Recovery Part 2!

Sigh.  The race is over.  For a few days, you get to talk about it and people are interested.  After that, you get to talk it over with yourself, because you are still interested.  Then, a week passes, and you realize it is old news.  :)

Dave has been helping me with recovery.  He took me to Jerry's Snow Cones earlier this week.  Snow cone + ice cream in the middle.  Genius. 

I have had a few interesting conversations this week on the difficulty of the course.  I never know what to say to this.  A fast race doesn't mean the course was "easy."  It *almost* hurts my feelings when people say this, as though it takes away from my accomplishment, but since I know my goals are within, I refuse to let those creepy little suggestions negate my race.  I really don't think that anyone that chooses to sign up for an extremely hot race is "cherry picking" a fast time.  That is just my opinion.

I think I used to be guilty of this.  I thought IMFL was "an easy course."  But, I now realize the error of that thinking.  The course might be flat and fast, but that also means people are putting on a different kind of hurt for the day.  So, to tell someone that their ironman was on an easy course just doesn't make sense.  Every course holds its own challenge, and elevation is not the only variable.  Yes, some courses are harder.  They just are.  Look at the pro times.  Look at the splits.  But, that doesn't make any other ironman easy.  

I really can't say if IMTX is harder or easier than anything else.  For me, and me alone, the course seemed easier than Wales and harder than Florida.  But, with the heat, my day in Texas was harder than Wales in some ways.  And, you know what?  Maybe Florida was harder than Texas in some ways because I was new, didn't have the miles behind me, etc.  Plus, I just don't think you can compare different courses over different years.  I think you just have to experience the day, weather, and course with your fellow competitors and enjoy the bonds you now share.

Fast times do not make a course easy in my estimation.  Jordan Rapp, while fast, was working HARD.  He earned that time through hard work, not because he picked an easy course.  He is setting records because he is improving.  Is riding 112 miles ever easy?  Is running 26.2 miles in 90 degrees ever easy, even if you are fast?  The fields are getting faster across the boards, I think.  No one would say that Kona is an easy course, yet people are very fast there every year.  No matter which ironman you choose, the race will be hard.  Enjoy your challenge on your day.

Now that Ironman is over, I am saving for my Camaro.  I have $800 in the bank so far- still have a ways to go.  :)  Everyone keeps pushing the mini-van on me, but I am holding steady with my Camaro fund.  Dave keeps telling me I can't put a baby seat in a Camaro.  Um, yes I can.  My papa said he would help me restore one, and I am holding him to it.  Dave brought home a convertible this weekend for me to have some play time (the benefits of a husband in the rental car business).  It was so much fun to have the top down and just relax!!!!!

And, one last piece of recovery...the fried twinkie.  Yes, it was good.  I wonder if it was gluten free?