Gotta Start Somewhere!

It is time for Damie to run again. I love to run. I love to race, too! I love to race myself- the clock- my past PRs. I haven't done near as much running or racing this past year, so it is time to get going again!

With my main goals for the spring being half marathon distances, I have some building to do. The distance is a no-brainer, but getting the pace back down is going to take some work. And, I have not been sure where to start, since I really don't know where I am? I know what I can do for a marathon after a 112 mile bike, but that is about it.

So, I need some numbers. I need a place to start. Here we go- Jingle Bells 5k. Now, being 28 days post IM, I still have had no desire whatsoever to run a 5k. I know my speed is lacking. I haven't even paced 2 quick miles in succession for a long time- much less 3. Actually, I haven't even run a 5k since last January! Honestly, anything other than my marathon pace feels fast! But, if I am going to have a starting point, I have to get out there, and this is the only chance I have in the next 5 weeks.

(and I don't know about you, but I hate going to a race when I know I am not in my best shape for that event. I like to line up knowing I have done the work to provide a good result. However, I found myself feeling happy this morning just to be out there...:)

So, off I go this morning, HR monitor on, watch on wrist. First mile 7:21, second mile 7:19, third mile 7:18 (total time 22:43). Well, I have always been a model of consistency, huh? This is by far the slowest 5k I have run in 2 years (well, 3 if you don't count the broken foot). I felt like I could've run more miles, but I could not go any faster. I felt strong- just slow! :) It really goes to show how important specificity is for my racing because I know I am not tremendously out of shape- but I am out of 5k shape. (Pros and amazing people are the exception- I know some of you that stay quick at every distance, Ironman training or not!)

So, now I have a time in hand- a baseline. No, I am not going to start hitting the track with crazy intervals to bring my 5k time down- actually- NO TRACKWORK until Jan for me. What this will do for me is give me a realistic starting point for adding miles at the appropriate paces to work towards my spring goals. I can use some tables from McMillan, Daniels, whomever... and guide my training now. If I had used my old times, I would have been over shooting things. And then maybe we will run another 5k in Jan just to see how we are doing adding mileage and time on my feet again.

Happy running, eating, and holiday shopping to all!

Family Time, and the New T- Shirt Champ

Featured in our 2008 shirt from L to R: Boone, Zinny, Rooney, and Cayenne- all chasing the turkey. Jon drew the original picture by hand!

The 4th annual Turpin Turkey Trot has come and gone. We have a new t-shirt winner: Jon Coker. His shirt was wonderful! The ante is getting upped around here every year, and my shirt clearly ranks in 4th place now. By the way, I am saving all of the t-shirts so in 20 years I can make a quilt of our turkey trot shirts.

Bekah and Zinny on the Turpin Turkey Trot. Lots of smiles!

Dave and Rooney struggled to stay focused during the Turkey Trot. Rooney couldn't understand why we were walking and not running.

I am thankful that I have a family that spends time together. Since my granny passed away several years ago, we have had to work hard as a family to come up with new traditions and keep our family close. And sometimes, as Gina and I have discussed on one of our long runs, keeping your family close takes work and effort. You have to make the effort to meet up- make the effort to keep traditions going- make the effort to create a loving environment.

Everyone got two lottery scratch off tickets. Jon, Bekah, and Dave won something. I was left empty handed, along with my mom and papa.

Damie and Bekah were the main chefs fort the afternoon. He were are dancing and singing in the kitchen...our love's in jeopardy, baby, oooohhhhh.....by Greg Kihn.

Which brings me to my last thought. My post on children, while supposed to be a funny commentary on facebook and the defined age of 30, seemed to spark a lot of different emotions from readers. Rest assured, my friends, that I honor and love all of you with children. I think children are a wonderful gift. Dave and I have weekly, if not daily discussions on planning our own family. We are waiting for our time- our sign that we are in the right place. We firmly believe that we will know when the time is right for us- IF it is right for us. If we just listen to our inner voices, the answers will come to us about our own family. So, we are calm and happy at this time to just enjoy each other and our puppies. Dave is my family, and I am his, and we realize there is no rush. :)

And, of course I also don't need to explain our choices about family planning on a blog. I really also can't pinpoint anything about my decisions that make me selfish, either. So let's move on.

