Ironman Wisconsin and Being Tested

12 days until Ironman and everyone is testing me; the universe is testing me. I have so much going on, mainly in my head, and I wonder if I’m going to make it to September 8. I think I will. 

I know I will.

But the tests, I can do without.

I have been thinking about September 8 a lot. Will I make it to the start? Will I make it to the finish? I don’t know. What if it rains? 

I haven’t biked in rain for a very long time. 

What if it is too hot or too cold? Goodness gracious, how my mind works. 

What I do know is that Ironman Wisconsin is my last Ironman for awhile; I have so much more to do. 

I want to run 50 miles. I want to write another book. I want to try new things. I know that I will compete in Ironman again – specifically LakePlacid. I love training; but today, this week, I don’t love training.

I’m burned out and yet ready for the next thing.

But for now, I love walking my dogs and hoping they don’t get into any trouble. Two weeks ago Daisy wondered what a rattlesnake in the dark smells like.

Winnie likes to smell cactus.

Barrel Cactus

And I get in trouble for not picking up poop. What else could go wrong?

Everything.

But I have a plan.

I always have a plan. 

And it always involves these crazies:

Daisy & Winnie

 

What Not To Do 2 Months Before Ironman

Get a Puppy

Because she will 1) wreck sleeping patterns 2) wake up neighbors when she barks at 4am when you leave the house for a bike ride.

What did I do??????

But she is so darn cute, and her name is Winnie.

Exploring the South West

I walk home from the library carrying book and videos about the southwest. I search for shaded areas to walk, hoping for a short respite from the sun. Today the temperature is over 100 degrees, again. Today is the 23^rd day of triple digits. 

Next month will mark my one year in Tucson. I love Tucson's winters.  

I’m not coping well with the temperatures and only half the mornings can I wake up early enough to run or bike before the heat is too much. I am training for a race in September, a triathlon; an Ironman. I hope to PR and put my triathlon days behind me. For the record, I have been saying this for the last five years. 

This trip to the library I bring home books about hiking and traveling around Arizona. Most days I’m too tired or too scared to travel outside my comfort zone meaning any place outside city limits. Although last spring I drove to Patagonia for a mountain bike ride, about an hour south of Tucson in the mountains. I’ve driven to Phoenix a handful of times, one time hitting debris and getting a flat tire at 3am and missing a half marathon race. I've driven to Lake Havasu City without incident; well I raced poorly, meaning I didn't finish, but that is another story.

I’ve decided that while I’m training, writing a second book, and working that I have to discover Arizona. I need to go find mountain trails, rivers, and lakes. I even called Parker Canyon Lake today to confirm dogs are allowed in the park and in the water. Next weekend, I’m heading there, just miles from the Mexican border. I need to step outside my comfort zone, escape the city heat, and find more stories.

My guide is Day Trips from Phoenix, Tucson and Flagstaff. 

Today, I explored downtown Tucson. I walked along 4^th Ave and ate at Epic Café that reminded me of my friend Sue's coffee shop in downtown Winter Park, CO.  I had the breakfast burrito with bacon. It was good.

Tucson is a great place to live; and I’m going to prove it with forthcoming posts.

Stay Tuned.

Triple T – Shawnee State Park Ohio - 2013

These are my people, the ones who races this past weekend in Shawnee State Park.

The race was …um …..

I’m still processing in my mind what I think of this race. Here is the video of the race:

2013 American Triple-T Recap Video from Rob Lahoda on Vimeo.

After finishing 4 triathlons in 3 days I feel like my mental block is gone. I’ve had some mental blocks since Lake Havasu. 

Of not being good enough, strong enough. 

But since crossing that finish line on May 19th, after swimming, biking hills, and trail running hills, I have my mojo back.

I meet a woman just before the first swim of the Super Sprint who raced the same Ironman races I did in the same year: Ironman Coeur d’Alene in 2009 and Ironman Arizona in 2010. How often does that happen? Never. But in Ohio, meeting like-minded endurance athletes happens every May at this race where they come together to launch their race season.

On paper (or a website) 2 Olympic-distance triathlons seems like a piece of cake. However, the Triple T has other things in mind - the hills give the ultimate test. The hills are hard, but I bike them. I even have a technical problem with my bike that I have to dismount to fix twice. I fix it - no problem.

There is a bike crash and we wait for 10 minutes and I watch as they place her on a stretcher and later learn she was airlifted to a hospital.I hope she is okay. I feel so thankful for my safety on the bike and hope that she will recover and bike again. 

After the 2 Olympic races, I cannot imagine getting back in that water and in my wetsuit, again on Sunday morning. I doubt having the strength to do it. Some times in life, you just have to charge forward and go through the motions. And once I get going, the swim is over and I'm on my bike.

I’m thankful for the laughter with cyclists on the hills and how nuts this particular switch back is today.

I’m thankful for the man ringing his cowbell at the top of the longest, steepest hill before the end of the bike.

On the last leg of the last triathlon I meet Tony from Cincinnati who reaffirms my sanity and gets me through the run.The method to the madness of the half marathon: he is running EFM (Every xxx Mile). This is his 5^th Triple T and vows  to run the entire 13.1 except walking the aid stations. I feel defeated from running my pace and walking a lot. I want to walk the hills like everyone recommends but it isn't working for me.

Tony's pace is about 12-13 minute miles, I mimick his feet, slow and steady. It works on the hills and I just kept going. I tell him about my broken toe – he is a trail runner too. He thinks that all the falls on the trail run and the eventual broken toe is due to muscle imbalance and strength issues in my hips and legs. It is what I said all along but no one agreed or told me anything I understood. He tells me to keep on with functional strength, yoga, Pilates.

