neck so I am on some anti-inflammatories and no exercise for the next few days. In the end it is probably god's way of ensuring I am rested up. Today I was walking the dog and we were in the trails by my house and there was a bench and a really beautiful song on my IPOD and I decided to stop and sit down and just think about next Sunday and it was surreal I just felt this inner peace and calm and I just knew I am going to be okay - that I was being watched over and to not worry I would be okay. Coach Barb also called and we talked and she said it is stress and I need to remember that this is just really another day - that it is nothing new for me that I have been doing this fo...

Marathon runners have a saying – 20 miles of hope – 6 miles of truth. The 6 miles (32 km mark) where you find out what you are made of. Where physically – if you have trained properly and hard – your body can do it – your mind will try to tell your body it can’t and thus 6 miles of truth. You find out who you are and what you are capable of. If I extrapolate that to the Ironman I guess it will be 114 miles of hope with 26 miles of truth – aka the marathon. Am I ready – I believe so – and that is the most important part – I believe I am – Actually I know I am. The only thing left that I can do is continue to work on my mental game – the last piece of the puzzle and likely the most important. So to that end – at the end of each day starting last week and continuing up to race day – I have been taking time to sit or lie in a quiet place and envision myself on race day from waking up and getting dressed to starting the swim. I visualize each part of the course (or imagine what it ...

Bib number #2482 - wow it is really going to happen! Gulp Only 12 more sleeps.... S

The past few days I have not been feeling fantabulous – a little achy, small headache and scratchy throat. I however, as I get older, have developed more and more allergies so it can be hard to tell if it is due to those or not. Plus I do take public transit a lot - always a crapshoot since there are some folks out there that never learned to cover their nose/mouth and insist on gaacking over everyone! I have decided it is allergies but just to be safe I am dosing up on Cold FX and drinking water with lemon. Only 17 days to go – I do not have time for a cold.

For the third time this year Coach has had me register for a Time Trial race. It is a little intimidating to show up to these races where the riders are obviously hard core roadies. From their fancy tires to their army ant space helmets. There are very few women that are there and the ones that are there you can tell they were born mounted to a bike. For those that have never ridden a time trial it is basically an individual race – you against the clock on a set course. You ride in time trial bars or for us Triathletes our tri bars which automatically outs you as a newbie and a dreaded triathlete. Fortunately our coach(s) are 2 of the most respected road racers in BC and so we are tolerated. This race was 40km out in Squamish and it was the first time I have started on a ramp inside a trailer. I was more than a little anxious and freaked. To start in a time trial – someone holds your back tire/seat and you clip in. They count you down and release on 0 and you pedal or ...

27 days and counting - the panic attacks are starting to come and i am sure they will increase in number and intensity s ground zero approaches. Mostly I am just doing what I have been doing for the past 8 months - taking it one day - one workout at a time. It seems to have worked so far so why change it. I have officially moved into the bubble - will explain more later... Mostly I am focusing on the positive thoughts and visualization. I honestly believe that I have done everything I can in preparation. Am I ready? I believe so. My longest ride was this past Sunday - just shy of 6 hours. I headed out from home early so I could go out to Iona and ride the headwinds before meeting coach and the group for our speed/interval workout. The interval workout was great - my legs were burning and coach pushed me harder than ever - we did 30 sec, 30 sec, 1 min, 1min, 2/2, 3/3, 4,4 and back down same intervals. Brutal but necessary. As coach said to ride fast you need to ride fast - sa...