In Order

My little sister, Rebekah, is now is 5-ish weeks away from delivering my nephew, Nathaniel, to me. I am excited to say that her 3rd trimester hormones are much better than her 2nd trimester hormones (she hates it what I say that- don't ever tell a pregnant woman she is hormonal). We have been spending a lot of fun time together and having some good talks these past few weeks.

I decided post ironman that I am getting EVERYTHING in order in my life. I am getting every little penny a place in the budget. I am doing every single CEU so I can keep my physical therapy and counseling licenses. I am getting the yearly termite check set up and getting estimates on replacing the roof. And...I am cleaning out my closets.

Rebekah- aka Bookie- won't let me do this alone. She is the queen of cute, and I am the maid of drab. She bullied her way into my closet-cleaning and made my try on every single piece of clothing in my closet. I would say my clothes have a retention rate of 30% when my sister is involved. I don't understand why I can't keep certain clothes from college. So they are 15 years old and should be worn by a teenager? What, that is not me?

So we had 4 piles: keep, alter, give away, and then the costume pile (which I made up because I just can't bear to part with some things. I mean, I can make a costume out of that dress that is way too short, right?) Bookie does not agree with the costume pile, but I make one anyways.
Here is a beautiful example of a dress that has been in my closet for too long. The hot pink sports bra is a great look with it, I think. Guess which pile it went in? I said keep, because it is fun. Bookie said give away because it belongs at a high school dance. I tried to negotiate with the costume pile. I mean...can't we turn this into something? It ended up in the give away bag. You don't win much when going up against a pregnant woman.

The pregnant, clothing queen on her royal perch, forcing me to try on every item of clothing. My supposed best friends, Rooney and Cayenne, seemed to be on her side of every clothing decision.

So far I have only completed the closet and I have 3 huge garbage bags of clothes and shoes. My closet is only about 5 x2 feet. Yikes!!!!! I told you Bookie is strict!

I did find something to wear to my sister's baby shower the next day. No more complaining that I don't have any clothes.

And how did I reward my sister for her clothing expertise? She asked me to come with her to Baptism class next Sunday since Jon cannot go. And, you know what came out of my mouth? Seriously. I said, "But the Hawaii Ironman is going on right around that time. I might miss the finish!"

I backtracked quickly....awaiting a full lashing. But, like I said, 3rd trimester hormones are much, much better so I was safe. I am going to Baptism class, and she hasn't said a word about how I almost chose to watch a triathlon over saving her son's soul. Ha ha ha!!!! :))))))

(but can we move class to a different time? :)

***Edit! Julia just saved me. I got my dates all mixed up and now I can do it all! Whoo hooo!!!!! The 8th is on Saturday!

T3

I call this T3...the transition that comes after T1 and T2...the after-race transition.

I am a little lost puppy without ironman training. Most of the minutes I used to devote to training are now spent at work, worrying about work, planning for work, etc... With ironman training, I would work long and hard with my job and then cut it off and train. Now I don't have the built in excuses and reasons to leave earlier or say "no" to my boss. My days are progressively creeping into my nights at the office.

I miss the balance. It is amazing how much you can make happen when you are truly limited in time. How did I do it? I woke up at 4:45 am almost every morning to work out before work. I did workouts at 7:00pm after work. I said "no" to social engagements. I said "no" to extra work. I trained long on the weekends. It worked.

Now I have a lot of extra "work"...at my real job. And a lot of extra "fluff" activities that were not a part of my training plan, such as "sip and chips" at the Mexican restaurant with my co-workers (which is tonight, BTW). :)

Dave is happy to have me around a little more. I think he was extra happy to have me cook dinner on Tuesday night. I think it is my time to give back a little bit.

But I am looking for that next challenge. I haven't found it yet, but I am ready to get one or four on my calendar. I don't think I was made to stay in T3 for very long.

Rest and Debrief

**I want to give a shout out to STEVE COLE- my teammate and swim partner. He is the ONLY 11 time Xterra Regional Champ in history, and he just won his age group at the Xterra USA Championship. Awesome.**

Most of the time I do not want to return home from vacation, but I must say that I am actually enjoying my time back home just being me. I have finally had a chance to talk to most of my friends about the race, debrief a little bit with Tim, and just be my normal, post-race self.