To all of the wonderful moms out there - Happy Thanksgiving, and enjoy this time with your beautiful family and kids. To all my friends sans children, Happy Thanksgiving to you too and enjoy the times with your family, loved ones, and kitties/puppies. And to my granny in heaven, if you can read this, I can't even cook remotely like you. I sure do wish I had paid more attention when you were showing me how to cook instead of just being the taste tester every 5 minutes. We sure do miss your chicken and dumplings and homemade pies.

Turpin Turkey Trot- 4th annual coming up!

Damie and Rebekah- original creators of the annual Turpin Turkey Trot.

This year marks the 4th Annual Turpin Turkey Trot. Turpin, as in my family.

When I lived in New Orleans, I was a recreational runner. I had done a marathon and loved to run, but I never did any 5ks or anything like that. I just ran for fun and to stay in shape for soccer and really had no concept of time. I think I decided to do the New Orleans Turkey Trot 4 miler in 2003 with my friend Carol, and I had a whole lot of fun. If I remember correctly, I ran over 8 min miles. The next year I coerced Dave to go do it with me. I figured this could be my annual running event. I really wanted to break 32 minutes, but I was 32 on the dot- flat 8 min miles (I guess that was the start of me wanting to get faster!). The funniest thing about that day was Dave. We started off together, but at about mile 2 I must have been going way too slow for him because he took off. This was back when he was at his soccer prime and ran so effortlessly. We both enjoyed the morning so much, and then probably got an daquiri on the way home...haha!!!

In 2005, Dave and I were in Memphis living with my parents. And, I still had the cracked-up femur problems from earlier that year. I couldn't run a single mile. When Thanksgiving rolled around, I was a little bummed because I couldn't go do the Memphis Turkey Trot. I really wanted to make that my annual event, but since I couldn't run, well...

So, my sister and I decided to hold our own Thanksgiving run. We made it a 5k course and called it the Turpin Turkey Trot. We even gave t-shirts to the finishers. The first year finishers were: Damie, Bekah, Dave, Linda, and Jim. Since I couldn't run, we just walked the course. It ended up being so much fun we decided to do it again the following year.

Linda Turpin, finishing the 1st annual Turpin Turkey Trot.

Jim Turpin, finishing the 1st annual Turpin Turkey Trot. Maybe this year he will wear running shoes- look at his boots! ha ha!

Yea for me! I got to do a turkey day run/walk!

The first year my sister made the t-shirts. Basically they looked like a little kid had splattered paint in the middle of a turkey.

The second year I made the shirts. Everything was neat, orderly, and in the lines. No one liked them- Bekah said the "lacked creativity." I don't have a picture of them, but I thought they looked very official.

My mom made the shirts for the 3rd year. Although she forgot to write 3rd annual Turpin Turkey Trot on them, she actually sewed old scraps of material to make turkeys. Pretty creative!

This is me in a 3rd annual shirt.

This year it is Jon's turn to make the 4th annual shirt. I can't wait to see what he comes up with! Everyone is welcome to our Turpin Turkey Trot. If you eat with us, it is a requirement that you go on the 5k walk/jog. And, you have to wear your t-shirt. It looks hilarious, and it is! It is a great healthy family tradition we have started in our home. And, no time clock required, just a sense of humor!

2nd Annual Turkey Extravaganze- the Trailer

Well, I don't want to steal Laura's post, since she did host this event.

This is our Thanksgiving day party with our buddies- no family drama, just good food and alcohol. Some people stand in a corner and talk about Ironman Strategy (ahem, Joy, Gary, and Charlie), others sit on the couch and watch football (Don, Dave, and Brandon), and still others just hang out and eat and drink the night away.

We had great food- oyster dressing (a cajun favorite!), bourbon chocolate pecan pie (thanks Linds), and all of the other great Thanksgiving casseroles, starches, and goodies.

Unfortunately I pooped out early- still not feeling my best. That is why I am home blogging and posting pictures! Ha!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend! Good luck to those of you at Ironman Arizona. Good luck to the rest of us battling the desire to gobble till we wobble this week!

My Babies

This post is sure to offend someone- or maybe even more than one. I am writing it anyways, so please keep your panties on- not wadded up. It is just a different, and supposed to be humorous, perspective.

Kids- the new accessory for the 30 year old.

Except when you are 30 and don't have one. Like me. Do dogs count? No, they don't. You see, I live in a sheltered world around here. Many of my every day friends do not have children. So, it is completely normal for me to not have one. My friends here are acquiring dogs too, so I fit in.

