Beach 2 Battleship Ironman

 

Swim 2.4 miles; exited the water at 50:55, crossed the timing mat around 52:55

Transition 1, around 6 minutes

Bike 112 miles, about 6 hours and 10 minutes

Transition 2, 5:05

Run 26.2 miles, 4:33:06

 

Nutrition, 5 small Snicker bars, 5 Chocolate Outrage Gu’s, 12 Clif Shot Blocks, orange slices and grapes.  Heed, water, flat coke and chicken broth.

 

My training for the Beach 2 Battleship Ironman started in January of 2009.  Over the past 10 months, I swam, biked, spun and ran my way to a finish I never would have expected at my first Ironman distance event.  Like anyone training for a major event, I had my doubts as to if I trained properly, if I did enough miles, and if I spent enough hours preparing for a race I’ve dreamed of completing since my first year of participating in triathlons competitively.  The weeks leading up to the race, I had my doubts.  I decided to do a 4 week taper.  This was longer than most, and leading up to race day, I was nervous.  It had been so long since I had a really long training day (8 hours or longer).  Had it been too long?  Apparently it wasn’t. 

 

Scott, Zachary and I headed out on Tuesday, November 3 at 9:00 AM for North Carolina.  We planned our first stop to spend the night in High Point, NC.  There, we planned to visit friends of Scott who own the Sweet Shoppe Bakery.  We took a tour of their bakery and of course got some great samples!  After a great local dinner, we retired early for the night.  I woke up early on Wednesday morning to run for 25 minutes plus some striders before we had some breakfast and hit the road.

 

We arrived in Wilmington around 1:30 PM.  After checking into the Hilton on Water Street, I decided to get a bike ride in.  I rode 25.5 miles up Route 421, part of our race course.  Going out was great.  Despite the debris on the roads, the roads were smooth and nice to ride on.  There was a nice tail wind on the ride out and I enjoyed the 19-20 MPH average.  On the way back I hit a nasty head wind.  I later would find out that the last 35 miles of our race course would be the same.  Thank goodness I was prepared!

 

I arrived back at the Hotel and Scott, Zachary and I enjoyed the afternoon and taking in the local town of Wilmington.  We enjoyed a nice dinner at the downtown brewery and then it was to bed early.

 

The next day was my day off.  We decided it was a good day to go to the Serpentarium and see a lot of really cool snakes and reptiles.  It was pretty amazing and a lot of fun.  I went to the race Expo that day and picked up my packet and some new gear I needed, took a quick nap and then it was off to the swim start and transition 1.  The beach was beautiful and we spent over an hour walking and enjoying the evening.  The water was surprisingly not too cold and Zachary took the opportunity to jump in, clothes and all. 

 

Later that night my sisters and Lisa Myers and Gwen arrived.  We didn’t see anyone that evening since they all got in so late.  We decided instead to order in from an Italian restaurant and watch the movie Shorts.  I was in bed by about 9:30 PM and woke up by 6:00 AM Friday morning.  I couldn’t sleep in at all that week.  Everyday I was up by 6:00 AM or earlier, just ready to do anything.

 

That morning we met everyone at Transition 1 for a short brick.  It was great to see my sisters and my friends who traveled to watch the race (Jeremiah, Jason and Jillian).  Jodi had a flat tire and luckily I had a tube that she could use to fix it.  Once her tire was fixed we started our search for the swim finish.  We had to look pretty funny walking up and down the streets in our wetsuits.  After a long walk to try and find the swim finish, we finally were able to jump in the water.  It was a bit cold, but overall, not too bad.  I’m really glad we chose to swim the finish.  There was a huge white building at the dock where we exited and knowing where that was on race day was a big help. 

 

We finished swimming and took our bikes out for a short spin.  It was nice to get out with Scott and my sisters.  The weather was perfect and a quick 15 minute ride was just what we needed to check to see if we had any mechanical issues.  I realized I definitely needed to adjust my right pedal.  My foot wasn’t coming out of it easily and I didn’t want any issues with dismounting on race day. 

 

We got the bike adjusted and slipped on our running shoes.  I ran for 10 minutes and did 6 striders to get the blood moving a bit and my heart rate up and I called it a day.  I dropped my bike at T-1.  I was number 52 and was lucky enough to have my bike on the rack closest to the swim exit.  It was perfect.  We left the transition area and we joined my sisters for lunch at their hotel, went to the play ground with the kids and hung out on the beach for a bit.  We then headed back to our hotel for quick showers and some relaxation before the pre-race meeting. 

 

At 4:00 PM, we met Jeremiah, Jason, Jillian and Mike in the lobby of the hotel.  We headed over to the race Expo.  I bought some Clif Shots and some more Gu.  Met my sisters at the Expo and went to the pre-race meeting.  It was a typical pre-race meeting.  We didn’t learn too much new stuff for the race and we actually left the meeting early so we could get to dinner. 

 

We had dinner at the Oyster Bar on Market Street in downtown Wilmington.  The food was excellent and the atmosphere was casual.  It was exactly what we needed the night before the big race.  Jodi and Jill ate quickly.  They still had to drop their bikes at T-1.  The rest of us enjoyed our dinners.  My pre-race dinner consisted of 1 dozen steamed littleneck clams, broiled Wahoo with brown rice, steamed vegetables and mashed potatoes.  I was stuffed when I left dinner.  Zachary left with my Mother and Father In-Law and the rest of us stopped by the health store and market on the way back to the hotel so I could get some food for breakfast.

 

Back at the hotel by 7:45.  I said goodbye to everyone.  Scott and the rest of the gang went to have a couple beers and make signs for the next day.  I ordered room service for the next morning since I couldn’t get food delivered by 4:30 AM.  I ordered hard boiled eggs, a cinnamon-raisin bagel-fruit and yogurt.  As usual I was hungry when the food got there so I ate the fruit and yogurt that night.  The rest I saved for the morning.  I got the rest of my bags ready.  Pre-race bag, swim to bike, bike special needs, bike to run and run special needs.  I had to check the bags 20 times to make sure I didn’t forget anything.  Then I crawled into bed with my Ironman Planner book and my list of what to do and take with me from Tom Murray.  I went through everything 3 times, checked my bags one last time to make sure I didn’t forget anything and finally got back into bed and called my friend Bill Peace.  Bill and I were just talking about the race when Scott got back from the poster party.  I hung up with Bill and spent a few minutes talking to Scott, mostly about how nervous I was and checking the 3 alarms we had set for 4:30 AM and then it was lights out at 9:18.  I was dozing off quickly despite the endless visualization I was doing for the race.  At 9:36, I received one more good luck text from Scot Whyte and then it was time to sleep. 

 

I didn’t sleep too badly.  I did wake up almost every hour, but in between I did get some rest and when the alarm went off at 4:30 AM, I was ready to go.  I ate my breakfast.  Bagel and Peanut Butter, some granola cereal, and a hard boiled egg.  I typically eat at least 2 eggs, but I was so nervous, I couldn’t eat anymore.  I did take my bag of Chex mix that Scott and Annie Schultz made for me.  I had some in the car on the way to the race and grabbed a handful before I got on the bus to the swim start.

 

Well, the day had begun.  Scott drove me to Transition 1.  We listened to Springsteen the whole way.  Scott made sure I heard Thunder Road and Born to Run.  It’s not race day without a little Bruce.  At T-1, I got to see Barb Whyte who drove in from Fort Mill, SC to watch the race.  She greeted Scott and I at the car and as we headed to the transition area, we saw Jeremiah, Jason, Jillian and Mike.  Everyone grabbed a bag and we headed to the special needs drop off area.  I got my bags dropped.  Headed into transition to check on my bike.  I pumped the tires up to 115 PSI, checked my brakes, added my food to my Bento Box, placed my water bottles in my racks and headed over to drop off my swim to bike bag.  Got over there and found my sisters.  From there we went and got body marked and then my support team showed me the amazing poster from all my friends with the Cranberry Wave.  The poster was great and just what I needed before heading off to the swim start.  I have to say, some of the messages made me a cry a bit.  Thanks to all of you for such a great memory.  I thought about the banner often throughout the day.  Sarah, yours especially stuck out in my head.

 

From there, it was time to get in line for the trolley and our ride to the swim start.  Our gang stood in line with us and I got one last hug from Scott and my friends before I boarded.  The next time I’d see them would be after the swim.  My sisters and I boarded the bus.  It was so warm.  We needed some warmth.  We found seats in the back and enjoyed the 5 or 6 minute ride to the start.  As we exited the trolley, there were porta johns.  We took the opportunity to stand in line.  As we waited, we got our wetsuits on and our aqua socks and we ran into Lisa.  After using the rest rooms, we dropped our pre-race bags and headed to the beach. 

 

There were people everywhere.  We put our feet in the water to get them warm when we were told we needed to move out of the water and up to the beach.  Five minutes to the start.  We lined up to the left side of the start, listened as they played the National Anthem.  2 minutes to the start.  I hugged my sisters and headed closer to the front of the swim.  It was a beach start and as I headed closer, I ran into Lisa.  We wished each other luck again and then the gun went off.  We all ran for the water.  As I dove in, I could feel the cold water on my face.  The initial shock was typical, it takes a few seconds to catch your breath.  The swim out to the first buoy was crazy.  Arms and legs flying everywhere.  The first 100 yards seemed like forever.  We made the first turn and then it was a long straight swim until our next turn.  The channel was narrow so we didn’t need to site much in the beginning.  It was great to just keep my head down and swim.  I finally started to look up after quite a while.  I was looking for what they described as a beautiful boat with the wiggly man.  I finally saw the boat in the distance and focused on it.

