Last day's of sanity

This is so true... ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!!!

After missed training rides, falls, a DNS, I was worried I would get a DNF here.  The course was brutal for my standards (which are pretty low).

Leading up to the race day we had some time to review the bike course. It rained the whole ride but we had some idea of how it was going to be... TOUGH!! The roads were open and at times desolate. There were some climbs and a u-turn (oh great). One section looks pretty smooth, little did I know it was a FALSE FLATS. Just around mile 100 there was a nice down hill only to be met by a sharp left turn to tackle the Three Sisters, that by that time of the race I knew why they were called the Three Bitches.

We spent time at Ironman Village checking out the booths and found the FREE massages and Active Release booth.  I took advantage of getting some extra AR in my neck and that helped to relax me and get me ready.

Of coarse we also shopped. Bought several Boulder IM gear, but nothing that said finisher, as that doesn't go on sale until AFTER the race. So for now, just buying what looks good and what I'll be willing to wear even if I don't finish (yes that thought still lingers in my head but you never know).

The boys eventually arrived and we went on road trips to the Rocky Mountains and The Stanley (AKA The Shining House). We had a good time, and it helped relax me, for that moment.

My emotions were in such a roller-coaster. I would sit laugh and have fun, then be alone and start to cry over nothing. I was so worried that the fall would come back to haunt me. How can I actually do this. I started to do the math to see what were my cut-off and how I had to do this to make it to the finish by 17 hours.  I knew midnight was the final time, but I was hoping to start early in the swim, which although it gave me added time to get to the finish by midnight, it didn't give me extra time from the 17 hour cut off.

Is anyone sleeping.. I know I'm not...

Is anyone eating... I know I'm not...

Does everyone else feel like this? or is it just me?

Will I be rested enough to get thru this race? I don't think so.

Can I really do this? I sure hope so

What if I can't make the ride? The bike scares me sooo much!!!

Oh damn... 1 more day!!! 1 more day!!! 1 more day!!!

Road to Boulder... Here at last

WOW I can't believe it.


Boulder is next weekend.

I've put in the hours and the miles and here I go.

Roxy has been on her way with my bike/swim gear.

I've packed and repacked my gear. Checked my flight information. Contacted the house. Everything seems to be in order.

Last few visits with Dr. Kelly and a few more sessions of dry needling and massage and I should be as ready as I should be.

Looking forward to have Christin with me on the flight from Chicago to Denver.  Then we'll get Stephanie and head to the house.  The boys will be getting there later in the week, so this should give us some time to get settled in, check out Ironman Village and wait for our bikes to arrive.

I'm so nervous I can't sleep, I can't eat. I want to run but I must taper.  This is most important for this race.

I've put in the hours and the miles... I'm ready to go!!!

DNS is a hard pill to swallow

After a week of feeling like I was a failure.

After a week of feeling like I couldn't go on.

After a week of realizing that I may never fulfill dreams I never once thought possible.

After a week, I finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel.

People who I didn't expect to be there for me where there. People who I thought would have reached out to me to comfort me didn't. I now knew who I can count on and how was just there.  I had so much support from past Ironmen. So much good advice and options on what to do next so I couldn't miss out on Boulder.

The hardest pill to swallow was that I would not be able to compete at Muncie 70.3.  Taking Nick's advice, I used this weekend to get in my long bike ride.  I adjust a few other training sessions and he said that should put me back on track.  In the end it was a smart move, as the girls decided to head up to Lake Andrea for an OWS and when I tried to put on my bathing cap I almost doubled over in pain. Then I just had the fear that someone was going to kick me in the face and I would split open my stitches.  So in the end it was a smart move, but still a DNS :(

On Friday, as we had the day off already for Muncie, Stephanie and I went out in search of our 100 miler.  I just asked that we stay off the road I fell on, but I wanted the hills and the challenge.  So we headed out and we did it. It was a tough ride but I got it done and now I felt like I can really do this.  I will hear those words in less than a month!! I will be an IRONMAN!!!

OMG!!!!

This could be the worst thing that could EVER happen to me.

