Almost single digits!

It is with mixed emotions that I announce:

10 days to Ironman!!!

People have been asking me how I’m feeling. Overall, I’m doing great.

I admit to being mildly Ironman obsessed these days. Seriously, every aspect of my life is revolving around the upcoming race. All of my thoughts and energy are somehow related to the big day.

• I am excited! I can’t wait to get to Panama City. I rented a sweet condo overlooking the beach, only half a mile from the race site. It is going to be so cool to get down there and do all of the race prep and be with my teammates and our supporters.

• I am happy! While I have felt very supported over the past 6 months, as the date approaches I am feeling wonderfully overwhelmed by all of the people that I know are cheering for me. Long time friends, new friends, teammates, even people I don’t know who read this blog… It has been truly AMAZING.

• I am energized! I didn’t believe it when you said it, but all of you who told me that the exhaustion would give way to energy and excitement during the taper period were right. I am raring to go..

• I am freaked! I can’t really imagine that I will race for as long as I will, but I know I can do it. I think this contributes to my instinct to pack everything I own “just in case.”

• I am nervous. I’ve been listening to a recorded version of Coach Ed’s IMFL prep talk (thanks, Ryan!). I’ve been listening to it a little at a time, but I honestly find that it is causing me stress pain in my stomach. It is crazy.

• I am READY! I am going to give it everything. I am confident in myself.

As a side note, I had the privilege of spending some time with (triathlon guru) Coach Ken Mierke last week. He told me that he knows I will be fine. Maybe it is because he is a two-time world Ironman champion, or that he has coached 15 world champions to victory, or that he has personally conducted my own VO2 max tests, but whatever it is, it calmed me. I believe him. I will be fine.

There are so many people I want to thank…and that will come later. Right now, I want to say a special thanks to the three people are making the trip Panama City to support me on race day:

Oli – I don’t know what I would do without you. You are the sherpa-extraordinaire.

Joe – You’ve been a wonderful mentor, going so far as to effectively diagnose my swimming problem via my blog. You got me into this and you have seen me through the journey.

Dr. Keith – My muscles and my mind thank you. Your help has gone way beyond fixing my tired body and I appreciate your ongoing physical and mental therapy.

Two weeks out!

Exactly two weeks from right now I will be eating my pre-Ironman breakfast and getting ready for an incredibly long and satisfying day.

Are you as excited as I am????

I really am excited. And about 100 other emotions. I am really looking forward to the trip to Panama City. I am looking forward to spending time with my teammates. I can't wait to have that medal in my hand and to be able to call myself, offically, Ironwomancat.

Right now I am leaning against an M-dot tattoo. I might do like my teammate and buy the M-dot temporary tattoos.

I have thought of a few other creative ways to memorialize my accomplishment. I'm going to wait to announce those, though.

Suffice it to say that when, not if, I accomplish this, I won't be too shy about sharing my joy.

Check out one of my favorite blog posts from my teammate Es. I imagine I might be feeling quite a bit like she did.

Bermuda Pictures

Okay my wonderful blog readers, that time has arrived. Bermuda pictures are here! Thanks to Amanda for taking most of these.

View from our room at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess

Don't I look stylin' in my helmet?

Our scooters. These were SO fun.

Aeriel view of Bermuda.

The circlular body of water on the left is the Harrington Sound where we swam.

Best race shwag.

Notice the bottle of rum in the middle,

the fluorescent yellow t-shirt and the hot pink cinch bag.

The finish area. 24 hours later I was exiting the water via these stairs.

Getting ready to race.

The race start. Looked fine to me. Now I know better.

Another view of the water for the first 2k.

The turnaround point for the last 1.5k.

Someone clearly had her face out of the water way too much.

Despite liberal use of spf 30, I look like I am wearing a red mask.

Beautiful sunset. You can see itty bitty me in the bottom left corner.

Take that, Kayak boy!