I have had a lot of time to reflect on the race. I enjoyed the race so much and thought the day was incredible. I did have some mixed feelings about the bike after the race. But, when I had time to sit down and actually look at the results, I realized that I did have a good race. I tend to discuss the negative and shove the positive away in a dark corner as if it doesn't matter. It is really a personality fault of mine, and I have done that all of my life. I can win a soccer game, and complain that I messed up one play. Too negative! I am trying to stop that, so, here is the positive, out to shine...

I was one of the only people in my AG to actually get faster on the bike from the 2nd to 3rd sections, and I had the 4th fastest bike split in the 3rd section in the AG. I can take away the fact that as the race went on, I got better. That is great! While everyone else was slowing, only myself and one other girl were getting faster. I started to learn how to ride the course, and my endurance was starting to really shine. I still have a lot to learn and many areas for improvement, but that is GOOD! If I left the day with no way to improve, that would be bad. That would mean I had reached the end of my development.

On top of that, my time would have awarded me 1st-5th place in any other age group. Except 30-34. For this race, 30-34 was stacked, which I think is awesome. I was the first American woman finisher, but this American wants to learn to race like the Europeans! Light years beyond me! It is motivational.

So, with Wales behind me, I am now looking forward to perhaps some half-marathon training. I ran for 1 hour today with no problems (except that I gained 4 pounds over the past two weeks and I was out of breath at zone 2....). Dave just asked if I want to go get margaritas, and I said yes! Tomorrow is my sister's baby shower, which means more margaritas and cake! Looks like those 4+ pounds are going to be hanging around just a little bit longer.

So here are some post-IMWales pictures... a little tour of England.

Hanging with the Windsor natives...

A fantastic sign at White Hart Lane- it is about glory...

These were the best seats we have ever had in our lives. Too bad Liverpool had their worst game in 7 years...

Liverpool vs Tottenham. For 90 minutes, I was really, really missing being a soccer player. Dave was proud to say that I am the only female that he knows from here that has been to 3 EPL games. I was proud to see how Dave was able to talk football with all of the locals- he knew just as much as the Brits- every player, every team, ever trade. He is actually watching EPL right now as I type...

Our German travel partners, Hein and Christine. On this night, we celebrated with them their 33 years of marriage...

One of our favorite bars in Stratford: The Dirty Duck. After watching A Midummer Night's Dream at the Royal Shakespeare Academy, we found the actors' bar, and then gawked all night...

The day after the ironman and my first castle...

Several days after ironman, and my favorite castle. Notice how I am always wearing Los Locos gear? Well, I was so busy packing race-wear, I completely forgot to pack street clothes. I wore the same clothes over and over and had to wash my underclothes in the sink. Classy.

Yes, a little immature. I thought this was funny, especially after someone highly recommended we go visit the Brass Rubbing Center. If you look closely, you can see that I am starting to swell up. I had very little post race problems or fatigue, but then 2 days later, I had so much fluid retention you could not even see my knees or ankles.

A beer and a pub...

looks like I was on a roll in the UK! :)

Ironman Wales Race Report

Awesome.

This race is going to stay under the radar, and that is a little unfortunate. It was an amazing venue and a great challenge. Post race consensus from iron veterans was that this was one of the hardest iron distance races around, even when compared to Lanzarote. My only comparison is Ironman Florida, so it was easy for me to agree.

Swim- 1:08: Hurricane Katia turned into a tropical depression over Wales over race weekend. The winds were a solid 25-30 mph all day long- STEADY- with 40 mph gusts. Trainer weather if you ask me, but I didn't have a choice to stay inside. But, the rain stayed away through the morning and it was a perfect 60ish degrees outside for the race.

The swim course was changed to a different venue for safety. Water temps 57 degrees. I never heard the signal to start. Next thing I knew, everyone was in the water and I was just figuring out the race had started! The bad news is, the water was so choppy it was sickening. The good news is, the field was so spread out from the waves, I didn't have anyone crawl over me, even in the first 200 meters. I was supposed to find feet, but that didn't happen. I think I was supposed to swim, too, but I was just ducking under waves and pushing through current.