 

We were told to not worry about the buoys, but we were required to keep the boat on our left.  When I got to the boat, I made a tight left turn around it and even waved to the people in the boat.  I looked to the right and saw people swimming way to the right towards a buoy.  I focused on the big white building ahead, the place where I knew the finish was.  We still had a bit of zigzagging to do, but the building was getting closer and closer.  Then I saw the orange triangle that Jeremiah told me to watch for.  I swam right to it and continued onto the big white building.  It was great.  I was so happy we swam this part the day before.  As we got closer, I saw the dock.  I figured I’d been in the water for at least an hour or more.  I got to the dock, climbed up the ladder and looked at my watch.  50:55.  I just swam 2.4 miles in 50:55.  How is that possible?  I guess the tide really was strong, not to mention all the crazy swim workouts and endless sets of 200’s I did in my training.

 

I ran off the dock and opted not to use the wetsuit strippers, but I did run through the freshwater showers.  Headed out over the timing mat to the sidewalk where it was lined with people cheering.  As I made the turn to T-1, I saw Jillian holding a poster.  I still have no idea what it said, because at that point I just saw everyone and I was so excited about how fast my swim was.  I grabbed my gear bag and ran into the changing tent.  A volunteer helped me pull off my wetsuit and I started to get my clothes on for the bike.  Compression socks, cycling shorts, Mizuno dry weave shirt and a new vest I bought at the expo.  Got my shoes on and my helmet and sunglasses on.  Stuffed everything in my bag, handed my bag to a race volunteer and ran to my bike.  I saw Scott there and talked to him briefly.  It was great to see him.  I actually heard him yelling for me before I saw him.  The excitement in his voice definitely got me energized for the long bike ride ahead.

 

Scott told me right where to look for Zac on my way out.  I exited T-1, went to the mount line and hopped on.  I was off.  As I made the first turn, I saw Zac with my Mother and Father-in-law.  I got a wave from him and that would be the last time I would see all of them for about 4 ½ hours.  Crazy!

 

The first mile of the bike consisted of a ton of turns and speed bumps and was slow going until we got out onto the main highway.  As we got out there, I looked down at my computer and noticed I was going about 23 MPH.  Perhaps I should have stayed at that speed, but only being 3 miles in, I knew I should slow down a bit.  It was early and I had no idea what the day would bring.  My goal was to average 18 MPH, so I focused on just staying above that average. 

 

The first 30 miles of the ride were fun.  Nice smooth roads, we even rode on a major highway and up over a huge bridge with a beautiful lake below us.  I did take the time to look around and check out the scenery when I could.  In fact, I noticed for the first 40 miles the moon was still out and following us.  As I approached the turn off of route 421 and approaching the first aid station, a woman at the intersection said she thought I was one of the top ten women.  It was good to hear, but honestly, I really didn’t want to know at that point.  I wanted to focus on my own race and try not to think about or worry about anyone passing me.  After all, I still had another 80 or so miles to ride and a marathon to run.  I couldn’t think about what place I was in.

 

We approached the first aid station and I was right on track with my hydration.  I had already finished both of my water bottles. I grabbed a new bottle of Heed and a bottle of water and continued to ride.  I also took this opportunity to stretch on my bike for a few minutes even though I was feeling great at this point.  After the aid station I was getting excited.  My family and friends said they would be at mile 44 on the bike.  In about 45 minutes I should be seeing them.  I was really looking forward to it.  I approached 44 miles and I didn’t see them.  As I continued to ride, I still didn’t see them.  I knew I didn’t miss them anywhere, either they got lost trying to find us or I beat them there.  It just so happens that I beat them to mile 44 since I was way ahead of my goal pace at this point and riding at an average of 19.35.  I new I had another 2.5 hours before I would see them at mile 88, so I put my head down and just rode.

 

The aid stations were much further away than I expected and I was a bit upset that they weren’t handing us oranges or bananas on the course.  If you wanted food you had to stop and I didn’t want to stop until the special needs stop at mile 60, so I stayed on the bike and kept on moving.  As I approached mile 60, I was wondering if I should take off my vest and possibly my dry fit top.  It was getting a bit warm, but when I was in the shade, I would get cold.  I got to mile 60 and there wasn’t an aid station, 61, nothing, 62, still nothing, now myself and some of the other participants were starting to wonder where the special needs area was.  At this point, a bathroom stop was also necessary and we were told extra porta johns would be at special needs.  We kept riding and we passed a few horse farms.  It was nice to see the horses grazing in the pasture.  Another short distraction as I waited to find special needs.  It wasn’t until about mile 71 that we saw the aid station.  I stopped, set my bike against a porta john and waited, and waited, and waited.  I kept looking at my watch, time was ticking away.  Oh, the extra porta johns, was one extra.  They only had two porta johns.  4 minutes later and a fresh water bottle and I was on my way again.  I did take the time to stretch a bit, which was fine, but to lose that much time was frustrating.  Worst of all, the food was on a picnic table way over across the parking lot and I wasn’t about to waste the time to go over and grab food.  I would have to go with what was in my Bento Box.

 

I re-mounted the bike and took off.  The break was nice.  I got back on and took off and kept my MPH’s over 20 for at least  8 miles when we had a short out and back on a side road that was really pretty ridiculous.  One rider almost fell over on her bike trying to make the turn.

 

I got back out on the main road and took off again and held that high pace until about mile 80 when we got onto 421.  I looked at the road ahead and I knew what was coming and I knew the last 30 + miles would be tough and into a head wind with quite a few false flats.  My only saving grace was knowing I would see Scott, Zachary and the rest of the group soon.  I counted the miles until 87 and started to look for everyone.  While I was counting off the miles I started to cough.  I wasn’t sure why I was coughing, but it was pretty annoying.  Anyhow, I was looking for my friends and family and I have to say I heard them before I saw them.  The cowbell was perfect.  I heard the noise and I started to look up and saw a big crowd on the right side.  It was my group.  I started to wave and I could hear them screaming for me.  It was perfect timing.  It energized me and helped me keep my average pace for a couple more miles.  Then the wind kicked up some more and it was tough to keep the 18 MPH.  I messed with my gears and I would shift down at times just to spin my legs out and I would watch the computer drop to around 15 or 16 MPH.  That would last for about a minute or so and I get into a tougher gear again, put my head down and focus on 18 again.  The few downhill false flats were great.  I took full advantage of them when I could and tried to get back up over 19 when it was possible.  These miles seemed to be going by slower and I watched my average MPH drop under 19 for the first time all day.  It was extremely frustrating, but I couldn’t pound out these last miles and still run a marathon well.  I had to watch what I was doing.  Bigger things were still ahead.

 

I was riding and riding and I heard the cowbells again.  This time from behind me.  It was my group again.  They stopped further ahead and yelled and screamed again for me around mile 100.  Then they passed me one last time and I knew I would see them soon on the run.

 

I approached the city and I started to see the runners on the course.  There were tons of people running and I noticed the orange numbers representing people in the ½ Ironman.  I came up on the big hill and got my first look at what the run course would be like.  The hill was welcoming at mile 111 on the bike, but I knew it wouldn’t be at mile 25 on the run.  I headed into the battleship park.  The street was lined with people yelling and screaming.  I dismounted and handed my bike off.  I heard my name.  It was my brother-in-law Dwight congratulating me on a great bike ride.  I finished the 112 miles in around 6 hours.  They still don’t have my actual splits, but I know it was around 6 hours.  I ran to my bag and into the changing tent.  I left my tri suit on and grabbed my hat, shoes, race belt and shirt.  Used a porta john quick.  My second stop of the day and I was off.  My t-2 time was around 5 minutes.  A little longer than I wanted, but that was fine.  I looked at my watch.  I had 4:48 minutes to run a marathon and to finish in under 12 hours.  I knew it was possible, but as everyone knows, anything can happen during the marathon of an Ironman.

 

I had my plan in my head.  I would run the first 6.5 easy, pick it up the second 6.5 and then see how I felt after 13 miles.  My first mile was very slow at 11 minutes, but the hill over the bridge was big and I didn’t want to do anything I’d regret later so I ran easy to start.  I knew I had the time, so why push it at this point.  Besides, I was already passing people who were in the ½ and full Ironman.  Hill number 2 was immediately after the long down hill and it went over a draw bridge.  A guy in a wheel chair was starting the climb.  He was in the ½ Ironman and struggling up the hill.  At the top of the bridge were the grates. They were really tough to run over.  It felt as if your feet were going to fall through the bridge.  I started heading down the hill and got passed by the guy in the wheelchair.  He commented on how he could still get me on the down hills.  He was a nice guy and a true inspiration. 

 

I saw the mile marker for 2 and had increased my pace to a 10 minute mile.  My goal was a 10 minute pace when I could do it.  As I increased my pace, I started to cough more.  I tried to ignore what was happening in my chest as much as I could.  So, I came down off the bridge and approached the next aid station.  I grabbed an orange and some more flat coke and water and approached Water St. and the Hilton Hotel.  I would see my family and friends soon.  As I got closer, I heard the cowbells and saw Jason first on the left side.  He was yelling and screaming for me, then I saw Scott and Jeremiah and to the right I saw Barb and my mother and father-in-law and their friends. 

 

This was perfect.  They got me energized and I felt great at this point.  My legs were quickly getting into running mode and I was focused on what I needed to do at this point.  Scott ran along side me for a few seconds, giving me high fives and asking how I was and trying to video tape me all at the same time.  It was so great to see him.  I ran ahead to mile 3.  People everywhere were yelling and screaming and telling me how great I looked.  It was fantastic and so much fun at this point.  After all, I was doing an Ironman!!