Hello from sunny Bermuda. It is so incredible here. Beautiful water, wonderful people, perfect weather (so far!).

As you probably know, the pretext for this trip is the annual Round the Sound Swim. It is a swim competition consisting of several distances: 10k, 7.25k, 4k, 2k, .8k. My friend Amanda, who is a swimmer but is tired of me calling her that, has wanted to participate in this event for years but things kept happening. Last winter we attended a travel expo together and she casually mentioned it. Without hestitaition I offered to accompany her. At the time I thought I would just make a vacation out of it and do the shortest swim option.

As luck would have it, much happened between then and now. Most importatntly, I completely lost my mind and signed up for IMFL. So when the time came to sign up for the event, imagine my joy in discovering that the 4k (2.4 miles) swim option happens to be the exact distance I will “get to” swim in just 3 short weeks.

Fast forward to two days ago. Amanda and I made our way to Bermuda by way of Miami. If you’ve looked at a map (not that I had, really) you’ll notice that Bermuda is basically off the coast of North Carolina. So, we took the long way. The really long way thanks to American Airlines, who made what should have been a 2-hour trip if we had a direct flight, into a 8-hour adventure fraught with radio issues and plane replacements. But alas, we made it here around midnight Friday and are totally in love with the islands and our lovely room in the Fairmont Princess Hamilton.

Yesterday we rode our fun little scooters over the mandatory pre-race meeting.  It was a pretty well run little shindig. After a good briefing we got to take a boat ride. At the time I was growing a little impatient as we waited over an hour for our turn on the boat. (Fortunately, the amazing event organizers had a whole spread of snack foods and beverages for us to enjoy while we waited.) I hinted to Amanda that we might want to skip it.  However,  I am so glad we didn't because it was really helpful  to see the course ahead of time.

My thoughts were: 1) holy crap this is far; 2) oh wow the first 1.2 miles is choppy; 3) oh my, this is a long boat ride and I have to swim this tomorrow. Did I mention that it looked really, really far? Well, it was. Oy.

Twenty hours and a lot of positive self-talking and calming myself later, it was time for me to get in the water. Everyone jumped in and as I let everyone go ahead of me I actually said out loud “I’m going to be the last one out of the water , I might as well be the last one in.”

Once I got in, sweet Amanda came to check on me and make sure I was okay. I was pretty calm. She made me laugh when she told me how she had completely torn the back of her swimsuit getting in the water. It was even funnier when I recalled that this is not the first time she’s done that. Ha!

And off they went. And I followed. I knew ahead of time that the water would be choppy for the first half. At first it was okay. My biggest concern was that I would get queasy, but that never happened. The real problem was that often when I would turn my head to breathe or look up to sight I would get pounded with salt water. Ick. Plus it was really making it difficult to swim straight and make much forward progress.

It didn’t take long before I had salt in my mouth, nose and throat. It was freakin’ awful. As I told kayak boy, I tried to pretend I was sucking on a pretzel. He added, “a soggy pretzel.” Well, yeah.

Apart from that funny comment by him, kayak boy (his real name is Daniel) was seriously lacking in both a sense of humor and any sense of encouragement. Great.

I didn’t see much of him during the first half. A couple of times he came by to check on me (I was last by a long shot. Not surprising since this is a purely swim event where swimmers, yes, real swimmers, go to compete. I was so totally out of my league.)

At one point I asked if I could hang on to the kayak for a bit. While I was there we had the following conversation.

Me:        How much further to the dock? [Note: there was a dock at the halfway point where we had to check in and could get Gatorade/water.]

KB:         About 300 yards. Is that your stopping point?

Me: No. Just halfway. But I heard that the water gets calmer from that point forward.

KB: You should consider stopping. You’re shaking.

Me: Nah. I can do this. I’ve been training really hard.

KB: [Disbelievingly] Really?...... Like, what kind of distances?

Me: [Blank, shut the @*&^ up stare.]……………….. I am going to keep going.