While I sincerely keep trying to improve my swim, I continue to end up in the middle to back of every big race. I am looking forward to the day that all changes:) Swim split 27th in AG.
For T1, you get to run 1000 meters or so through the town, which was actually pretty cool. I didn't mind at all. This race is no frills. No wetsuit stripper. No assistance in the changing room. No segregated changing rooms. Boys and girls together in one big group. I tried not to let my eyes wander.
Bike-6:49: I don't even know where to start on the bike. I just had to look up my time because I didn't even remember it. I am stuck between wondering if I did all I could on the bike vs. under performing. Everyone keeps assuming I had difficulty with the hills. 6800 feet of climbing? No problem! :) Yes, the hills were absolutely the toughest I have ever encountered (have you ever ridden 3 mph up a half mile hill x 2 on your ironman and been the only one that was not walking their bike?). The course was relentless- the hills never ended. However, I felt fit all day long and the hills were no problem. The wind was tough too- constantly blowing and keeping me out of aero position to keep my bike upright. But the hills and wind were not as tough as the technical design of the course.

Almost all of the descents were blind with 90 degree turns at the bottom. I didn't take my normal risks. Almost all of the climbs were blind and unexpected. I wasn't prepared with my gearing. If you haven't ridden in Europe, it is hard to picture the roads. In America, our roads are mostly wide open. In Europe, the roads barely fit 1-2 cars, and you can not see too far ahead with the curves and elevation changes.

I had a few malfunctions (chain problems x 3) with just a few minutes lost overall. Like I said, I was not prepared with my gearing. I was not not ready to shift CONSTANTLY through the race...I have never done that. I have never spent so much time in my small chain ring. It was a new challenge. But, I learned and moved on. It was all good- no worries.

Then my left aero bar snapped in half. Just literally broke around mile 45-50. I was on my aero bars at the time and was so lucky to stay upright. There was nothing to be done- it was broken in half! I laughed, and moved on. So much for all of that time I spent training in aero!

Despite everything, the ride felt fine. Maybe too fine? Around mile 80 I realized there was a problem. I was not catching any girls. I was not riding near the people I wanted to be riding near. I started slicing through the field the rest of the ride- never passed, only passing. I caught a few girls, got to T2, and realized it was too late. I never felt the need to get off of my bike, and I was wishing I could ride another 50 miles to catch some more people.

Did I under-ride? Or, did I ride appropriately to set up a good marathon?

I don't have a good analysis yet. I hung out with a very cool German guy the day after the race that rode a 4:50 for his last IM and rode near 6:00 for Wales. What we decided is that we did not risk enough. We both were so worried about HR, course conditions, and a very tough marathon ahead that we did not risk much. Those who rode well risked more.

I expected a slow bike split, but I expected everyone else to be slow as well. I didn't expect to be so far back. Apparently everyone else had other plans, and I didn't get the memo. Bike split 13th AG which moved me to 17thAG.

Despite what appears to be a lackluster performance, I felt extremely bike fit and enjoyed the course immensely. It was breathtaking, really.
The Run- 3:46: I still didn't know where I was in the race. I soon found out- Wales is a 4 loop course. I was wayyyyy back. (and FYI, Wales does not body mark, so I had no clue what women were in what AG...no ages on the back of calves). The fun thing about Wales is you get an armband every time you do a loop. It really motivates you to complete a loop because you are insanely jealous of people that have more armbands than you. :)

I did NOT run at 8 min pace from the onset...that tracker is lying. I went 9:45, 9:15, 8:45...then I started running. The course it all up or down-1500 feet of climbing (way more elevation than Shelby Forest, for you Memphians)- the hardest marathon I have ever encountered. I would have peed in my pants out of fear, except that I had already peed in my pants about 10 times on the bike. But, at mile 4, I knew I was going to have a good marathon. Something just clicked. I was going up the long, huge hill and I was running fast and my HR was really low. I was blown away, realized I was fit, and started running. I thought...the other girls will blow up on the run and I am going to catch so many people.

But, no one blew up because everyone was really fit. It was so fierce out there with the women. Everyone in front of me was just killing it. Girls behind me were killing it. We were all running our brains out. It was awesome. I have never raced against so many awesome women. It was really fun.