 

The next part of Water Street was a ¼ mile of cobblestone and brick roads.  It was tough to run on and I found out later they had a lot of people fall on this part.  After the cobblestones we had a short steep climb and then a nice long flat and downhill for about a mile past mile marker 4.  Then it was another long steady climb and a right turn into the Greenfield Lake Park.  The park was beautiful, and it was nice to be running on the paths and through the trees and doing something different.  I approached the mile marker at 5 and finally thought, where is all the music and celebration?  They told us they were having an aid station contest and that each aid station would have music and costumes and be acting crazy and I didn’t see that at all.  It was kind of disappointing.  Anyhow, nothing I could do about that.  I did learn that I had to yell out what I wanted before I got to the aid station so I didn’t have to stop.  Some people were stopping and grazing at the aid stations.  I didn’t want to stop.  I wanted to run the entire way.  I was still coughing at this point and it was getting annoying, but like everything else that day I tried to block any negative energy out of my head.  I wasn’t going to let anything get me down or try to use anything as an excuse to slow down or stop.  After all my training, what were a few aches and pains and a nagging cough?  They were nothing.  It was just another part of the day.

 

Ok, so I pass mile 5 and then I finally hear music.  Great, something fun is ahead I thought.  Well, the music was the wedding march.  I couldn’t help but think what insane DJ would be playing the wedding march during an Ironman.  Well, it wasn’t a DJ.  It was a wedding.  A couple was getting married in the park with the Ironman as their back drop.  Crazy!  Anyhow, I was in shock about this.  I looked over and saw big purple things in the trees.  Those were the bridesmaids.  I can’t even explain to you how hideous these dresses were.  They were purple with ruffles.  I mean honestly, that bride must not have liked her bridesmaids very much.  Just imagine giant purple pineapples.  That’s seriously what they looked like.

 

Ok, so I get past the wedding and start to focus on my race again.  I got to mile 6 and the next aid station and knew I would be turning around soon.  We had to cross a couple wooden bridges and then we got to the turn around.  It was now time to pick up the pace a bit and I did.  It actually felt great to change my stride at this point.  I loved it.  This part of the course felt easy and I knew I would start to see Lisa and my sisters on the way back.  I just didn’t know who I would see first and where and when.

 

I passed mile 7, felt good, got to mile 8 and saw Lisa.  She was only a few miles behind me at that point and she had the biggest smile on her face.  She looked great.  We gave each other a high five and kept on going.  I got out of the park, down the hill to the turn and got to mile 9.  Still no sign of my sisters.  Down the next hill and there was Jill on the steep hill off of Water Street.  She looked strong.  I knew she would.  She’s a 3:20 marathoner and running is her strength.  More high fives and a good luck and see you soon and was ready to make my turn onto Water St.  I would be seeing the family and friends again soon.  Right around mile 10 I saw Jodi.  I told her Jill was ahead of her and she already knew that.  She was looking a bit tired, but she’s so tough.  I knew she would get through the day.  I started to hear the cowbells.  At this point, my left knee was pounding.  I was trying not to think about it.  I saw Scott and everyone else.  Scott asked me if anything hurt and I told him I didn’t want to talk about it.  I thought if I actually said my knee hurt out loud, then it would hurt even worse, so I didn’t tell him what hurt.  I passed everyone giving high fives and yelled out an “I love you” to Scott and kept on going.  3 more miles and I could head back out for loop 2.  I continued to feel good until the big hill over the last bridge, but I never stopped running.  I got over the hill and headed into Battleship Park.  I yelled out my number for my special needs bag.  A little girl, probably 11 years old or so handed me my bag.  I grabbed my ibuprophen and handed the bag back.

 

The next mile was slow again.  The sun was thinking about setting now and it was getting colder.  I put on my shirt and got to the first aid station, again.  Grabbed some chicken broth and took my ibuprophen.  Not sure how I didn’t spit it out.  The broth was cold and tasted horrible, but I kept everything down.  From now on I knew I had to ask for hot chicken broth.

 

Ok, up over the next big hill.  Hey, it’s Lisa!  She still looked great and we gave our high fives again.  Alright, I only had to do these hills two more times on the way back.  I could do them two more times.  I continued at my slower pace.  I knew going out was tougher than going back and I had it in my head that I would run out slowly and see what I had left the last 6.5 miles.  Right before Water Street I saw Jill walking up the steep hill.  She said the hills were killing her, but it couldn’t have been hurting her too much.  I knew she was gaining on me on the run, so despite walking, she was still keeping a great pace when she ran.  I got to the Hilton.  Saw Scott and everyone else for one last blast of energy before my last 10 miles.  I knew I wouldn’t see them again until the finish.  I passed mile 16.  Now I had less than 10 miles to go.  I was getting into single digits.  It was great to get into single digits at this point.

 

The mile markers were taking longer to get to at this point and the sun was starting to set.  I got to mile 18 in the park and the generator lights were starting to come on.  It was twilight, I could still see for now, but I knew that would be short lived.  It was, it quickly got dark as I approached mile 19.  I was lucky to get in so many miles in the daylight.  I got to the turn around and could now see the glow necklaces people were wearing.  I didn’t get the necklaces.  Not sure why, but that was fine.  Ok, mile 20 I started to pick up my pace.  At this point I wanted to be done.  So many people were walking and it was fun passing so many people at this point.  I was feeling good and I knew I had to take advantage of it.  Mile 21 came quickly and so did 22.  I knew I would see Lisa soon and I did on the down hill as I headed back to town.  Right past her was Jill.  I told her Lisa was ahead of her.  Everyone was looking strong at this point.  Now where was Jodi.  I kept running.  Mile 23, I knew I would see Jodi soon.  I started making my way back up to the bridge to mile 24.  There she was, starting her second lap.  We encouraged each other and I knew it was time to focus on my last two miles.  At this point, I wasn’t paying much attention to my watch since it was dark. 

 

It wasn’t until mile 25 that I looked at my watch and saw I needed to finish 1.2 miles in 25 minutes to break 12 hours.  Well, I knew I could do that.  In fact, if I ran really well, I would be able to get in around 11:45.  So, I ran the hill as hard as I could.  I bet I passed 8 people on the hill including a woman with a prosthetic leg who was finishing the ½ Ironman.  She was amazing and walked most of the 13.1 mile course.  The bridge was dark and I couldn’t see my feet, but I just kept moving, hoping for some light from the on coming cars.  I crossed the bridge, down the other side and made the turn to the home stretch.  I heard the Fray singing How to Save a Life off in the distance and I made the turn around the bend and saw Jason.  He ran with me and was screaming and yelling and jumping and it was so funny to see how excited he was for me.  Thanks for everything Jason.  You inspired me at Louisville and it was great to have you at my race.  Jason yelled ahead to Zac.  I yelled out my number to the volunteer so they knew I was finishing.  Then Scott, Zac, Devin, Ada and Jess all jumped in and ran to the finish with me.  At the end I did a cartwheel.  I almost passed out afterwards, but I gave Zac a big hug and literally fell into Scott’s arms and I started to cry.  I finished.  I completed my first Ironman in 11 hours, 45 minutes and 14 seconds.  I was an Ironman!   

 

I got my medal and my shirt and saw my friends and gave hugs all around.  It was so great to be done.  All I wanted to do was sit down and I did; on the cold ground.  Big mistake.  It was freezing and I started to shiver.  I couldn’t get warm.  Jillian got me soda and pizza.  The kids ended up eating and drinking everything.  I couldn’t eat or drink at that point and I kept getting colder.  I headed for the warming tent.  It wasn’t helping and I knew I needed the medic tent. 

 

Scott and Zac took me to the medics and they checked me in.  My blood pressure was extremely high, I was coughing like crazy and I couldn’t get warm.  They got a bed for me.  Covered me in blankets and sent the doc over.  He decided to give me an IV of fluids and since I continued to cough, they checked my lungs.  I was wheezing.  You see, I have asthma and I didn’t take my medicine all day.  With the asthma and the sinus infection I was fighting, my lungs were getting congested.  They administered a breathing treatment.  While getting the breathing treatment, Scott came in and said, “well I’m glad your sitting down”.  My first thought was something was wrong with one of my sisters.  He proceeded to tell me the results were posted and I won my age group.  I was in shock and I couldn’t believe it.  Before we left, Zac said he wanted me to win my age group and I did.  I was hoping Zachary would be happy.  Ok, the breathing treatment was working great and I felt much better and could actually breathe without coughing.  My blood pressure was getting back to normal and I was ready to leave.  Throughout all of my time in the medic tent, Jill, Lisa and Jodi had finished.  When I left the tent I saw Jodi right away.  I was so happy to know she finished.  We all did great and everyone was feeling well.

 

We gathered up everything.  Scott and Jeremiah had gotten my bags and my bike and I said goodbye to everyone and headed for the car.  My mother and father-in-law took us back to the hotel.  On our way across the bridge we saw people just heading out on their second loop of the run.  They had a little over 3 hours to finish under 17 hours.  I hope they all made it.  I did hear later that the last person finished right at midnight. 

 

Back at the hotel I was greeted by a bouquet of flowers in our room from Scott’s brother and sister.  I took a quick bath while Scott ordered some room service.  I was supposed to eat even though I didn’t want to.  The food came and I managed to get some noodles and some soup in me, but that’s all I could handle.  I just wasn’t hungry.  I did do my best to drink a lot of water.

 

We went to sleep around 11:15.  you would have thought I would sleep well, but despite the 1000 mg of Naproxen I took before bed, I couldn’t sleep because my knees felt like they were hit with a sledgehammer.  I tossed and turned all night and by 6:00 AM I decided to get out of bed and get some food.  I went to the breakfast room on our floor where I met the head of media for the race and a few other athletes.  We had fun talking about the race and comparing stories.  I met a woman named Shirley who did her first Ironman only 2 weeks prior to B2B.  She competed in B2B and somehow managed to drop 2 hours off of her time.  She is one of those ultra marathoners who can run a marathon every weekend.  She ended up placing 2^nd in her 50-55 age group and I would see her later at the awards ceremony.