A little while later:

Me: Hey. Can I just hang on for a bit?

KB: Okay. [He paddles over. Then a real boat sees me and shouts that I can get on.]

Me: I don’t want to get on. I just need to rest a second [my goggles were really bugging me so I kept stopping to give my face a break].

KB: [Shouting to the boat] She doesn’t want to get on, she just wants to rest.

[Repeat the above conversation 3 times in a row, until I finally just swim off.]

A little while later, I request another break with KB and he suggested that he could take me to the boat. I am on the verge of tears at this point and my shaking is getting worse. I have no idea what that was about. So I agreed and told him to take me to the boat.

He got about two paddles strokes when I said, NO, wait, stop. I have to do this. I know I can do this. I have trained for this. He again asked me how I was training and again it pissed me off. It was like he didn’t believe me.

So I swam on and made it to the dock. The deal was you were supposed to tread water, get a wrist band to show that you had made the stop, check in, and drink what you wanted. I asked if there was a ladder and they directed me to the stairs. I made it up, shaking, and was in tears. I was working so hard. The 1.2 miles, which had taken me 52-55 minutes in my previous tri’s had taken me 1 hour and 24 minutes.

The volunteers were great. I guess I looked dehydrated, because they brought me Gatorade and water. Actually, 4 cups of Gatorade and 2 cups of water. Pretty funny.

My mouth was so salty though that the Gatorade had no taste. That salty mouth feeling was so disgusting. Yuck. I drank one cup each, finished crying, talked a bit to the volunteers about the course that remained, and decided to go on.

As I told the volunteers, I knew I would be really pissed at myself if I gave up. So I wouldn’t. I am Ironcat, dammit. I can do ANYTHING.

The total break was about 3 minutes and I know kayak boy, who was lingering around the dock looking after me, was pretty surprised to see me get back in the water. Take that, kayak boy.

Fortunately what I had been told was true, the second half was much calmer than the first.  Roughly an hour and five minutes later I reached the finish. Final time was roughly 2:34.

I just barely pulled myself out of the water. I saw Amanda and started crying. She and our new friend Jan, the nurse, consoled me.  In my tears however, I was able to appreciate what I had acoomplished. I did not give up. I swam 2.4 miles in choppy, really darn salty water.

Soooo…in 3 weeks I need to do it again. Needless to say, I am dreading it. DREADING it!

I was completely fried when I got out of the water. Doesn’t bode well for jumping on my bike and completing an Ironman.

The good news is that with any luck, Florida will not be choppy like the water was today. And I’ll have a wetsuit, which I didn’t today. Maybe the water in the Gulf will be less salty, too, which would be much nicer.

Plus, I have 3 weeks to get my endurance worked out. Amanda and Jan said I have a beautiful stroke. That might be, but as I pointed out, it doesn’t work.

So, a really, really tough day for Cat. But even though I could have given up. I could have quit, I didn’t. And that is why I am Ironcat.

I am truly hoping for the best at Florida. I will give it everything I’ve got and do what I need to. If I don’t make it, it is not the end of the world. But I doubt I will try again. I can’t stand any more Ironman training.

I guess I need to think of it like I did the bar exam. One of my law school professors had told me over lunch that when he was studying for the exam he told himself that he could rest then, or rest later, when he could be studying for the bar exam for the second time. His advice stayed with me that summer and I often reminded myself of that when I felt like I wanted to being doing something other than studying. Fortunately, I passed the Virginia bar exam the first time around.

So, I will give IMFL my all, and hope it is enough. Hope that I am lucky enough to have good conditions and no mechanical issues. But unlike the bar exam, I doubt there will be a second chance. I think I’d rather study for another bar exam that do this again.

Here’s to a restful and anxiety free 20 days and a fabulous race day on November 7.

               

Bassman Pictures

I am still no blogspot expert, as clearly evidenced by the fact that I can't seem to rearrange the pictures I just uploaded. So here they are in random order.