I get through that run because I walked EFM. At the finish line I feel amazing. I am tired and sore. 

Tony’s teaching and companionship make the day.

After finishing I eat some beans and cookies, and sit in the cold creek, like everyone else. Tony joins me and instructs me to go to Masters for swimming and to take 2 weeks off before training for Ironman Wisconsin.

It’s simply amazing the people you meet in this sport. I’m so thankful.

And to Joanne from Colorado who met me in Columbus and raced with me. Thank you for joining me on this awesome journey.

The volunteers for the race are amazing. The scenery - spectacular. The company of triathletes is inspiring and makes me believe. They make me believe.

These are my people.

Triple T in Portsmouth Ohio May 2013

I’m going to find out how tough I am in a few days:

The second reason I can see to compete at Triple T is simple; to find out how tough you really are. That may sound bold, but believe me, these courses are seriously tough with hills on the run and the bike in particular that will test the endurance and strength of all but the most skilled climbers. From Musing from an Unconventional Mind. 

I need to practice my mental toughness so next weekend I’ll be in Ohio participating in what is touted as a triathlon weekend tougher than Ironman.

Triple T http://www.americantriple-t.com/

Follow me on Twitter while I post about travelling to, arriving to the race, pre-race, post-race, and more from the race.

I know the race is going to kick my butt.

I have been training, pretty much non-stop for a year.

It’s going to be a fun weekend. Stay tuned for a post-race review.

Garmin Forerunner 310XT - My Opinion

My new training buddy:

It's so pretty. 

The 310XT is not the newest technology but new to me. I have resisted the Garmin for many years. I think I resist because I don't really want to know my pace on a training run. Not a smart way to train.

When I decided to get serious and know my pace so that I can push it and get faster, I bought it.

It arrived last weekend and after a week of using it, here is my opinion on this Garmin Forerunner 310XT GPS Fitness Monitor:

The Look – It is pretty. It matches my running shoes; unintentional, of course.

The Feel – It’s a little bulky but I’m getting used to it. It doesn't feel awesome in the water swimming laps in the pool and I haven’t figure out how to make it record correctly in the water anyway. A few days ago when I swam 1500 it recorded 2.3 miles. It may be user error.

Technical Support – I had some difficulty getting the Garmin to transfer data after the first use. I had to wait until Monday to call technical support and while I waited to speak to a technician for about 10 minutes, the technician did help me quickly. 

The Garmin is not out-of-the-box easy to figure out. The User login/account creation to Garmin Connect is not intuitive.

I am getting more comfortable with the process of paring the device, but was hoping it would transfer data automatically, I have to click Yes to enable pairing each time I transfer data. Kind of a pain. Again, maybe user error.

I am coming to love my Garmin, despite its difficulty. I like looking down at the display and seeing my pace at 8 minute miles; even if it is just for a few minutes. I don’t have the heart rate monitor or the cycling add-on, which probably would make me love this device more.

Here is one the most detailed reviews of the device.  

I'm still trying to figure out all the features. I will use it while racing the Triple T in a few weeks. I'll let you know how it goes. 

Social Media—Bane or Boon to Trail Running?

Social media is a boon to trail running.

I stay inspired by all the men and women who are writing about trail running. As a triathlete/runner who spent the winter trail running in Tucson and Phoenix, I was inspired to go longer this year after reading several blogs and joining a trail running group on Facebook, Trail and Ultra Running.

Trail running in Saguaro East, Tucson

I follow over 20 trail runners on Twitter. At the end of the night I look through my feed and follow links from trail runners who post about nutrition, strength training tips, offer motivational advice, and post photos of themselves in their running environment.

I follow runners who tweet and post to Facebook as they drive to their event, then post photos of the start – I’m as excited as they are about their race. I get a good picture of what the race venue is like and think about the race for the following year. I even stay tuned throughout the day to see results and what they post after the race. I especially like reading race reports about how they felt during the race, what they ate, and what went through their mind after several hours on the trail.

But the most important aspect of social networking is reading about runners like me – the age groupers, the ones that don’t finish first. I get a firsthand look at what drives other runners like me.

Social media has helped me realize that I’m not crazy. That there are people like me in the world who want to push the limits, who want to go longer, and yet, just want to finish; not necessarily first.

One of my favorite bloggers who I follow on Twitter is Sherpa John

He recently wrote this blog post about Risk Addiction and when I read it, I thought, This is what I have been feeling and thinking, but have never been able to put the words together as eloquently as he did.

He said, “Take another step back and look at who the people in our community are. We're all addicts. People always ask us, "What are you running from?" We're quick to jump to our own personal defense by saying "nothing." The reality is, many of us are. Many of the runners in our community are replacing a bad addiction or habit, with a better addiction. That addiction is running. All of us know someone who at one time had an eating disorder. Now they're a runner. Or someone who was a drug addict, and now they're a runner. Or Someone who suffers from depression, bi-polar or some other manic disorder, now running helps them cope. I'm not sure a single one of us is running just for the hell of it. Our personalities and needs are what require us to take on the challenges we decide to face. So let me cut to the chase. We're all addicted to adrenaline.”

I love these bloggers, writers, social media types who run and share their lives with the world. They want to become better. I want to get better, and it starts by engaging like-minded athletes. Social media helps us connect so that we know we are not crazy and certainly not alone in this world.