I caught basically no one but still ran my A$$ off. The course was so hilly, but I didn't even think about it- I just ran. I did have a little race going on with 3 other women in the race that appeared to be in my AG. I had a diarrhea problem x 3- nothing wrong with my stomach, I just couldn't go to the bathroom that morning and it had to come out sometime. So, I would duck in the porta potty, they would pass me, I would come out 1-2 min later, and run like hell to re-pass them. This happened x 3...the final time I did not repass 2 of the girls....dang it! They beat me to the line. I did beat the German cheater, though, that was getting aid and fuel from her boyfriend all along the course.

I was enjoying the last mile until I saw a girl behind me trying to get me at the end. So, I literally had to race till the end and my last few miles were as fast as any others in the race. I was pretty emotional hitting the carpet when I realized that I had just raced a full marathon- not just run a marathon, but raced it. I was racing at mile 25. I could have raced at mile 28 if I needed to. It was a good day. I think I finished 14 or 15 in my AG.

Too bad I couldn't think of anything better to do for pictures. Lame. Yet funny. Dave and I spent some time cracking up over my race pictures. You should see him make fun of me. It is not my fault the crowd was so awesome and cheered me on so much. They made me do it!
Later that night and the next day I had 3 different guys come up to me and tell me that they remember me from the run course (could recall the orange and blue kit) and that they were impressed with my running and that they remembered my good form. From someone that could barely run a 10k last year, and even then had trouble breaking 50 min, this was a huge compliment to my season of hard work.
Here is a video of my (lame) finish. I am so pumped it is hilarious. This will give you a pretty good indication of the wind that lasted all day.



In retrospect, there was nothing that riding my bike 20 or 30 minutes faster would have solved. Coming out of the water so far back is just as much of a problem. While I hate to see that my bike did not shine through as usual, I think the day was successful, and I had a great time.

I would definitely do this race again, and now in the back of my mind I think I need to one day take on the challenges of Lanzarote and then...Norseman!!! Yes!!!!!

If you haven't raced in Europe or taken a challenge out of your normal racing routine, I suggest you get out there and try something new and hard. Go race some really fast people. Go race a really hard course. Go enjoy learning and becoming a better athlete. Get out of your comfort zone a little bit. You never know how much more there is to learn until you try something new.

PS- thanks for all of the support through the race. You guys rock!

Here we go!

Wales has been an absolute blast so far- one of my favorite trips ever. I have tons of stories already, and I am a step away from being deported, but more on that later. I have made tons of friends from other countries, and this is just such a different experience from my other races.

Everyone always thinks their race is super hard, but the reality belongs to me alone. So I have made a promise to myself- no complaining-only embracing. I am so excited to take on this challenge, and I know it will be such an amazing accomplishment.

Some interesting and odd things planned for tomorrow.

- the swim venue was changed due to chop, thus resulting in approx 1 mile transition through the city. Kind of cool!
- bike special needs is at mile 72 or so, and you get off of your bike to go find it.
- there is just one big changing room with everyone's bags on racks. Males and females all together.
- Dave gives me my special needs bag on the run. Not really sure if this has to happen at the half way point or not?

There are just so many other weird quirks with this race, but I think that lends itself to an even more unique experience.

Time to rest and prepare! See you on the other side!

Almost There!

As Keith reminded me today....just 6 more days! I am looking so forward to this race, and I think I might even be more excited for it than I was for my first ironman. I am going to Wales!!!! I am going to take on this awesome challenging course- freezing, choppy water, hilly hard ride, tons of wind, and hilly run. The Wales tourism website, in return, has told me they have beaches, castles, and mountains for me to enjoy. I think it is a fair trade.

My race plan simplified:

• I will start the swim on the outside and swim longer if I have to and slower than I have to in order to enjoy the day. Period. I love to swim, but I definitely have open water anxiety (people trying to kill me anxiety).
• I will ride with HR and RPE, not by speed. Luckily I have raced so long without a computer that I never know what my mph is anyways. When you don't have some random mph that you just have to hold, it makes it so much easier to listen to your body and stay within your HR zone.
  
• I will run much the same way. Super slow at first- and I will use my garmin to make sure my first miles are reasonable, and then I will just do what I can do for that day. I will know it when I am doing it. I have some ideas of what pace I think I can hold, but for me, I also know that every day can be a little different for me, so I will listen to my body and find a pace that lets me run the whole marathon.
  

