July 2007 Archives

It's been 5 weeks since I really did any serious training ... and today it really showed. My husband and I are signed up for a *very* hilly 100 mile bike ride next weekend and so I figured I should, well, ride a bit, maybe ... before the event. Since getting sick after IMCDA on June 24th I had not been motivated to do anything anyway, and then there was the distraction of the Tour de France of course, which ended today. So, suddenly, I found myself this afternoon with nothing really pressing to do ... and I realized next Sunday is coming awfully fast!

I've been tagged by Juls so here it goes ... I don't even know what a "meme" is - anyone? But I'll make it up as I go along. That's kind of what my life has been like. I grew up a military brat so moved a lot. I got to see a lot of neat places and meet a wide variety of people. But the down side of moving a lot was that I didn't develop those life-long friendships that I envy of others. But, I do have several long time friends, some spanning more than 1/2 of my life at this point (yikes) ... and I cherish those. I also learned how to make friends quickly because, well, you had to if you were only going to be living in a place for a year or two.

IMCDA is a distant memory and I am already plotting what to do with myself for the rest of the racing season. I know recovery is an important part of my training plan, especially since I was so sick the week following my event, and I am still feeling pretty fatigued.

So here's what my recovery and next build phase plans look like:

Swim do core strength training regularly throughout the month of July. Easy spinning and running occasionally.

Ramp up cycling and running intensity and distance starting in August, and continue to swim and do core strength training regularly.

Run (not race) Wharf to Wharf on July 22nd (with friends from work)
Ride (not race) Santa Cruz Mountain Challenge Aug 4 (with my dear husband)

Vacation in Breckenridge Aug 10 - 17 (with my family) - aahhh

Big Kahuna 1/2 IM Sept 9 - an "A" race
Knoxville Double Century Ride Sept 29 (for fun with a friend)
Nike Women's 1/2 Marathon Oct 21(for fun with a friend)
CIM Dec 2 (hoping to qualify for Boston with a sub 4:00)

To the future ... now the hunt is on to find a training plan that I think will get me to Boston ... if any of you have used a particular one with success I would be interested in hearing about it. Cheers.

The higher you go, the harder you fall ... such is life. Success would not be so sweet if it weren't for the stinging memories of failures. Health would not be so precious to us if it weren't for the occasional illness. Life is about balance. I was on the top of the world two weeks ago, after finishing Ironman Coeur d'Alene within my goal time.

Since returning home 10 days ago I've been sick ever since. Today is the first day that I've felt like I have ANY energy at all, and my cough has finally dwindled to an occasional burst rather than a constant barrage. Thank God for drugs ... (red wine is considered medicinal in our household).

As I sit here contemplating a blank page in front of me I'm stunned, and pleased to note that I am *really* looking forward to running again. It has been a long time since I felt this way about a run, and I think a lot of my optimism has to do with how great I felt during the IMCDA marathon. I realize that I may not be able to run long, or fast tomorrow, but run I will ... and whatever I do will feel great. I need to start moving my body again ... I can't remember the last time I've been THIS sedentary for THIS loonnngg. It's been agonizing.

Women 45 – 49 (Place10/61). Not bad, considering ...

You might think I look happy here, but I'm not really... I'm just smiling because I was that much closer to getting this race started, which meant I was also that much closer to putting it behind me. I was matter of fact about what needed to get done when, and not too much into soaking up the atmosphere. I was pretty sure I'd get enough of *that* on race day, which I did ... See more pictures here.

This was my second Ironman event, the first being Ironman Canada in 2005. In some ways this event was easier and in some ways it was harder. Physically I felt better prepared and more confident in my ability to finish strong. But mentally I was not as happy or excited to be there. The week leading up to Coeur d’Alene I felt tired and lethargic, not excited and primed to compete. I didn't know what was wrong with me. Was I getting sick (p-l-e-a-s-e no), or was I just burned out on the single-track purpose I'd set myself for the past 13 weeks? Perhaps I had I peaked too early, or overtrained during the final weeks of preparation, and what if I was already on the downside of my conditioning?

Despite my inner demons, there was never any question as to starting and completing the event … even when, five minutes before the gun went off, the race announcer gave us all an option to forego the swim and do a duathlon instead, because the wind was creating “dangerously” choppy water conditions. (I considered it for a split second.) But realistically folks, I had trained to do the full Ironman and that’s what I was going to do. At one point, when I found myself in a group of swimmers veering inside the corner buoy I stopped and swam around it the correct way. I wasn’t going to cheat myself.