I still can't believe it!

Stephanie and I went out for out 100 mile bike ride. I know I can do this, I did it at ACC last year plus we did 85 2 weeks ago, only cut short cuz I fell at the trail head because I couldn't clip out, but I didn't think this could ever happen to me.

Testing out my new slick tires and feeling good, we hit the halfway point and went to turn to head back. 50 down, 50 to go... or so I thought.  The area I did my U-Turn had some fresh gravel, I thought I had a wide enough turn, but the new tires didn't grip well on it and the next thing I knew I was going down. The back tire started to slip and I couldn't clip out. I was going down and I couldn't stop it. I went down hard and if it wasn't for my helmet I don't know what I would've done.  Since I couldn't clip out, my bike slid as I went down and my helmet slid up only to cause my head to hit the ground. I screamed so loud that the next thing I remember is hearing the clicking of Stephanie's shoes as she ran to my side. She didn't want to move worried it may be something bad. She tries to call Rich and no answer. I shaken up bleeding like crazy but want to sit up so i do so slowly. I somehow clipped out and we just tried to find the source of the blood. We used what we could to stop the bleeding.  We finally get a hold of Rich and he heads over to get us.  We were lucky the neighbor on the corner saw me and came out with ice water and papertowels. Her husband pulls up, a biker himself which explains why she was so helpful, and asked if we needed a ride. We said we'll just sit here, in the road.

I couldn't believe all the blood from such a small cut.

Rich got me home and I relaxed for a bit, only to have the cut keep bleeding. We opted for urgent care where I got stitched up and some meds for the pain.

Now what!!! I need this 100 miler for Boulder. And what about Muncie next weekend. The doc wants me to rest, but I can't. I have a schedule I have a plan I have an agenda. I can't rest. 

OMG is it possible that I won't be able to make this!!! 

Is it possible that one fall will take me out of the competition!!!

I can't let this stop me.  I need to push harder and get it done!!!

Grand Rapid's Half - Not a pretty picture

Back on the road for another race.  This time we have a big group going out for the Half, Sprint or Olympic, most of us going for the Half in order to be ready for whatever IM we have on our agenda this year.  I know I was ready, I trained hard and was prepared, or so I thought.

The swim was a little scary. It wasn't like IM events with the markers spread out, for easier siting.  NOOO this time we had one at the start then had to pass the next one which was the sprint turn, the past the olympic turn and finally got to our turn. So we had 3 out and 3 back, which SUCKED. The water was so mucky it made it hard to not freak on what could be under us. Then as we make the final turn and head back the next group of Olympic I think take off and they start to turn into us as we get to their final marker.  Luckily when I got out, there were strippers so I took total advantage of it.

The bike was not as easy as I hoped.. Then again Michigan has hills so I had to figure out how to handle it.  I did pretty good. Only scary part was after the turn, a girl hit a hole or something and went flying.. I totally freaked out. Didn't know if I should stop or what, she stood up waved she was ok, but her bike was gone. I had to refocus and try to keep going. The ride back was tough, it started to get hotter out. There was no sun but the rain from the night before sure made it hard to breath and I could feel it. I sucked down all my water before I got back to transition.

I changed and started on the run. It was a 2 loop run and it was TOUGH.  I was still feeling it from the bike. I couldn't stop drinking. At about mile 3 I had to stop at the bathroom, which may have been a mistake. As I went to pull my shorts up, I felt a pain in my back, it started to spasim and I was hurting. I couldn't stand up straight.  I managed to get out and started to walk.  Just then Rita see's me (she's on the 2nd loop) and asks how I'm doing and I tell her, she's worried and tells me to take it easy and walk it off. I do, only to have Dave come up from behind to tell me to keep running and keep to my intervals, and thru the tears I yell back I'M IN PAIN!!! That was the last I saw him.  Stephanie and I finally caught up to each other and we encouraged each other. At the final stretch I wanted to finish strong so I pulled away to cross with a good run and smiling. It was announce who we were and that we were training for Boulder together. That was really nice.