But, I can hardly get in touch with an old friend on facebook that does not have a picture of them with their child on their profile. The kids- and the kid nots. That is what it comes to when you reach the age of 30. I am flipping through profiles and all I can see are those with kids, and those without kids- because it is very much advertised. It is the craze- all of my friends want a kid- and they want one now. I try to back away slowly....why the rush? Diamonds aren't forever- KIDS are forever!

And then there is me in the monkey suit. A tri suit to all of us, but a monkey suit to my friends that do not do triathlons. Picture with kid= happy and successful. Picture in triathlon suit=unhappy and crazy.

And then there are the friends with kids that I never get to talk to. They talk to other friends (with kids) quite frequently. But, when it comes to kid-less me, well, what is there to talk about? (what, you don't want to hear about my Ironman, again?)

Some moms are getting quite mad at me now. How can I say such things- obviously I have never had a kid and I don't know the life changing effects they have on you. Actually, I have been told you have never lived or loved until you have a kid. I don't doubt this. And now I will go cry as I realize my life has been shallow and meaningless.

Some of you are laughing at me- you may even be one of the 80% that reported if you had to do it all over again you might not have kids. I heard that on the radio- not sure where it came from. Well, probably none of your kids have hit the teenage years yet, so maybe that statistic doesn't apply just yet- your time will come.

Okay, so I am 30 and kid-less. I am flipping through facebook and don't feel one bit jealous that I don't have a kid to put in my picture. If and when the stork brings a kid to the Roberts household, I will let you all know. With the luck I have with dogs wandering up to me, maybe a kid will just wander up to me too! (neutered with shots would be great).

So here is a picture of me with my newest kid. She is 8 months old now- she is already walking and running, and she has hit her developmental milestones faster than your kid. She can also feed herself and is potty trained. And, while your kid will just develop an attitude and talk back more over time, mine will continue to improve her behavior. I don't have to worry about her getting pregnant or smoking crack. This may be the best mother-daughter relationship around!

A Little Sick

Not full blown, yet. Just the kind of being sick where you feel terrible all day long and then come home and sleep from 4 till the next morning trying to shake whatever is going on. Just when you think you may be feeling better, you are achy again.

Although I was asked not to, I am blaming Elizabeth Fedofsky for giving me her sinus infection.

I am definitely on the grumpy side of life right now- let me go ahead and apologize to my friends. I am missing Laura's birthday dinner and coffee club tomorrow. I have also spent 2 complete afternoons in bed without running or workout out. The dopamine is low and the achy body won't go away- leaving me a irritable mess. For once I have been smart enough to NOT go push my body and go work out. I think the 13 hours of sleep + still feeling like I have been run over is telling me something.

At least tomorrow is Friday- and hopefully this won't cut into my fun weekend ahead.

And thank you to my mystery friend that left soup and tea on my porch. I am drinking the tea right now :)

17 Things

***A request to my blogger friends:  I am in need of some new wheels for my bike for training purposes.  I am looking for something very reasonable and/or even used that will let me get in a lot of riding miles.  If anyone has any suggestions or some for sale, I would love to hear about it.  If any of you have any pro friends that are getting new equipment and maybe trying to get rid of some of their old equipment, please shoot me a note.  I am definitely interested.  

* For some reason I decided to spend more time in the kitchen this week- yesterday it was cooking the pumpkins.  This was fun for the first 30 minutes, but 3 hours later I was really annoyed.  It is messy and takes forever to steam those suckers!  I am so over being Miss Damie Homemaker- this is exactly why I don't cook.  It doesn't leave me time for working out!  But, if anyone local wants some 1-2 cup bags of pumpkin for cooking, let me know because I have extra.  

It is 17 days post Ironman.  17 is my lucky number- today must be a good day.  

17 Things I learned from Ironman:

1. Cooking still sucks.  More to the point, it takes up too much of my time.  I will not pick up cooking as a post Ironman hobby. *
2. I am ready to be off of my bike at mile 108.
3. Chicken broth and flat coke are not near as good as everyone says they are.  Who are these friends of mine that kept bragging about this stuff?
4. I have a terribly weak bladder.  
5. I can keep my cool even when someone calls me a bitch- I never thought I could do this.  (Some crazy girl tried to drown me at IMFL, I wished her a happy IM after she cussed me out. )
6. I have very hot girlfriends- they live at mile 1.5.  
7. I train with some superstars.  That does not make me a superstar, but it makes me the friend of some superstars, which is pretty cool too.  
8. I need to stop bragging about how fast I am at transitions.  My grandma could transition faster in an IM than I did. 
9. While it may not be appropriate for me to smile at my Oly races since I should be hurting, smiling at an IM is completely okay.  
10. No one cares about your race the way you do.  No one has looked at your results and analyzed them- no one cares.  Half of your friends may not even know you did an Ironman.  
11. Dave really does honor, respect, and support my dreams.  
12. Taping pictures of your dogs on your aero bottle and handle bars is a good conversation starter around mile 70.
13. An Ironman is addictive- like exercise crack.  
14. You will forget to do something that day.  For me, it was a change of socks and body glide in my special needs run bag.  
15. It really is a long day- that is over very quickly.  
16. Training will become a distant memory.
17. RAMS:  the right attitude means success.  Oh wait, I learned that in grade school.  