 

I headed back to the room.  Got the guys up and we got ready to meet Jeremiah, Jason, Jillian and Mike for breakfast.  We ended up eating at the Pink Pig.  I tried to eat a ton of food, but still couldn’t eat as much as I needed to.  We said goodbye to our friends and met my mother and father-in-law at the hotel and started walking to the Cruise line for the Awards Cruise.  We met Barb Whyte and her kids and had a beautiful day on the Cape Fear River.  The awards ceremony was great.  I won a beautiful plaque that was made from the original teak deck of the Battleship North Carolina.  We waited anxiously for the Athena awards to see if Lisa won anything.  As they announced from 5^th place down, we knew she had won an award and found out she was 2^nd for the Athena women.  Scott graciously accepted her award for her.

 

Following the cruise we headed to the beach for the afternoon with the Whytes and to check out the Kite show.  Spent some time in the ocean and built a sandcastle.  I’m not sure at this point it had even sunk in what I had done less than 24 hours before.  My head was still spinning and I was so excited. 

 

We went to dinner and I was finally able to enjoy some food.  Back at the hotel, I tried to sleep, but I still couldn’t relax.  I was up again by 6:00 AM on Monday morning and began to pack for the ride home.  My body was feeling much better and I was excited that I wasn’t feeling anything crazy in regards to my Lupus or my Asthma at this point.  I managed to complete this race without any health ramifications and that was a huge accomplishment for me.

 

We stopped by the Wilmington YMCA to see if lost and found and bags were dropped there.  Scott lost his cell phone at T-1 on Saturday and we were hoping they had it.  I also wanted my Run Special Needs bag back.  It had my Charlotte Marathon Jacket in it and Gwen was also missing her pre-race bag.  Unfortunately, nothing was back at the YMCA yet.

 

We headed to a Verizon Store and picked out a new phone for Scott, then it was off to Fort Mill, SC to see the Whytes and for me to talk to Jessie’s Girls on the Run Group.  We made it to Fort Mill in just enough time for me to run a lap with the girls and to talk to them about my race.  The 3^rd through 5^th grade girls had a lot of great questions and I enjoyed sharing my story with them and showing them my finishers medal.

 

Monday night we had some pizza and watched the Steeler Game at the Whytes house.  Once again I didn’t sleep well and I was up by 5:45.  We had a great morning and left around 11:00 to come home and arrived back in Zelienople at 8:20 Tuesday night. 

 

I made sure I took a Tylenol PM before bed and slept through the night finally.  It’s now Wednesday.  I’m not sore at all.  I’m starting to get some energy back again and I’m actually looking forward to swimming this afternoon.

 

The entire experience was incredible and looking back, I know I didn’t go all out.  I could have run faster and biked faster, but I’m more than excited about the end results.  I know in the future I can change my training just a bit and add one more long brick to help me in those middle miles on the run, but my next Ironman will be in a couple years.  For now, I get to focus on next Fall and Nationals.  Lisa and I both qualified and we’ll be heading to Myrtle Beach, SC next fall.  We’re both very excited about that.

 

 

Now to the thank you’s.  This list will be long and I’m hoping I don’t forget anyone along the way. 

 

I first need to thank my husband Scott.  You can’t train for an Ironman without the full support of your partner.  I couldn’t have asked any more of Scott this past year.  His dedication to this race and my finish were amazing and he helped me do what every spouse should help their partner do, he helped me to fulfill one of my ultimate dreams.  The medal, the plaque and my finish are as much his as they are mine.  He also acted as a coach, a cheerleader, a race reporter and as one of my massage therapists through all of this, most of all he was my friend and my rock for the past year.  Thank you for everything Scott.  I love you!

 

Zachary was amazing through all of this too.  He had to sacrifice his time with me, especially on Saturday and Sunday mornings and he managed all of it so well.  He kept me going more than he could ever know and winning my age group for him was just icing on the cake from what was otherwise a perfect day.

 

My parents, their support through all my years of training has not gone unrecognized.  They are always there to help me and without their help with Zachary, I wouldn’t have been able to spend so many hours training.  We missed you both at the race.  It wasn’t the same without you there.

 

My mother and father-in-law.  Again their help with Zachary, their support and the fact they drove to Wilmington to watch the race meant so much to me.  Thanks for everything.

 

My sisters Jodi and Jill and my friend Lisa Myers.  Having people to train with through all of this was a big help.  We’re all competitive people and we all approached our training and race day differently, but in the end we were all champions.  I want to thank the three of you for everything this past year.  It was so nice to know others were training and trying to reach their owns goals as I tried to reach mine.

 

My coaches, doctors and training partners.

 

Tom Murray, his help this past year in lining up my training and making sure I was on track throughout the year was great.  When I had questions or worried about anything, he was there to calm me down and steer me in the right direction.

 

My swimming coaches, Scot Whyte for all the swim workouts he planned for me.  Jillian and Sarah for helping me with my stroke and technique and always getting me through the tough workouts.

 

Cycling:  My spinning friends, Scott Schultz and Jeremiah Friday.  Class isn’t class without you guys.  My Cycling Partners, Scott Baker, Scott Schultz, Jason Jacobs, Bill Peace, Christen Sauer, Alice Wiesner, and Mark Rankin.  You all helped me so much on the bike this past year.  The hours and miles you spent riding with me was amazing.  I can’t thank you all enough.

 

My bike mechanic:  Henry Dapper.  My bike never looked or felt so good than it did for this race.  I won’t let anyone else work on my bike.  Henry is the best!  By the way, my bike is 13 years old.  I absolutely love it and I’ll tell everyone out there, you can buy the new and the best equipment, but you still have to have the engine to run it.  I passed a ton of people on $5,000 and $10,000 bikes in this race.  It’s all about the person riding the bike, not the bike itself.

 

Running:  Well, the running club is amazing.  It’s impossible to name all of you who helped me this past year, but you all know who you are.  The beginner run club, you all are amazing as well.  Those second run workouts increased my weekly mileage without injuring me and your personal dedication to begin running inspired me more than you can know.  Especially Paul Blinn and Jamie Bandzak who haven’t given up this year.  You two kept me going so much these last couple months.  Kevin Recker, Bob Stanionis, Sarah Antal and Jeremiah Friday for getting me through my long Friday morning runs.  The Sunday morning group, Sue Moury, Rick Colonello, Jillian Lavelle, Heather Healey, Avery Lawson, Kathie Blinn, Jen Do, Daryll Tieken, Nicole Khoury, Jason Jacobs and Janet McDonough and so many more.  The Thursday morning group, Deb, Phil, Bob, Jeff, Angie, Chris, Jim, Sam, Wils, Diane, Toni and a bunch of people I already mentioned.  Thanks for spending your Thursday mornings with me.

 

My doctors, Ken and Steve Pennell (chiropractors), Dr. Ryan Kaufman (ART Therapy), Dr. Thomas Tyma and Dr. Susan Manzi. (Rhuematologists)

 

My sounding board, the people who kept me going when I didn’t want to go anymore.  Scott Baker, Tom Murray, Jason Jacobs, Scott Schultz, Lori Piedmont, Rick Becker, Lisa Myers, Scot Whyte, Jeremiah Friday, Jillian Lavelle, Sarah Antal, Janet McDonough, and Deb Gallagher.  When I needed to whine, you all were there to listen and to keep me going.  Your support this past year and your tolerance of my paranoid state at times was amazing.  Thanks so much.

 

My massage therapist, Chris Zumie.  She kept me healthy and relaxed through all my training.

 

Renae Wilson and the staff at the YMCA for allowing me to use the spin bike and add classes so I could get the time in I needed this past year.  The instructors, Laura, Jen C., Jen R., Tammy, Andrea, Kelly and Lisa who in some way this past year either subbed for me or let me hop into one of their classes so I could get the time I needed on the bike or the time off to race throughout the summer.

 

My fan club who made the trip to watch the race.  Mom and Dad Baker, Jeremiah, Jason, Jillian, Mike, Barb, Elijah, Jessie and Summer and most off all, Scott and Zachary.

 

Looking back, I can honestly say there was never a time when I wanted to quit, I never got out of my focus of why I was there and what I needed to do that day and I never felt just horrible.  Everything came together perfectly.  The training was way harder than the race was mentally and honestly, the marathon was just another marathon.  Other than being a bit tired, it didn’t feel any different than any other marathon.  In fact, it was much easier than finishing the 2008 Boston marathon with a torn paraformus.  To this day, the 2008 Boston Marathon was harder on me mentally and physically than the Beach 2 Battleship Ironman was. 

 

I think one of the questions most people ask is what did you give up or sacrifice the most during your training?  I would guess the biggest sacrifice would be time with my family.  I did what I could to make sure I did my workouts at times that didn’t interfere too much with family time, but it was virtually impossible.  Missing Zachary at Karate was probably the toughest.  My Mom would take him to karate for me most weeks.  I also missed weekend mornings and early afternoons with Scott and Zachary.  I also sacrificed sleep.  Sleep is something I desperately needed and hardly got.  I averaged 5 to 6 hours a night and it simply was not enough time for the training I was doing.  I pretty much gave up on all housework.  Thankfully Scott helped with all of that.  I just never had the energy to clean after a day of work and exercise.  And one of the strangest things that I just never found the time to do was to get my hair cut.  My friend Chris came to my house twice, early in my training to trim my hair, but the last 5 months of my training, I didn’t even bother.  All the chlorine, endless washing from multiple workouts in a day, always having it in a ponytail, basically destroyed my already damaged hair.  I simply gave up and figured I would deal with it after the race.  Aside from that, I basically did what I’ve always done.  I continued to work, volunteer for numerous events and charities, organize races and fundraisers, spend time with family and friends and I even helped to coach Zachary’s Cross Country Team this past season.  I have to say that it is possible with the support of your family and a strict schedule that you can continue to live your life and train for an Ironman and do well in it. 