Well after crossing the finish, I just needed something to drink. I grabbed a muscle milk and downed it... Only to puke it back up. Not a good thing being so close to Medical. I was taken in and iced own. This was definitely not what I wanted on my Half, but it happens.  I wasn't prepared for the humidity and I pushed it too hard on the bike to realize I has dehydrated. I didn't notice that I wasn't sweating during the run, I just wanted to be done.

Lesson LEARNED!!!

New Adventure - Blackhawk Country Roads Invitational

I realize that I need help on my bike.. BIG TIME, and luckily Rich is more than willing to help me out any way he can.  So for my birthday weekend, we took Lou's advice and signed up for the Blackhawk Country Roads Invitation, in Northern Illinois, Southern Wisconsin.  2 days or riding, you pick the distance.  It was thru some nice ROLLING hills and wow some climbs.

The first day we did the 65 miles together. It was a big challenge.  Boy where there some rolling hills and the climb up from Brodhead, granted hitting 33mph going down that hill was AWESOME!!!  We took extra time at the SAG stops to see what was ahead of us. Rich helped me a lot getting over those hills, but it was kind of nice as we rode up from Brodhead and that steep hill was so daunting, that I didn't want to give up. So as Rich pulled over to the side to catch his breath, I just slithered past him saying, I can't stop must keep moving, see you at the top. And I DID IT!!!

https://connect.garmin.com/activity/507162939

The next day, Rich decided to go with a short local route while I went out for a continuous 30ish mile ride.  As I was out there, thinking I was on my own, I felt a shadow come over me.  Someone was behind me. I just kept thinking, come on dude go around me, I'm not gonna race you. But no he didn't. I just got annoyed and picked up the pace, I didn't want anyone behind me like that. But they stuck with me.  Dude was drafting me, WTF. Here I am busting my butt and he's enjoying it.  Little to my surprise it was Rich.. OMG I wanted to scream. He was loving it, letting me do the work. HAHA.. NOT.  Anyways, he turned back and I kept on going.  I hit the first SAG stop and I just kept on going. I wasn't going to stop, because at Boulder I won't have a chance to stop until special needs, so I had to keep moving. As I passed the SAG group they just cheered me on, felt so good.

https://connect.garmin.com/activity/507162956

TrainerRoad - 8 Days of California

Ok, so on top of my regular IM training, I decided to complete yet another challenge. This challenge would put my legs to the test on the bike. TrainerRoad opened a series 8DC for a select group of riders to compete in. It was tough as you had to complete a given ride in 8 days (in which each day lasted 50 hours). So there really wasn't any way to say it couldn't be done, it was just harder to do when I had to keep up with my regular training.

8DC started on Sunday, May 11th and went until Sunday May 18th. Little did I know, that this race was actually going on at the same time, in real life, in California. It wasn't until Stage 7 that I realied the rides were occuring, so when it came to my last stage, I chose the right time to do my ride as the ride was being broadcasted. It was pretty kewl and helped to keep me motivated.

Overall, I completed every stage, as hard as some where, I didn't drop out and tried my hardest to keep the Kickr at 100%. It wasn't until the last 2 stages that I had to adjust the Kickr and drop to below 100%, mainly because my legs were logs and I just couldn't push thru it.

Stage 1: 1:15 - 28.83 miles
Stage 2: 0:59 - 14.59 miles
Stage 3: 1:35 - 22.96 miles
Stage 4: 1:10 - 30.66 miles
Stage 5: 0:56 - 8.6 miles
Stage 6: 1:28 - 13.43 miles
Stage 7: 1:10 - 24.07 miles
Stage 8: 1:21 - 18.66 miles

In 8 days I completed 161.8 miles in god knows how many hours. This on top of my regular training of running (only ran once though), swimming and biking.

Stage 5 was the killer, as you can see with my miles completed. I need to go back and see what that really had and why I went so slow, but I'm sure I was dead from something else that I just couldn't get my speed up.

I'm just happy to say that I finished, plus I won a t-shirt, from a random drawing, for completing Stage 6 :)

Now it's back to my regular training program ... fun fun.