Planning for 2009

My two weeks post- Ironman has ended. I have given my body a wonderful rest! My only workouts for the past two weeks: run x 3 (all easy 30 min or under), swim 2x easy, yoga x 3, and bike x 0! While I have not enjoyed missing out on my daily does of good exercise, I have appreciated the fact that good rest for me now will pay dividends for the next year.

I have also spent this time thinking about the upcoming year. I have had two recurring thoughts:

1. I need to focus on my school clinicals until graduation in May to make sure I am developing my physical therapy skills and feel prepared to pass my boards.
2. I need to race closer to home to honor the financial situation in our family. I need to trim the fat and race locally more often to reduce travel costs.
   

This really led me to the conclusion that 2009 will stay very local. It will allow me to focus on school and not strain to fit in travel. It will also save Dave and I some money. This past year I raced everywhere BUT home, and the costs really did add up by the end of the year.

Here are some of the races I wanted to do next year but I cut from the list because they did not fit my vision for 2009: Mardi Gras Marathon, Sylamore 50k, Gulf Coast Half Ironman, New Orleans 70.3, and Ironman Cozumel! Yes, these races seem so exciting and fun! But, they all involve time away from school and travel $$$.

So, here is my revised plan for 2009.

Jan: Swampstomper 50k. Located in Memphis, for $30 it can't be beat. This would be a fun way to attempt my first 50k with friends in a local environment. While it doesn't have the Sylamore appeal to me, I think it will still be a fun experience.

Feb: ?

March: Little Rock Half Marathon. Mira, consider this your recruiting letter- will run with me? I have done this half 2 years in a row, and I love this race. It is only 2.5 hours away and I can stay with family. This will be a smarter travel option for me in place of the Mardi Gras half marathon. I would like to run this half fast this year!

April: ?

May: Memphis In May. Our biggest local race, I can work on getting a new Oly PR right in my backyard. I have an extra bedroom and another pull out bed if anyone wants to race and needs a place to stay. You must be able to tolerate 2 dogs and 1 cat.

June-October: I am going to do some local tris and pick a Half IM for the fall. I will be out of school and hopefully have a job, so I can maybe treat myself to a half IM out of town.

November: New York marathon perhaps? I think I will put my name in the lottery.

It looks like the ironman will have to wait for 2010. The only IMs I have interest in seem to be filled for this upcoming year. So, I think I will keep my eye out for that Cozumel IM in 2010....

Why I Like To Work With Kids

Special moments working with kids this week:

• One little boy ran and jumped in my lap to sit with me during circle time. What is that wetness I feel? Oh..... great.

• As we were pretending to wash ourselves for gross motor and sensory integration practice, one boy in the class reminded me that we forgot to wash our wieners. I now know who the cleanest kid in that class is!

• One girl wiped her nose on my pants, but tried to do it in secret. When I called her out, she laughed and laughed that I had figured out what she was doing.

• As I was working with a three-year-old girl with spina bifida on pushing up the stairs, she decided she wanted to use my stomach as a place to push. She told me that my tummy was "big."

These are just a few samples of the funny moments in my days, and they are the moments that really keep me going at work.

Sorry I don't have pictures of any of these things- pee, wieners, boogers, or my fat tummy. Next post maybe...

Just As Busy?

I guess when you are a busy person naturally, post Ironman is really no different from every day living. I spent most of my Sunday catching up on all of the chores and to-do's that I have neglected for the past few months.

First up? cleaning the bedroom. That included putting up all of my Florida gear and doing a ton of laundry. My room was a complete wreck, but it is starting to look more like a bedroom. Of course I had some help cleaning with Rooney and Cayenne.

We love to keep mommy company!