 

So again, thanks to all of you.  If you weren’t mentioned here, it doesn’t mean you weren’t important in my training.  All of you in some way inspired me or helped me along the way and I appreciate that more than you could ever know. 

 

In the words of John Mellencamp, “My family and friends are the best thing I know, through the eye of a needle they’ll carry me home.”  You all have carried me home and to the finish of an Ironman.  Thank you!  Thank you!  Thank you!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Well friends, I have 9 days until my first Ironman.  I continue to remind myself of my big workouts and I try not to freak out when I wonder how will I get through such a long day.  I'm not sure if I could have prepared anymore than what I have.  I probably could have done 1 or 2 more 18 mile runs, but would I have been injured along the way?  I've completed 23 marathons.  Not after swimming and biking, but 23 none the less.  I know how to run a marathon and I know how they feel.  That alone should get me through the day, I hope. 
The day is coming so quickly.  I just started to packa nd I'm getting as much work wrapped up as I can before I leave on Tuesday.  I can't wait to get to North Carolina.

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Well, it's 12 days to my big race and like any other athlete tapering for their first Ironman, I'm in panic mode.  I feel sick, I'm tired, I'm thinking I haven't done enough miles or, long workouts.  I'm basically worried about everything. 
I know once I get to Wilmington I'll feel better.

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Friday, October 9, I completed my longest workout to date.  I rode the spin bike for 6 hours, ran 2:38, walked 11 minutes and swam 34 minutes.  Total time I was out with changing clothes and going from the bike to the run was 9:35.  It was a long day, but with the help of so many people, I was never lonely and I felt strong all the way to the end. 
My nutrition went very well.  For breakfast I ate a fried egg sandwich.  During the cycling portion, I drank Heed Endurance.  This is what they're having at the race and Heed Hammer Gel.  I also ate 4 vanilla Oreo cookies and a small Snicker's bar about 3 hours into the bike.  The combination of water and Heed was great on the bike and as I moved to the run, my nutrition felt great.

I've read so much in preparing for this race and trying to digest all of it and come up with the best plan for me has been interesting.  The one thing I did try on Friday was to drink flat Coke for the first 30 minutes of the run.  I loved it.  I felt energized and fresh as I started out on my 16 mile run.  I will definitely be going with the flat Coke at the beginning of my run at B2B. 
After my run with Bob and Janet on Friday, Janet took me back to the YMCA where I hopped in the pool and pulled an easy 1600 yards.  I was sluggish at first, but slowly I could feel my stroke starting to lengthen.  I definitely swam it slow, but that was fine.  Friday was all about getting the hours in, not doing anything quickly.

I decided to take Saturday off and then I ran 10 miles on Sunday.  Sunday's run was slow and easy, but that was also a good thing.  I did take Monday off and so far today I've swam 3200 yards and this afternoon I'll be running very easy and then spinning.

I will work hard on the bike the next few days before my official taper period really kicks in.  I'm hoping for some decent weather on Sunday so I can get a decent bike ride in.  I don't need to do a ton, just get out and spin my legs out for a few hours.  May be do some pick-ups in between, we'll see. 
It's getting so close.  I've trained for so long for this race.  Now I just need to pull it all together and have a great day.