Thanks to my teammates for posting tons of great shots on facebook, many of which I stole and included here. The rest are saved to my computer and stream endlessly on my screen saver. It is so fun seeing everyone's smiling faces.

Let the Taper Begin!

The time has finally come. I have completed my final grueling training weekend of my Ironman training. Whew. As of today there are 25 days until the big race. Wowser!

The Big Weekend

Not worth going into much detail about the weekend. The 20-mile run went well. I stayed in zone 2 the whole way and averaged 11 min/miles with my one-minute walk breaks every mile.

It was a nice day on the W&OD trail. Temps in the 60s with occassional drizzle. I came 'this close' to bringing a kitten home with me. But the cute little baby didn’t want to run the 2 miles back to the car with me.

Afterwards I did everything I could think of to mitigate the effects of the run to prepare for the next day’s ride. I stretched. I sticked. I ice-bathed. I got lightly massaged. I ate well.

I think my efforts paid off, but I was still sore the next day. Not as bad as it could have been, but my calves were screaming!

Sunday morning’s 5 am wakeup came quickly. The ride was out in Easton, Maryland - is about 90 minutes from home. The plan was to do 120 miles (though Ironman is only 112). We were supposed to do 27 miles out and back (54 miles roundtrip) twice (total of 108) and I guess find another 12 miles somewhere.

As often happens, I wound up riding alone. Not surprisingly, I was the slowest of the IM FL bunch again. No big deal. I wasn’t too far behind until the last 27-mile stretch when my calf pain became very intense in my right leg. For a while I thought my popliteus injury (the area behind my knee) had returned. After a while I realized that it was just the pain in my calf shooting up my leg. Ouch.

When I returned to the starting point at 109 miles (I added some distance when I circled waiting for a drawbridge to go down) I called it a day. During that last part I realized that if it were race day I could have cranked it out and gotten it done. But during this training ride I decided that it was better to stop than to push forward and make it worse.

Again I reminded myself that when race day comes, I will be on rested legs and I will kick butt. I didn’t let the shortcoming of the day bother me (too much).

Special thanks to my own personal sherpa who rode at my slow pace with me for a half hour of his 2-hour ride and then drove around for almost 6 hours looking after me. Oh yeah, and he drove me to and from the ride. Pretty awesome to have that kind of support. Thank you!

Fortunately, the day after was a holiday. What a blessing! It was so nice to sleep late and take a midday nap. I was definitely feeling the effects of the training weekend and about ten times I said how glad I was that I wasn’t at work.

Moving Forward

As I mentioned in my long post last week, this taper doesn’t look much of like a taper to me. I know it will be good, though. At least I don’t have any run/ride weekends longer than 12/50. I remember when that would be huge. Now it isn’t too big a deal. And no, I won’t blow off the workouts.

It looks like we’ll be swimming 90 minutes twice a week for the next couple of weeks. I wasn’t expecting that since the Lake Placid folks swam 90 minutes once/week for 6 weeks. So this morning I swam the full time and it was actually pretty good.

Looking ahead
Friday I head to Bermuda (yay!!!!) where I will complete the Round the Sound swim on Sunday. It is as good an opportunity as any for me get in the ocean and practice. Lucky for me, one of the distances offered is the same 2.4 miles I will swim at Ironman. Wish me luck!

Now I need to start thinking about what to pack and how to prepare myself for the day. I really can’t believe how quickly time is flying by. I’m excited about the race and I’m am really looking forward to completing this journey.

Bassman Race Report: The Detailed Version

For those who might be interested, here is a more detailed race report. If you'd like the short version, see the post below :)
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This race was to be my final “training race” for my upcoming Ironman. That means that I was supposed treat the race as I will Ironman and take it easy (stay in zone 2 the entire time).