Next? The office space. I was facing 2 years of PT school books, notes, and trash just piled everywhere. I didn't even know where to start. I couldn't believe how disorganized everything had become. I don't know how I managed to make it through last semester. Notes were found everywhere except in their proper binder. It was such a mess!
lI am still not completely finished with this area, but it is getting better.

Following the big cleaning session I took Roo out for a run. Cayenne barked for only the second time ever when I left without her, and Dave said she was not very happy with being left behind. She can't go running right now, though, because she has an injury to her back foot that is still healing, plus she was spayed last Tuesday. Roo and I just went for 23 minutes exactly- enough to stretch our legs.

And finally, I had my family over for dinner. Yes, I attempted to serve food to others. I am very proud to say that everyone ate the food, and so far no sickness has been reported.

Here is my papa kicking the soccer ball to Roo. I had to get a picture of him in his Harley clothes with his skull t-shirt and new cap on. Business man by week, Harley warrior by weekend! Oh, and papa has a new blog too- he is also on facebook now, so feel to ask him to be your friend!

The week of domestication has been fun, but everyone keep me in check to make sure I don't get into this home-making rut!

Week One Post Ironman

is so boring. I am such a movement oriented person, just being and not doing has been hard on me this week. And, heaven forbid I had enough time to mop the house today. Yuck! Someone give me a training plan, quick! I don't want Dave to start to take advantage of my extra hours :)

I am recovering really well. I didn't have much soreness at all after the IM, and I am so eager to work out. I have taken the whole week off- the longest time I have ever gone in probably 15 years without some sort of exercise or sports. Tomorrow I am breaking the seal and heading to swim practice- and Sam will be going up to the pool too so I will get to see my buddy. Believe it or not, I am eager to get back on the bike and head out for a run! I am still contemplating my goals- what do I really want to do next? I have a few things in mind...

Nancy, Damie, and Joy- We couldn't quite make it up the stairs without sitting down to rest and pow wow. What is wrong with this picture? It wasn't taken Saturday after the race, it was taken pre-race, post-expo shopping! ha ha! Shopping wore us out!

Mostly right now I am missing my friends. Since there is no training going on, our daily conversations and crazy emails have ceased. I think about doing drastic things like immediately signing up for another ironman so my friends don't forget about me, but then I come to my senses. Life sure is boring without my training partners. Hopefully I will see everyone soon at the Second Annual Turkey Extravaganza hosted by our own Laura. I really feel lucky that we have such a great tri-girls community here in Memphis.

I also feel honored to tell everyone that my ironman has inspired Dave to go to the gym AND go on a run this week. My mom also reported that she hit the gym too, and I think that is great. Movement is so important to our health.

That is all that is happening here on the home front. Dave and I were given tickets to a very nice wine tasting event, so I am heading out for a night full of good, flirty wine!

Post Ironman Thoughts

My hubby and my mom spectating at Ironman Florida.

Yes, so the adrenaline has worn off- for 3 days I was sky high, but now.... So, what to do next? Another IM (yes!). Marathons (yes!) Short stuff (yes!). Life is too short for my long list of to do's! Okay, but I have been instructed to take this week to really think about my goals for next season. So, no decisions just yet.

I have decided to spare the blog world of a mile by mile race report. I figured you guys got the point with my last post that I had tons of fun and hit my goals. The hard part after any race is looking back and saying- could I have done this better? Well, yes and no. I have no doubt that with my new experience I could make some more aggressive goals for the next race and push myself harder. But, I would not change the way I executed my plan this past Saturday- I think it was spot on.

Speaking of, I did not come up with my 350 cal, zone 2, yada yada plan all by myself. I am proud of myself for being the executor of such a great plan, but my inspiration really came from Coach Jen Harrison. She has been my mentor for the past year- helping me undo my bad habits and approach racing differently. I came to her as a burned out, plateaued athlete destined to continue doing what I had always done. I am now growing into a more rounded athlete that can work consistently, push harder, and take charge of my mental outlook.

Jen helped me get to the starting line injury free with clear, appropriate, respectable goals. She always extended the opportunities for me to challenge myself and gave me permission to be competitive. This is something we are still working to develop- bringing out the healthy competitor and not hiding in races. I am still learning what makes me tick as an athlete.

For the past couple of years I viewed myself as a runner. I did what I needed to do to swim, rode once or twice a week on the bike, and then ran like hell. So when Jen yanked my running back for IM training, I freaked. I can't tell you how many emails I sent to her complaining about my running times that were slowing- and, she patiently answered them all and told me to pull my big girl panties up. I felt for sure I couldn't be in shape and I lost sight of my goal from time to time.