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Chesapeake Man Aqua Velo Distance: 2.4 mile open water swim in salt water, 112 mile bike. I followed it up with a 6 mile run just to see if I could do it. Goals: To swim in 1:12 or under. To hold an 18 MPH AVG on the bike and to run at least 5 miles at a 10 minute per mile pace. These are my goals for Beach 2 Battleship on November 7, so they were my goals today. Swim time 1:17:30 Bike Time, Official 6:07:07 (18.3 AVG MPH) Without my stop at mile 65, 6:06:03, (18.46 AVG MPH) Conditions: Swim was windy, wavy and very choppy. Bike was very windy and it got cold the last 40 miles. Food: Breakfast, 2 hard boiled eggs, 1 large bagel, yogurt, banana, Gatorade and Water. On the bike, 1 Clif Bar, 3 Chocolate Gu’s, ½ a banana, about 20 Clif shots. Run, 1 chocolate Gu. Post race: 2 slices of cheese pizza, ½ of a chocolate chip cookie, Pepsi, water. Results: Lisa Myers and I both ended up 2nd in our age groups and we were in the top ten for the women in our swim. I did end up 9th overall for the women in the final Aqua Velo results. The Race I woke up at 5:45 on Friday morning to get the car packed and ready for the trip. After getting everything in the car, I said good bye to my guys and headed to my office to work for 20 minutes before picking Lisa up. Lisa and I got on the road around 7:30 AM. The trip went by quickly and we made it to our hotel at 1:30 PM. The hotel was beautiful and happened to also be the headquarters for the race. After checking in, we headed straight for the registration and expo. We looked up our numbers, I was 303 and Lisa was 380. We were surprised by how small the race was. They had a Swim Fest Race, the Aqua Velo and the Full Ironman distance. Total participants for all three races were 441. After getting our numbers, we headed to packet pick-up where we got our official race packets in a very nice bag, a pair of socks and 3 technical tee shirts. All the great gear we received and how nice everything was for such a small race shocked us. The Expo consisted of a local bike shop and two tables of gear. Not too much to see there, but that was ok. I didn’t really need anything. Then we marked our gear bags and headed for lunch. The Restaurant was great. We had crab dip and crab cakes for lunch, and then we headed out with our bikes to the transition area. Great Marsh Park wasn’t far from the hotel. It was a really nice park and the starting point for the Famed Eagleman 70.3. We unloaded our bikes, got them inspected and racked them. Afterwards, we decided to scope out the swim. The waves were big and everything was choppy. The buoys were already out and a couple people were swimming. It barely looked like they were moving. Needless to say we were hoping for better conditions for Saturday morning. (We wouldn’t get better conditions. In fact, I think they were worse). After talking to several athletes and discussing the courses and watching Lisa salivate every time she saw a Cervelo bike, we decided to head back to the hotel. I was hungry again and grabbed some food in the room. We went for a walk around the hotel and on the small beach they had. We even saw some crabs. Then it was back inside to get to the pre-race meeting. On the way into the meeting, we picked up our timing chips. Lisa put hers on her ankle right away. I just held onto mine. The meeting was 45 minutes long and was very informative. It answered all our questions about parking and shuttles and our race day bags. After the meeting we went back to the same restaurant for dinner. They had a buffet with rice, pasta, chicken, salmon, chocolate moose, cookies, and homemade rolls. We ate all we could, talked to some more athletes around us and called it a night. Back in the room, we got our race day bags together, our race food and our numbers on our helmets and race belts. Lisa fell a sleep early. I finally fell a sleep around 10:30 or so. Slept ok, not really. Lisa woke up at 4:30 AM. I was up around 4:45. We packed everything up and headed downstairs to get some food. Lisa probably thinks I have a tape worm because of all the food I eat. I bought two hard boiled eggs, a banana, a large bagel, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and some yogurt. Lisa had a powerbar and some Gatorade. Lisa checked out of the hotel and we headed for the car and for Transition Area 2 at the local High School. We arrived at T-2. Found a good parking space that neither of us would forget, grabbed our gear bags and headed for the shuttle bus to take us to the start. The start area was like all other triathlons. People wandering around, standing in line for porta potties, people eating, some people resting and listening to music, others just milling around the transition area. I headed straight for my bike. I got my tires pumped up and checked my brakes and my components to make sure nothing crazy happened to it over night. I placed my water bottles on the bike and decided to go through my gear bags again to make sure I had everything I needed. Meanwhile, my bike pump was being passed around the transition area by a lot of people. I didn’t mind sharing and helping people out. As I waited, I ate my yogurt and banana. I ate the bagel and eggs in the car. Drank some Gatorade and water and found my bike pump again. I went over to see Lisa and see if she needed my pump and left it with her. Then it was into the porta potty line with everyone else. At this point I was getting nervous. I had been trying to not look at the water all morning, but people were already talking about the conditions and what a tough swim we would have ahead of us. After getting through the line, it was time to get the wetsuit on. Each time I’ve put it on this year, it’s gotten more comfortable. Probably from the weight I’ve been losing lately with all these crazy miles. Perhaps I’m just getting used to it. Not sure which it is. I thought about getting in the water to warm-up, but figured swimming 2.4 miles would be enough today. I dropped off my warm-up bag. Hung up my bike transition bag, and put on some old socks to keep my feet warm for as long as possible. They announced 10 minutes to the start and I heard the National Anthem being played. Afterwards, I did see Lisa again, but only briefly. We got some last minute swim instructions. We watched the guys on the wave runners ride the course and I remember the guy beside me saying how long it was taking the wave runners to do the course. I looked up at him and smiled and he said, “All I have to do is survive the swim”. He looked like he just saw a ghost. Hopefully he survived the swim. Then we were all told to head for the water. I kept looking for Lisa, but I couldn’t find her anywhere. Once in the water, we had to swim out to an orange buoy to start. We had to tread water for about 3 minutes when they announced 20 seconds to start. I could feel the butterflies in my stomach and actually thought to myself, “What have you gotten yourself into?” The gun went off and over 400 people started in a mass swim. Arms and legs were flying everywhere and the first straight away of the swim went by quickly. I just kept thinking this is way too easy right now. I was right. We made the first turn and when I went to site the first time on that turn, all I could see was a wall of water in front of me and then I ended up with a mouthful of salt water. Yuck! I did my best to ride the waves, but I had no idea where I was going, so I just followed the crowd of people in front of me. I kept my head down and tried so hard to swim through the waves and then I finally saw the next orange buoy, the sign for the next turn. I was hoping when we made this turn and headed back to shore, things would get better. They didn’t. They got worse. At this point, I couldn’t see where I was going, so I continued to follow the people in front of me. Bad mistake. Everyone was swimming off course and kayakers were now directing us left. I finally saw a yellow buoy way off to the left and thought how did we gat that far off course. I put my head down and started swimming, but every stroke I took, it felt like I got pushed back 5 feet. I absolutely hated this I thought. Then it got worse, I kept feeling slimy stuff in the water. What was I touching? Then I saw one, they were jelly fish. I got a bit freaked out. That’s all I needed was to be stung by a jellyfish. I tried to shorten my stroke under the water, thinking I wouldn’t hit them anymore, but they were everywhere and they didn’t seem to be stinging, so I went back to my normal stroke. I finally made it to the yellow buoy and I could see the tree line and the big bridge in the distance. I thought I was swimming in the right direction, but again I was too far right into the triangle. Afterwards, I found out Lisa was having the same problems. Again a kayaker yelled at us and told us to move left. That’s when I saw the next yellow buoy and noticed all the boats and kayakers along the left side. Note to self, swim to those on the next loop. I got to the next yellow buoy. Still getting pounded by waves. Trying to breathe as far back by my shoulder as I could to avoid drinking the salt water, but nothing was working. The waves were too high over our heads and all you could do was swim through them and try to breathe without drinking the water. I kept moving through the water the best I could and finally made it to the orange buoy. I made the sharp right turn and headed back to the start for loop number 2. I looked at my watch quickly to see how long that loop took. 39:51. Almost 40 minutes for the first loop. I wasn’t happy about it and decided I would do what I could to just stay on course and have a better second loop without being completely exhausted when I got out. The start of the second loop was comforting. I took full advantage of the current behind us and just kept my head down and swam. When I made the turn, I tried not to fight the waves and figured out a better way to ride through them and I seemed to get to the next orange buoy a bit faster. After the turn, I just started looking for boats and headed for them. It was still tough to site through the waves and I could now feel my lower back hurting from trying to look over the waves and I could feel my wetsuit digging into the back of my neck. I forgot my body glide, but honestly, I’m not sure it would have helped. I seemed to be staying on track more and thought about picking up my pace, but figured I’d be better off saving my energy for the 112 miles ahead of me on the bike. Besides, I already knew my time wasn’t going to be great for the swim and how much time would I really make up at this point. So, I kept my stroke as comfortable as I could. I was still feeling the jellyfish in my hands and I also noticed I wasn’t keeping my hands closed in the water anymore. My hands were getting tired, one of my biggest issues when swimming. Unfortunately, my Lupus really bothers my hands and they get tired and sore easily and I could tell this swim was taking its toll on them. They were aching, but I tried not to think about it. I knew the last buoy was coming soon. Finally I saw it. It was close, so I started to kick a bit more and made the turn and headed to the boat ramp. I was surprised when I stood up that I wasn’t too bad. I got up the boat ramp, yelled out my number and a volunteer handed me my bike bag. At this point, the sun was bright in the sky and it felt pretty warm. I opted not to wear my jacket or jersey. I now know if the temp is under 70 degrees, I need to wear a jacket or jersey. I headed for the changing tent and heard Lisa say Joella, is that you? It was so nice to see Lisa out of the water with me. We talked a few minutes, as we got ready to go. I stuffed my pockets with my food. Threw on my helmet and socks and shoes. Said goodbye to Lisa and headed for my bike. As I passed the timing mat, I noticed the time being 1:21. I was happy with my transition time and found out later I had one of the fastest T-1 times of all the ladies. Under 3 minutes. The bike started off great. It was flat as a pancake and really fast. I was averaging 23 MPH and could have gone faster, but I didn’t want to push it too soon. I still had a long day ahead of me. Not smart. I should have pushed that first part just a bit more and I should have taken advantage of the tail wind while I had it. The first part was an out and back. 11 miles out and then we turned around. As soon as we turned around, I noticed my 23 MPH drop to 18, then 17, then 16. It just kept going down and I just kept pedaling harder. I just wasn’t going anywhere. I saw Lisa, we waved and I just kept my head down in my aerobars and I continued to ride. This section seemed to take forever and I was hoping we would turn soon and lose the wind for a while. We did and I was able to get back up to 20 to 21 MPH again. I held this for a very long stretch and was hoping the rest of the ride would be this nice and comfortable. I knew it wouldn’t be, but I was hopeful. Well, soon enough we had to turn again and with every turn on this course came a new adventure. At this turn came more wind. Not horrible wind, but there was wind. I was able to stay up over the 18 MPH pace I wanted to hold, but then we started into the Marsh lands and the wide open areas and the wind was everywhere. This went on for a long time and again you felt like you hit a wall. I was only thankful the sun was out to keep us warm. After a long time on this stretch, we made another turn and headed for some nice roads and less wind. I was able to ride harder and more comfortable again. It was probably around mile 40 at this point. This course was so flat and boring and despite the wind, I found myself day dreaming a lot and not paying attention to racing or riding hard. I needed to stay focused, but it was tough. For so long, I didn’t see any other participants. I was by myself and if it weren’t for the occasional spectator along the way and the couple aid stations, I would have thought I was just doing a 112 mile bike ride by myself. I thought about Lisa a bunch and wondered how she was doing and how she was feeling. I was hoping she was feeling as good on the bike as she did on the swim. As for me, I was fine. I felt good on the bike at this point. Not great, but good. I was just so sleepy tired, not physically tired and I was mentally tired already. If someone had given me a pillow on my aerobars, I would have easily fallen a sleep. I also could have fallen a sleep on the side of the road, either would have been fine with me. I started to wonder, was I really that tired or just bored out of my mind? Either way, it was tough mentally with no one around to talk to and nothing but flat roads and marsh land surrounding us. I continued on the nice road for miles, and then we had to make another turn on to a really rough road and the worse headwinds on the course. This part was painful. My hands that were already hurting were even worse now and staying in your aerobars didn’t work on this surface. For about 4 miles, it felt as if I was riding on rumble strips. The vibration was horrible and trying to get any kind of speed was not happening. I knew better roads would come, but when? How long did we have to put up with this? Soon I could see better road ahead. I saw a bridge with a small bump that wasn’t even equivalent to crossing the bridge in Harmony. I guess that was our one hill for the day. Over the bridge I saw a bunch of kids, probably a local Scout troop, riding their bikes and all wearing bright orange shirts. They all said hi and I waved to all of them. It was just great to see people. The nice road was refreshing. I finally got some speed back, then I saw a couple people in front of me and decided to catch them for something to do. As I got closer, I saw the one guy move way to the left of the road and I didn’t know why. Then I saw the huge puddle of water across the road. The tide in the marshes must have been coming in. The road was covered. I took the shallowest part, but I still got soaked as I pedaled through. Up ahead there were a couple more, but I could get around those without getting wet. We continued through the marshes and somehow a bug flew under my sunglasses and into my left eye. I had to take off my sunglasses to get it out and dropped my favorite sunglasses and managed to run them over with my back tire. I was not happy, but I couldn’t do anything about it. I had to ride without sunglasses the rest of the way. I continued riding. I was now at the 56 mile point. I rode it in 3:03. It would have been great to be under 3 hours, but I wasn’t riding as hard as I could and I knew I wanted to try and pick it up the second half. I started to pedal a bit harder. We were on nicer roads and the wind was better and I knew we would be back at the school in 10 miles or so. I could stop quickly there and get what I needed for the final 45 miles and use the bathroom. This part of the ride was nice and even fun at this point and I was thinking the last 10 miles to the finish on the next loop wouldn’t be too bad. Off to my left I saw a big pasture with about 10 Quarter Horses in it. I said hi to the horses and thought how nice it will be when the Ironman is over and I can start to ride Hershey again. I really miss my horse and riding. I kept seeing more homes and then made a slight turn near an industrial site and then I saw the sign for the City Limits and orange cones ahead. We were back at the school. The volunteers were yelling out our numbers. I didn’t pack a special needs bag. I did stop to use the bathroom quickly, grabbed a piece of a banana, more water and continued on my way. Back out to loop 2. Leaving the school was great. I picked up my pace and knew I wanted to try and get the last 45 miles in as quickly as I could, but still saving enough energy to get off and run afterwards. The first 6 miles were comfortable, but then we had to turn on one of those roads we all hated. The vibration again and the headwinds were just terrible. This stretch was only a couple miles and I knew the 4 mile stretch was still ahead of me. I got through this part more quickly than the last time. I actually cranked up my gears and stood up several times on this part. It was nice to just stretch out a bit and get into a different position. The aerobars were starting to bother my back and shoulders and I was still bored out of my mind and I could have fallen a sleep at any time. I got off the bad roads and hit the marsh land again. The wind was stronger this time than the last time around and I was trying to push as hard as I could. Only about 30 miles to go. I thought "I can do this for another 30 miles, I could push through the pain and the boredom". The wind felt as if it was getting worse and now the sun was gone and the clouds were getting thick. I was starting to get cold. I hate to be cold. This wasn’t good. Now I was really bored, so I put my head down; I started to count what animals I saw a long the way. 3 snakes, 1 turtle, 1 deer, lots of birds, and 1 crab crossing the road. I thought if I picked all these up, Zac would have a lot of fun pets at home, but where would I keep them on my bike and what type of snakes were they? Maybe they were poisonous. Yes, I felt as if I was losing my mind at this point. As I continued to daydream and thinking about all kinds of stuff, I heard a voice behind me say good job. It was the first person I had seen in a long time. It was a woman out for a training ride. She actually talked to me for a few minutes, which was nice and then she took off. She was only riding 30 miles. So was I at this point. 30 miles or a little less to go. I kept my head down in the wind and stood up and stretched more often now. My lower back was really starting to hurt and the pain in my shoulders was getting worse. I looked up ahead and I knew the turn with the 4 mile stretch of bad road was ahead. I was dreading this part for miles. Sometimes the worst part of loop courses is knowing what’s coming. Anyhow, I made the turn and hit a wall. The vibration started again and the wind was so strong. At one point I just sat up and started to yell. I was so mad and just wanted off the bike at this point. I’d be happy to run right now. Anything would feel better than this. Nothing seemed to be working on the wind, so I started doing some 2 minute intervals of standing up and pushing through the wind. This was the only way I could get up over 18 MPH on this stretch, but as soon as I sat down and lowered my gears, I would drop to 14 to 16 MPH. The wind was strong on this whole stretch and I was completely miserable. Then I saw the new road ahead and knew the wooden bridge would be coming up soon and so would some faster roads. I hit the bridge, got into my aerobars and enjoyed the slight downhill for 2 seconds and road hard until the first puddle. It was deeper than before and I rode through it carefully. I didn’t need to wipe out. Further ahead was the next one and it was across the road this time too. Then another one across the road and one more, just to make sure my feet were nice and wet. Well, at least it was something new and it woke me up a bit. So, the puddles were gone and I could start to ride fast gain. The water made me colder at this point, but I knew I only had about 12 or 13 miles to go. It would be over soon. Ok, on the first loop this part seemed so easy, but this next loop. Not so easy. The pain in my back and shoulders was worse, and I guess there just comes a time when you just don’t want to be on a bike anymore. I think I hit that point with about 20 miles left, but it was getting worse. I looked at my time and thought I might be able to be a little faster on this loop if I just push through this. No such luck. The wind had kicked up on this section and I was tired and no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t hold a 20 or 21 MPH pace anymore. I had to settle with an 18-19 MPH pace. I started to see a couple more cyclists now. I passed a few and a few passed me. We all kept saying it’s almost over. I just kept looking at my computer and counting down the miles 1/10 at a time. I had nothing else to do at this point but pedal and watch the time and miles go by. Wonder how Lisa was doing. How is it possible we’ve been out here for almost 6 hours and I haven’t seen her since the swim? It would have been great to see her and to be able to ride with her for a while. Anyhow, there weren’t any friends on this course. I was just all alone. I looked up and saw the horses again. I knew I was getting closer. Then I saw the industrial site and the City Limits sign and then the orange cones. I was there. The High School was so nice to see and the volunteers and people were great. Everyone was yelling. They announced my number as I dismounted my bike and ran under the big balloon arch and across the timing mat. I was done. 7 hours 27 minutes to finish the 2.4 mile swim and 112 mile bike. I actually did 3:03 splits for both 56 mile splits on the bike. I was pretty happy about my consistency. A guy grabbed my bike and told me he would rack it for me. I kept my watch going. I wanted to use the restroom and head for my car and get my shoes and go and run. In the porta potty I could hear people yelling outside and then I heard a woman crying. I couldn’t understand what she was saying, but I knew she was in a lot of pain. I exited the porta and looked over. She was on a chair with a medic. She looked at me. I asked if she was ok. She said yes, she was just tired and her leg was cramping really badly. I went through the transition area. Grabbed some water and headed for my car. I got my shoes on quickly. Put a shirt on. I was still cold, grabbed my phone and headed for the road. People were yelling at me that I was running the wrong way. I had to explain that I was training for another race and not doing the full Ironman today. I headed to the main road and decided I would run to the hotel and back. It was exactly 2.5 miles to the hotel. This would give me 5 miles of running and a pretty good idea of what the Ironman would feel like. After getting out on the road, I called Scott and Zachary to let them know how I was doing. It was so great to talk to them. I was on the phone with them for the first mile or so. Then I hung up and called my Mom so she wouldn’t worry about me. Talked to her for a few minutes and then I was able to just focus on running. I have to say it felt good to run. Anything was better than the bike at this point. I wasn’t running quickly, but I didn’t need to. I just wanted to get the miles in. I enjoyed the flat roads on the run. Hated them on the bike, but on the run. I loved them. I kept moving and finally got to the hotel. I was holding a 10 minute mile pace. That was perfect and exactly where I want to be for the Ironman. I made the turn around and started heading back. I figured Lisa should be finishing about now if she held her 17 MPH pace she wanted to hold. I thought I would try to pick it up a bit and I did. Not much, but just under a 10 minute per mile pace. I got a text from my sister Jodi asking how my day went. She’s also training for the same Ironman in November and was doing a long ride and a run that day. I just decided to call her. It was easier. She road 113 miles and ran for 30 minutes and felt pretty good. She also said she couldn’t wait to get off the bike. We both felt the same way and she’s a great cyclist. I felt better knowing that a cyclist said they wanted to stop cycling. It wasn’t just me. I could see the school getting closer and headed in. I had people waving me through, thinking I was still racing. I ran around, looking for Lisa and made a couple loops around the parking lot and over to where we entered on the bikes. I didn’t see her bike racked and was hoping she was back. She had to be back I thought. I headed back over to the other end of school and saw another guy running. We started to chat. He was preparing for Ironman Florida, the same weekend as Beach 2 Battleship. We ran a bit longer. I looked at my watch. I had been running for an hour and should have had about 6 miles in. I stopped my watch. With all the miles and all the stops, it took me 8 hours 41 minutes and 39 seconds to do 2.4 miles of swimming, 112.2 miles on the bike and 6 miles of running. We saw the gymnasium and headed in for some much needed food and massages. I got into the Gym. Saw Lisa. She had a great day. 1:17:48 on the swim and a 6:27 on the bike. She finished in 7:48 and crushed her 8 hour goal she was shooting for. I was so happy for her. She was already signed up for a massage. I signed-up and went to get food. Pizza, a chocolate chip cookie, water and some Pepsi. It was perfect post race food. I really wanted chocolate milk, but this was good enough for now. I sat on the floor and stretched and ate and talked to Lisa and a bunch of other athletes about the day. We all agreed the swim was tough and we all agreed the bike was windy and boring and it got windier the second loop. We all couldn’t wait to get off the bike and there were even others who said they were falling a sleep on the bike. I guess I had a normal day for my first time ever swimming and cycling those distances. It was great. I wasn’t alone. It took a while to get our massages, but I’m so glad we did. The 15 minutes of massage and stretching were great and helped to get the lactic acid out of my legs. After the massage, we grabbed our bags. Got my bike and headed to the car. We packed up everything. Got a picture with our finisher medals and went to the hotel to shower and change. Back at the hotel, the shower in the women’s locker room was cold. I showered first and then hopped in the hot tub to get warm while Lisa showered. We packed up. Got in the car and headed for home. It was 6:00 PM. I knew I wouldn’t be home until about 12:30. I was right. It was a long day, starting at 4:30 AM and getting home at 12:30 AM and in bed at 1:00 AM. It’s funny to think that I was on the bike for the same number of hours it took us to drive. Crazy! Well, it was great to be home and to see Scott and Zachary. Even though they were both sleeping already. They surprised me with a home made apple pie they had baked for me. I would be having apple pie for breakfast, one of my favorites. Anyhow, I fell a sleep quickly and woke up at 7:00 AM the next morning. I got out of bed with out any pain in my legs. That was so great to experience. I figured I would be in a lot of pain, similar to the day after a marathon. I wasn’t at all. Overall, it was a great training race. I can’t say I feel as if I’m ready for an Ironman, but I feel like I’m almost there. Of course, I’m not sure anyone ever feels like they are ready for an Ironman, do they? I learned a lot during this race. The main thing is to stick closely to your goals. I feel if I had tried to push the swim or the bike any harder, then I would have had a tough time finishing my day. I stuck to what I wanted to do from the beginning and ended up being 20 miles short of finishing a full Ironman. I know those 20 miles will be tough, but I’m thinking this race has prepared me well. I learned that eating something every 15 to 20 minutes helps. Flat courses are very boring. Wind is just as bad as hills, maybe even worse. If it’s going to be less than 70 degrees, I need to wear a shirt or jacket on the bike. An Ironman can be a very lonely event and 112 miles on a bike is a really long way to go. As far as being sore. The only things that bothered me the whole way were my hands, my lower back and my shoulders. My neck also hurt from the wetsuit digging into my skin. Aside from that, my legs were great. Lisa and I had a blast. It was a well-organized race, but not sure it’s one I would do again.