This was my second half distance (my first was the Mussleman Half in upstate NY in July). That race was tougher because it was so hilly. Also, it wasn’t a team race so I didn’t have the incredible support of my fabulous team z-mates. I didn’t have a tent where I was served breakfast and lunch and could hang out and relax before and after the race.


Pre-race
All went pretty smoothly once we *finally* made it into the park. The traffic backup was insane, and once we made it into the park it seemed there was just no good reason for the delay. Just the the park employees making mass confusion. Grrrr.

I finally reached the transition area and began setting up. It was immediately apparent that this was a Team Z race. I think at least 1/3 to 1/2 of the half distance entrants were sporting the team green. Yeah!!! It was really fun catching up with everyone.

After milling about the team tent for a while and choosing not to succumb to the Reese’s peanut butter cups that were calling my name, I began trying to get on the wetsuit. I don’t think I’ll ever become a pro at suiting up in latex. Fortunately, I brought with me the “best sherpa ever.” He did an amazing job of getting that suit all cinched up just right. I’m a pretty lucky gal.

I made my way to the lake and opted to forego a swim warmup. The lake water was cold – in the 60s – and I had zero desire to swim any more than needed. I waded in to my knees and that was enough for me.

We were then summoned back up to the shore for a pre-race “briefing.” Right. This little speech was insane. I know the race director was trying to be thorough, but just thinking about it makes me chuckle. I think it was about the time that he was talking about the pothole at mile 18 that I left to go get a gu and a drink. I’m not kidding.

When I came back, he will still rambling, and then I left to go the bathroom. Yup, that means I had to get that wetsuit all cinched up again. Oops.

Eventually the RD stopped talking and we headed back to the lake. It was so much nicer getting in the water will my friends than being totally alone. We even took some pics, which I will have to post later.

Swim
Before the race I checked out the lake and evaluated the course. I thought it actually looked pretty doable. It looked long, but not unreasonable. Then I learned that it was a two-loop course. Great.

I started out right where I like to be – in the back. This is so much better than getting into the washing machine that is a triathlon swim start. I experienced no kicking and no attempted drownings.

About half way through the first loop I started getting warm as the water that had entered my wetsuit got heated up.

The good news is that my swimming actually felt pretty good. I was comfortable in the water. My stroke was decent. My sighting was much improved over past experiences. While most of the time I didn’t feel tired, I just wanted to get out of the water. I think I was just overwhelmed at the thought of doubling this distance in a month.

So I guess you can say I was bored and just sick of swimming. That should come as no surprise. I’m happy to say that I got it done and just like that I was rounding the final buoy.

I made it out of the water and glanced at my watch. I misread it and thought I had a PR. Although I didn’t, I think this was my best swim ever. It turns out this course was a bit long so that makes me feel a little better.

Right now I feel unprepared to double that swim in a month, but I have 5 long (90-minute) swims on the training schedule between now and then. Plus I have a practice 2.4 mile open water swim in Bermuda in 2 weeks…yeah!).

T1
Transition was a bit of a mess for me. I could not get my wetsuit off over my Garmin to save my life. A nearby volunteer even tried unsuccessfully to help me pull the wetsuit over my hand. All that did was bruise up my hand. Ouch. Once I finally removed the watch entirely, the rest of t1 went smoothly. Note to self, next time, just twist the unit off the quick release strap and hold it while removing the arm of the wetsuit. Duh.

Bike
It was a good ride. My plan was simple: stay in zone 2 and take in nutrition as planned for Ironman.

I don’t think I posted much about it here, but for the past few weeks I have been totally preoccupied with the thought that I will not make the bike cutoff in Florida. It is just that averages from my training rides have been so slow that it looked like it would be close.

I calculated that, assuming a 1:50 swim (realistic) and a 10-minute transition (we’re talking full clothing change here), I need to average 13.5 miles per hour in order to finish the ride by the 5:15 cutoff time (7 am start).