Me around mile 22ish? Wow, look at that salt on my shorts!

As I ran the marathon in Florida, I laughed to myself thinking how that dern Jen Harrison was right. She told me I would run the whole marathon, and I did. Yanking my miles back on my burned out ass and teaching me to be able to ride and run off of the bike was just what I needed. She saw the big picture, and I only saw that my 10k time was slower. And, let me tell you- I probably passed 200 people on that run who have faster 10k times than I do.

So, a huge thanks to Jen Harrison for keeping me in line, seeing the big picture, and putting up with my crap. Thank you for a great plan that let me reach my goal.

Ironman Florida!!!!

Yes, I had this much fun the whole time. This is me at mile 12 of the run. I was loving it!

An Ironman race report is not easy to do, so I will just do some highlights here, and then write a detailed report later. I think this will be good for the bloggers that don't really want to read my race mile for mile!

My goal- as stated on my goal sheet- for Ironman Florida: Finish Ironman Florida running the whole marathon. It was that simple. My secret goal was to beat 12 hours.

My plan for Ironman Florida:

• Make the swim easy
  
• 350 calories every hour on the bike (heed/carbo pro + gel)
• Pay hommage to my HR monitor and do not leave zone 2 on the bike.
• No battles on the bike- the ego has to stay home.
• Run the way you have practiced- 8:45 to 9:30 min miles.
  
• No walking. Period- non- negotiable.
  

Okay, I had the most frickin' perfect day ever. My plan was executed exactly the way I planned and practiced. I had only one problem the whole day, and it was the fact that I peed 13 times on the bike- yes, I went back and counted, 13 times on the bike. And, although I did pee on myself a few of those times, I had to stop 8 other times to really go. I lost a lot of time stopping, and I was also uncomfortable for a good portion of the race with a full bladder (plus my bladder is very weak and I cannot hold too much in there). That part was miserable. However, I was getting in plenty of sodium and I was not bloated, so I stuck to my nutrition plan. The problem was the cool weather in the first 2 hours was reducing my sweat output (I am used to Memphis weather), so I was not using all of the fluid I was taking in. And, in the end I think everything worked out because I was hydrated completely and had the appropriate amount of calories to set me up for the run. I was frustrated, but also understood that while my bike time would suffer, my run time would probably improve. In the future, I will probably practice some other nutrition strategies to keep my bladder a little more comfortable. Lord help me when I have kids- I will be in the bathroom all of the time!

But, a good point is- nutrition counts. I never got hungry the whole race. I got in every calorie. I stuck with the plan. I had no stomach problems because I went at my appropriate pace for digesting food.

Also, I stuck with my HR plan. When I saw my HR in zone 3, I immediately backed down. Even if this meant my pace would slow down. Yes, it sucks to let people pass you that you know should not pass you. Yes, it is hard to see a mph avg that you know should be higher. But, I made a decision to use my HR monitor and stay in zone 2. I averaged EXACTLY low to mid zone 2 for the bike. I think this was a good decision for me as a beginner to keep everything on the low end. It meant I was able to digest food. It meant I would be able to run the marathon- my goal. It also meant I had to control my ego when I didn't want to obey my HR monitor. This was the hardest part.

But, let's get to the good stuff. My run rocked. It was the easiest marathon I have ever done. I had one porto-potty stop for some diarrhea time at the 13.1 turnaround but never felt bad or had any problems beyond that. I made sure to get in all of my nurtrition at ever station. I took 1 gel per 3 miles. I did drop my endurolytes and had to start picking up salt tabs off of the ground, and thank goodness for special needs because I stopped there too to retrieve some things I dropped. I ran the whole time unless I was taking in nutrition and needed to walk to do so. I ran just as fast, if not faster at times, on the back half of the marathon. I loved every minute of the run. I never felt like walking- never went to a dark place. I cheered others on and enjoyed myself.

I ran at the pace I trained, and I trained at the pace I thought was reasonable to run for my first ironman. And I finished- no death march, no walking. Goal achieved. It is a beautiful day. Secret goal achieved with an 11:46, it is still a beautiful day.

Okay, that is all of the time I have this morning. I feel great- I am ready to starting training again, and I am not kidding. Don't freak out on me, I am taking the week off. I am just saying I feel good and happy. More details and thoughts to come later.

Cheers!