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We keep counting down the days to the Beach 2 Battleship Ironman in Wilmington, NC on November 7. At this point, I'm starting to panic, as do most athletes, that I haven't trained enough and I'll never survive. A few weeks ago, I had all the confidence in the world. Now, I'm a nervous wreck. Some people say I'm ready now. If I tapered and got some rest, I'd be just fine to complete a full Ironman. I personally think they're crazy. I don't feel like I've been on teh bike enough. I still have Chesapeake Man this weekend. A 2.4 mile swim and 112 bike in Cambridge, MD. I'm hoping this race will give me the confidence I need to finish my training hard and be ready for November 7. After Chessyman Aqua Velo, I'm hoping to run. If I can run at least 1 1/2 to 2 hours, I think I'll feel I'm ready. Some people think this is too much distance prior to my race, but for me, I need to know I have the endurance to make it through. I also need to know that my nutrition and hydration plans are working the way I want them to. After Chessyman, I'll need to recover a bit next week. Then I hope to get in two days. Friday and Saturday or Saturday and Sunday of at least 2 4 to 5 hour bike rides and some decent runs afterwards (maybe even an 18 miler). Then October 10, I'm hoping to go to Erie to ride my last Century and do a long run afterwards. Then I start to taper. The day is almost here and I just hope my body and mostly my Lupus stay under control. I don't need to get too tired or flare up these last 7 weeks. My goal is to stay healthy, eat healthy and do everything I can to make sure I'm ready for the 7th. A race report from Chessyman will be coming soon. Wish me luck!