I still feel like such a newbie at all of this sometimes. I have only done 1 other ironman, and 4 half-iron distances. That does not seem like a lot of experience to me! But, I definitely have a lot of enthusiasm to bring to the course and a love for the sport. I am so excited to keep having opportunities to do longer events.

We depart for London tomorrow and then begin the journey to Wales. I am not sure how much I will be on the computer overseas, and Dave and I will not have a phone over there, so this may be it for the blog and phone for a while.

Before I leave, good luck to Julia in her first IM at Wisconsin this Sunday. We have been having an insane time with email lately- paragraphs and paragraphs about our concerns, preparation, hopes, etc. They have been wonderful to read- thank you for the support Julia!

I have many good friends to thank, as always. Little notes, cards, phone calls, texts etc.. do make a difference, so thank you to my friends and family that have reminded me of their friendship this week. And, thank you Nami and Bekah for taking care of the dogs and my house for me. I have never been away from Rooney and Cayenne this long, and I am really, really sad about it. I am glad they are in good hands.

And Joy- thank you for my care package, complete with fudge rounds that were for after the race but became part of my pre- race carbo loading. That was total sabotage, but I loved it! And, how did you remember I always paint my nails opposite colors before a big race? You rock- I almost cried when I got that package.

And, to sign off. I always race in memory of Mac and Chad. This time many of my PT kids picked a mile for me to race in their honor as well. One of my younger boys with muscular dystrophy had trouble picking his mile, and he asked me "which is your best event?" I was surprised that he really understood I would be doing 3 events, and that I might be better at one than the other. I am not really sure (although I KNOW it is not the swim- ha!) so I told him usually the bike. So, he picked mile 1 of the bike because he wanted me to think of him in the event where I "go the fastest." This is from a kid that will never walk again. Ughhh!!!! It was just crazy hearing that from him and it has been on my mind all week long, so he definitely has mile 1 of the bike, and all of my other kids have their special miles for many special reasons as well.

Okay! Over and out!
Tues: airplane
Wed: London + Opera!
Thurs: Bristol
Fri: Tenby
Sat: go crazy
Sun: Race!

Restful Bliss!!!

Sorry! Another dog picture (just one more). I can't help it!!!! It is Saturday and I should be either 1. doing my bike session or 2. packing for the trip. Instead I am 3. wondering how mad Dave will be if I bring Wilbur home for the weekend to hang with us and forming a new weekend plan. My taper brain is going hay-wire.

(supposedly...allegedly...there is already and adoption application on Wilbur. Of course! He is the sweetest dern dog I have ever met! I am excited for him, but I started to become all mom-like when I heard about it. "Who is this person? I want to meet him. I want to check him out. I think Wilbur wants to be with his sister and they should be adopted together. Wilbur, do you want to go with this guy? Maybe I will get his address and do periodic stalking to make sure you are okay." It is just that Wilbur was in such bad shape and so scared when I first saw him. I don't ever want him to experience that again.)
Focus, focus Damie! I LOVE that we have a 3 day weekend. I feel hardly any stress at all. I have plenty of time to pack, and coupled with minimal workouts, I have time to just hang. I haven't had days of NOTHINGNESS in so long. Where did the worry go? I am normally such a stressed person, yet here I am lying in bed in my nightclothes doing nothing. Amazing what rest and chillin' can do for you! I slept in (well, till 6am, but that counts) every single day this week except for 1 early morning. I feel revived!

I sometimes wonder how I made it through all of those horrible early wake-up alarms...the longggg days at work...the weekends of no recovery because it was so hot I had to wake up before the sun as well. But, I did it- and I would and will do it again in a heartbeat!

Okay. So, I am focused again. In this order. 1. Do bike workout. 2. Work on packing. 3. Plot a Wilbur weekend.

Afternoon Edit:
Look who came over for some social time? I feel 100% better. I now feel at peace that everything will work out just fine for him.

But, so much for all of that extra energy I had earlier in the day. The dogs wore me out. Note to self: do not start planning extra things just because you are feeling spiffy!
Bike Ride: accomplished
Play Date With Wilbur: accomplished
Packing: Delayed until further notice or increased intake of food