I am thrilled to say that I no longer worried (much) about this. I stayed in steady zone 2 and average 14.8 mph on the course. Yes!!! I hit the 56 mile mark in 3:45. [For some unkown reason, the course was 58 miles. Why????] So even if there’s wind, a potty break, and a slight slowdown at the end, I should be well within the bounds of completing the bike course in 8:15. Woo-hoo!

That is a huge confidence booster going into FL.

A few times when I was passed I would have a little conversation with myself. I would ask, “Cat, are you staying in zone 2?” I’d answer, “Yes.” “Well then, you’re doing exactly what you need to do.” It might sound a little crazy, but it helped and instantly I would settle back into my groove.

I even managed to pass a few people during the second loop. Actually, quite a few. And I wasn’t really trying. I was just maintaining my steady pace. So, all in all, a successful ride for me.

T2
Transition 2 was totally uneventful. Except for the dummy who put his bike in my spot. Fortunately he was standing there and I got him to move it. What the heck? Grrr.

Run
To be totally honest about it, this course stunk. [I can't get the crazy map posted so you can check out the link and look at the second map to see what I'm talking about.] It was very confusing and disorienting. Lots of trail running, including running on narrow trails where people were also running towards you. There were loops and out and backs. It was really tough mentally.

Fortunately for me running is my best sport. I embrace that and I push hard – staying in zone 2, of course. I stuck with the plan of 1 mile run, 1 minute walk almost the entire time except for a bit at the end where I stopped to talk to a friend who was having a hard time.

Overall, the run was tough but good. It was nice being able to run by the crazy team Z tent a couple of times. You could hear the ruckus from far away, including the horns and cowbells, but seeing it and hearing your name being called raises the experience to another level. Wow!

Just as I was finishing up, the Knight (and best sherpa) appeared. He had finished the run leg of a relay, but had ventured out cheer me on and tell me I had 800 yards to go. I told him I planned to sprint it and dared him to try to keep up. Hahaha!

Final time: 7:18.

Swim: 55:34 (1.2 miles +); Bike 3:52 (58 miles); Run 2:24 (13.2 miles)

Thoughts

I am really pleased with how the day went. Everything (that I could control) was spot on. It would have been nice to have more aid stations and a potty or two on the bike course but I made the most of everything.

Despite it all going well, as these races do, it took everything out of me. I find myself completely exhausted and sore, wondering why the heck I do this to myself. As usual, I don't sleep through the night for a few days afterwards. My stomach is upset. My muscles are tight and the training just keeps going.

While I know in my heart and my mind that I am going to be ready for Florida, right now I honestly wonder why I want to. Don't get me wrong, I'm okay. I will do this. I know it is just the fatigue talking. But in order to get through the next month - especially this week - I am telling myself that after Ironman not only do I not have to swim anymore, but I am not doing any more races. Well, except for that pesky Goofy Challenge I already signed up for.

I know that my spirit will be back soon…but right now I am so doggone tired. I am about to do a spin workout that calls for 30 minutes in zone 4, followed by 3 minutes in zone 5. Did I mention that I swam for an hour and a half this morning?  This weekend has a 20 mile run on Saturday and a 120 mile ride on Sunday.

Lately I've been joking that maybe our coach doesn't really know what he's doing with these training plans. No, really, I know that he does...but this all just seems so insane. 20 and 120 the weekend after a half?

I *am* excited for Ironman, I’m just humbled by how challenging this training has been. It is one thing to train for a marathon and gradually increase your distance. When I was marathon training, I would do a long run one week, and the next one was a week or two later. Lots of recovery time to bask in the glow of accomplishing your last long run.

Ironman training is a whole other story. I guess we are training ourselves for such a monumental task that it requires pushing yourself hard over long periods of time.

The good news is that next week we begin to recover and taper. Whatever that means. I've looked at the training schedule and it doesn't seem all that easy to me. Yeah, there are no strength workouts over the next 4 weeks. Yay. But there's still speed work at the track (8 x 1200 Z4 - seriously???) and 90 minute swims.