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Well, it's coming up on 8 weeks to the Beach 2 Battleship Ironman. Training is going well, but I sure am tired. This training takes so much out of you all the time. This weekend will be a big training weekend for me. We did some speedwork this morning and then I swam. We leave for Canada tonight. Tomorrow I plan to ride the Muskoka 1/2 Ironman course. Saturday, I'm planning to swim and I may do the swim course twice to see what it's like to do 2.4 miles of swimming. Sunday is the 1/2 Ironman. Overall, I should get a lot of miles in over a 3 day period. We will see how it goes. I haven't had any rest days this week and I've done a bunch of speed work this week, wasn't really planning to do speed work, just kind of ended up that way. Anyhow, training is good. I've completed 3 Century rides so far. The first was in June, followed by a 3 mile run. The second was in August, followed by a 6.2 mile run (felt great). The last one was on August 29 in Erie, PA. I did the triathlon and finished the day with completing a Century ride and running another 4.5 miles for a total of .35 mile swim, 100 mile bike and 8 mile run. I actually felt really good throughout the whole thing. Snickers bars are good food. This weekend will be tough. Not as many miles at once, but going into a 1/2 Ironman untapered and tired will be interesting and a true test of my Ironman readiness. Thanks for reading. See you on the roads.

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Well, it's 14 weeks to the Ironman.  I just watched two friends complete the Lake Placid Ironman.  Lori looked great crossing the finish line and Mike didn't look so good.  As I watched the race on my laptop, it occurred to me that I would be putting myself through that same hell in 15 weeks. 

 Was I going to be ready?  Would my body mahe the 140.6 miles in one day.  What could I possibly do from now until then to make this as pain free as possible. 

Well, as I continued to watch them cross and seeing happy faces, sad faces, exhausted faces and bodies collapsing, I realized I could only do what I was planning to do.  I have the training plan I want to follow.  I need to stick with it and hope for the best.

 I can now get through a half Ironman without it hurting too badly and feeling as if I could do more.  That has to be a good sign, right?  So how do I build on that base these next three months to make sure I am fully prepared for the long road ahead of me.

 My theory, continue to live on the bike.  I'm confident that the more time I spend on the bike, the easier the run will be.  I'm just coming off a major calf injury and I haven't had a run yet that has felt good.  I continue to push some longer mileage in hopes I will build my leg up to where it needs to be in November.  I'm not worried about running the marathon quickly.  I just want to make sure I can run.

Lori completed several 100 mile bike rides followed by 15 mile runs in her pursuit of a 12 hour Ironman.  Right now I have one of these on my schedule and I'm trying to decide how many more I should add.

However, I have an issue to deal with that most don't.  I have Lupus.  My biggest worry is that 100 mile ride and 15 mile run will push my immune system into shock and I'll crash and burn before the race.  With that in mind, I'm trying to do long reverse bricks.  I'll be running long and follow it with a long bike ride.  I'd rather be tired on the bike and get the time in than being tired on the runa nd injuring myself.  We'll have to see if my theory works.

 I keep reminding myself that I knwo my body better than anyone else and I need to listen to my body when I can.  By doing that, I'm confident my plan is best for me and my situation.

Stay tuned as my mileage begins to pick up dramatically thsi weekend with my first 100 miel bike ride since the beginning of June.

 

 

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Well, it's 8 days since the Musselman 1/2 Ironman and Sprint triathlon.

 Scott and I left on Thursday after work and drove for 4 hours and 15 minutes to the small town of Geneva, NY.  We stayed at a beautiful Bed and Breakfast on Main Street for the weekend.  We got a good night's sleep. 

Friday morning, we woke up and got a wonderful breakfast made by Jen.  She made us blueberry pancakes, sausage, fruit cup and more.  It was the perfect way to start the day.  Scott and I then headed out on our bikes.  We made it about 3.5 miles and Scott got a flat tire.  I rode back to our car and went back to get him.  I was surprised to see how far he had gotten.  He was running up the side of teh road with his bike in hand. 

We took his bike to the bike shop.  While they fixed his bike we headed to the Red Dove Tavern for great food for lunch.  We had clams and mussels in a curry cream sauce and a bri sandwich with home made chips.  Everything was great.

That afternoon I took a nap, while Scott worked on the computer.  We then headed out for dinner to Morgan's.  After dinner we went back to pack our gear and get ready for the Saturday Sprint Triathlon.

Saturday morning I got up early and went in the kirchen to get coffee and breakfast for Scott.  I got some food for myself as well.  We ate our food and grabbed our gear and headed for the car. 

As Scott was loading the bikes, his pedal fell off.  He stayed very calm.  I was freaking out.  He trained so long for this, he didn't need a broken bike.  He got his pedal back on and we headed to the start line.

We got to the race and unloaded our gear.  We walked to the transition area.  We were body marked, grabbed our timing chips and headed in to see where to rack our bikes.

We got everything set-up and went to check out the swim.  Where we would exit the swim and we got a short run in.  I was so nervous about running, but so far things were feeling good. 

We grabbed our wetsuits, headed back to the porta johns and then to the race meeting.  We couldn't hear much during teh meeting, but with a yell from Scott, people seemed to quiet down a bit.

Immediately after the meeting, they called Scott's wave into the water.  They had his wave stand in the water for 15 minutes until the start.  Scott got warmed up in the water and he looked great.

Finally the horn went off and Scott was on his way.  A few minutes later they called for my wave into the water.  The water was a bit cold, but so was the air.  I was actually shivering in the water.  They finally got us started.  I felt great on the swim and kept wondering how Scott was doing.

I got out and heard my friend Rick yelling for me.  I walked and ran to transition, still afraid of pulling my calf muscle.  I got on my bike and took off.  My goal to try and hold over 20 MPH.

I felt great on the bike and I started to count people as I passed them.  I ended up passing 78 people.  I was really happy about that.  Scott was having a good bike.  I couldn't see him, but that was good.  If I saw him, that would have meant things weren't going well.

I got back from the bike and racked it and headed out for the run.  I could tell from the start that the run would be my downfall.  It was.  Poeple began to pass me.  I couldn't get under an 8 minute per mile pace.  It was so frustraing.   I managed to hold the other partipants off for as long as I could.  I saw Scott on the run.  He was looking strong and holding his own.  I got to the finish and saw Scott.  He looked great.  He didn't even look tired.  I also felt really good.

We went and got some food, we loaded our bikes and went back to check the results.  I managed to be second in my age group.  I won a bottle of wine too.  Scott was 32 in his age group out of 66 people.  He did fantastic.

We went for lunch and then to the spa for foot massages and pedicures.  Then we went for a nap before dinner.  We met Rick and his kids for dinner at The Port.  Our favorite restaurant in Geneva.  After dinner we went for ice cream.  Then it was off to bed to get ready for Sunday. 

Sunday I was very nervous about the half Ironman.  After being off from running for 3 weeks, I had no idea what to expect.  My swim that morning was good, despite swimming into the current for more than half of it.  The bike was into a head wind for 56 miles.  I felt horrible the first 10 to 15 miles.  I finally started to feel good on the bike around mile 20.  My last 36 miles were really good.  My nutrition on the bike was excellent and I felt great going into the run. 

Within the first mile of the run, two women already passed me.  That's ok, we still had a long way to go.  The miles seemed to go by quickly for the first 6.  After mile 6, things started to get tough.  I continued to hold a decent pace until mile 9, when my leg got really bad.  I limped in the last 4 miles. 

I ended up 6th in my age group and 45th of all women.  Frustrating, but ok.  I missed qualifying for World's by two places.

 Overall, a successful race.  I actually was tired afterwards, but not exhausted.  The best part was I could eat afterwards and I didn't feel sick.

 

 

 

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Well, it's 19 weeks to the Ironman and I'm injured.  Last Thursday while doing my normal Thursday interval workout I pulled my calf muscle.

 I honestly thought I tore something.  I couldn't believe a calf muscle pull could hurt so badly.  After seeing the ortho doc, I was relieved to hear it wasn't too serious and that a week or two off from any running would do the trick.

 Of course, I had a race this past weekend.  I was good, I didn't run.  But let me tell you how tough it was to come into teh transition from the bike and not head out on the run.  It was incredibly tough.  I'm not one to drop out of races and to have to do that was tough.  But, I lived through it and I know I'll be thankful later that I didn't try to run.

 Despite the fact that I didn't run, I still had a good weekend.  I completed a 2 mile open water swim in 58:26.  I beat my time from last year by 4 minutes.  I also swam really well at the Dam Tri and I biked well.  So the whole weekend wasn't a loss.

 I swam 1500 yards very easy yesterday and I started cold laser therapy on my calf, as well as new stretches and strengthening exercises.  Hopefully it will all work and I'll be ready to do well in my 1/2 Ironman at Musselman in a few weeks.

This morning I swam 4000 yards and I'm hoping to swim some more this afternoon before I hop on the spin bike. 

I do have to say thanks to my support group.  My husband and all of my friends have been great in supporting me through this injury.  I know in the long run things will work out.  I just need to rest and recover.

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