I'm just being honest here. I'm really okay. I'm just totally worn out. I hear this is all normal and I am embracing that.

Yes, I'm ready for Ironman. And I'm also ready to be done.

Maybe I'll write a post about what I plan to do when I am finished...

[Can someone please direct me to this post if I *EVER* start talking about doing this again? Thanks in advance. :)]

Bassman Race Report - Short(er) Version

This race was to be my final “training race” for my upcoming Ironman. It was my second half distance (my first was the Mussleman Half in upstate NY in July). Everything went according to plan and I am feeling great heading into my final month of training.


Pre-race
All went pretty smoothly once we *finally* made it into the park. I got myself together, including getting suited up in the wetsuit. The “best sherpa ever” helped me really get it sinched up well.

I decided not to do a swim warmup. The lake water was cold – in the 60s – and I had zero desire to swim any more than needed. I waded in to my knees and that was enough for me to confirm that was plenty.

Swim
Before the race I checked out the lake and evaluated the course. I thought it actually looked pretty doable. It is long, but not ridiculous. Then I learned that it was a two-loop course. Great.

I started out right where I like to be – in the back. This is so much better than getting into the washing machine that is a triathlon swim start. I experienced no kicking and no attempted drownings.

About half way through the first loop I started getting warm. My swimming was actually pretty good. I felt comfortable in the water. My stroke was decent. My sighting was much improved over past experiences. While I didn’t feel tired, I just wanted to get out of the water. I think I was just overwhelmed at the thought of doubling this distance in a month.

I made it out of the water and glanced at my watch. I misread it and thought I had a PR. Although I didn’t, I think this was my best swim ever. I feel unprepared to double that effort, but I have 5 weeks to get there (plus a practice 2.4 mile swim in Bermuda in 2 weeks…yeah!).

T1
Transition was a bit of a mess for me. I could not get my wetsuit off over my Garmin to save my life. Once I finally removed the watch entirely, the rest of t1 went smoothly.

Bike
It was a good ride. I am thrilled that I accomplished my goal here – by a wide margin - which is a huge confidence booster going into FL. The course was not exciting (read: boring) but I kept my pace, stayed in zone 2, and got it done.

A few times when I was passed I would have a little conversation with myself. I would ask, “Cat, are you staying in zone 2?” I’d answer, “Yes.” “Well then, you’re doing exactly what you need to do.” It might sound a little crazy, but it helped and instantly I would settle back into my groove.

T2
Totally uneventful. Except for the dummy who put his bike in my spot. Fortunately he was standing there and I got him to move. Grrr.

Run
I’m trying to be positive but this course stunk. Very confusing. Lots of trail running. Tons of loops and out and backs. It was really tough mentally.

Fortunately for me running is my best sport. I embrace that and I push hard – staying in zone 2, of course. I stuck with the plan of 1 mile run, 1 minute walk almost the entire time except for a bit at the end where I stopped to talk to a friend who was having a hard time.

Overall, the run was tough but good.

Final time: 7:18.

I am really pleased with how the day went. Everything (that I could control) was spot on. It would have been nice to have more aid stations and a potty or two on the bike course but I made the most of everything.

Despite it all going well, as these races do, it took everything out of me. I find myself completely exhausted and sore, wondering why the heck I do this to myself. While I know I can get through Florida, in my current state I can’t imagine doing so.

I know that my spirit will be back soon…probably tomorrow after a good night’s rest. I have one month and one day until Florida. I am focused on the goal and I will get through the next 32 days.

I *am* excited for Ironman, I’m just humbled by how challenging this training has been. This weekend will be my 20 mile run on Saturday and a 120 mile ride on Sunday. The good news is that after that we begin to recover and taper. Deep breath. I can’t wait.

Stay tuned for an enhanced, detailed race report when I get the energy to post it.