42 Days Until NothingMan

Blink--you better get back to training!

I got back on the horse, so to speak, on Thursday, doing a short swim just to see how things felt. They felt pretty good, so on Friday, I biked to the outdoor pool and swam, and then later I did an abs/core workout, which also felt good, just because I think it helps to rebalance muscles that get out of whack during an Ironman. I also got a massage that was well-needed.

Today was a great day. I slept like a baby, including having weird Ironman dreams--I know there was a wristband involved--and woke up and got going on some paperwork. Not my usual Saturday morning! I went to the farmer's market and got some good stuff, but still no Illinois tomatoes! Today's tomatoes are from Kentucky. Man--I hope they are good! I wasn't too impressed with either the Canadian or Arkansas tomatoes. To me, Michigan and Illinois have the absolute best!

Of course, whenever I get the chance, I am putting things away and cleaning up, even beyond how I left my house before I left for Lake Placid. A lot of things went there with me, and I'd say about 75% of them have been put away.

A little before 11:00, I went to swim at the outdoor pool. Heaven! Swimming there in the sun was divine, and they left up a couple of lanes after the 1-hour designated lap swim time. Even though I'm still up about 5 lbs. (my massage therapist commented on my swollen lower abs, for example), um...I'm still fairly buff, and when the "regulars" showed up at noon, I got quite a few looks. Plus, I'm getting my deep, dark tan. I am going to repeat this tomorrow! Even if I can't swim for shit right now!

In other news, I fixed fucking bottles today. Time to get back on the training horse to get ready for NothingMan. I'm totally pumped about NothingMan, as I know it will be 100% intense, crazy fun. Doesn't that sound strange talking about an Ironman? Oh, by the way, we are doing 2.5/115/27. Just so we can say we did over an Ironman. Someone was trying to get me to commit to 3/120/30, but sorry, not this time! Maybe in 2009, who knows?

Tomorrow I only need to ride easy for 2 hours, so I'm going to try that out and then head back to the outdoor pool to work on my tan--I may or may not actually swim! Isn't that a hoot? Today while swimming, I was thinking how fortunate the people are who can actually spend time just laying in the sun! But hey, even though that's not my normal M.O., I totally understand it. I expect that I will tire of "regular life" in a few days here...already I notice my body is out of whack from a lack of exercise.

I'm working on my schedule for 2008-2009 season, and for you inquiring minds out there, here's what appears to be on tap after NothingMan (which is 9/13, FYI...anyone who wants to come and spectate, volunteer or do some or all of it is welcome at my house):

• 11/9/2008: 1/2 NothingMan. Probably will be all indoors.
• 11/27/2o08 (Thanksgiving Day): 5K race (local) followed by a bike and FOOD!
• 2/14/2009: Myrtle Beach Marathon (attempting to qualify for Boston)
• 3/6/2009: sprint NothingMan
• 3/7/2009: 1/2 NothingMan
• 3/27/2009: sprint NothingMan
• 3/28/2009: Double or NothingMan (2 Oly's back to back)
• 4/17-4/19/2009: Triple Dog Dare (sprint Friday; Oly Saturday; 1/2 IM Sunday)
• 4/27-5/3/2009: Big Bike Week (as much biking as I can handle--I may travel someplace else for this, who knows?)
• 5/4/2009-5/10/2009: Big Run Week (about 45 miles or so of running and lots of swimming)
• 5/21-5/23/2009: Triple T (solo)
• 6/20/2009: Horribly Hilly Hundreds 200K ride
• 7/26/2009: Ironman USA (4th time)

I dunno--does that look like a tough schedule? The only tough part is that I will be doing the "traditional" long run schedule for an intermediate marathon runner for the Myrtle Beach Marathon, and the schedule I'm using has 2 18-milers, 3 20-milers and a 22-miler in there. I'm counting on the base I've developed over the past 8 years to allow me to do a decent amount of swim and bike training while pounding out those big long runs. I probably won't change up my weekday running that much, because just by going the really long distances on Sundays, I'll be punching up my run mileage a lot.

There--I said it. That is what I'm going to try and do. As far as my current season goes, so yeah, IMLP was more or less a bust, but you know it was the punctuation on my Dad's death that I needed and that's what I really think held me back. But I'm going to change up my taper a bit again for next year...one thing I'm learning is that I get older, I need a LOT of volume and can handle it closer and closer to a big race. I mean, I can pretty much do a 15-hour Ironman at the drop of a hat (well, maybe not today...). Plus, I had such a shitty winter last year, I'm really looking forward to giving the winter absolute fucking hell this time.

I'm enjoying my rest, but I don't feel right, either. It's time to HTFU again. After 11 Ironmans, I can say that, well, I'm in pretty good shape for my age. I still can't think of anything else I'd rather be doing on a beautiful summer day than swimming, biking or running (or gardening--pics forthcoming!) either by myself or with good friends.

Oh--tomorrow is going to be riding on LGL--she is SOOOOOO happy to go out with me. I won't be duct-taping tunes to the bars, but I'll have plenty of company in my head as I begin to think about NothingMan. I tell ya, there's nothing like it. NOTHING! It's going to be DA BOMB!

Meanwhile, everyone HTFU and get the hell on with your life!

The Fun Parts of IMLP

I think this picture from Friday, July 18 pretty much sums it up. It was taken on the deck of the awesome house I stayed in with Shelley and Cindy. Shelley and I are both going back to race IMLP in 2009, and we will be staying in the same house!!! We sort of established a tradition this time that whenever one of us was on deck and someone else was arriving at the house or just driving or walking within sight, we'd flash them. I know there were at least a few appreciative passersby, even if there wasn't much to see when I was the one flashing!

Shelley is a real Crackhead enabler, I have to say. The Hello Kitty panties are a gift from her to me last year, and the Barbie crown and earring set are from her to me this year. The Tootsie Roll socks are just socks I got for myself. In case you would like some for yourself, head to Joy of Socks. They have lots of cool socks, and bonus, they almost work as compression socks!

If you zoom in on the photo (and yes, I know you are doing that), you will see a series of reddish dots just above my right nipple. Those are from something or somethings that stung me on Tuesday, July 15 while doing my last ride before leaving for Lake Placid. Cindy calls them my bee stings, as opposed to my tits which are just normal mosquito bites. Sorry, but I've never had anything in that department! You'd think at least the bee stings or whatever they were would provide some enhancement, but NOOOOOOO.

Later this same evening, Shelley and I had a really nice dinner and some wine on the deck, and then we headed into downtown Lake Placid for a walk--about 1/2 mile from the house. I left my Barbie crown and earrings on since I was feeling rather festive. I'm pretty sure I got a number of strange looks, but I know I was all smiles. We went to visit a mutual friend at his hotel, but he wasn't there, and I guess his wife wasn't too appreciative of our visit or message, which probably came across as two drunk chics asking for her husband. Oh well--we were having fun!

The picture below (that I lifted from Shelley) was taken after Shelley and I had gone riding the same morning on the run course. I bought pirate socks for Shelley, Cindy and me, and we all had fun wearing them, but I can't tell you how much fun it was wearing them while riding! Shelley was also wearing streamers that I had given her, and we were quite the sight! Many of the people who were doing the race had their game faces on and were confused by the sight of us, but several athletes got the joke/fun aspect and would smile and give us high fives or other gestures of approval.





















I don't think I have ever had so much fun in my life, I mean really. Sure, I had my worst Ironman performance in 5 years, but I have put that aside to focus on all the great things that happened during the last week:

• I drove 850 miles straight by myself in 13.5 hours on Tuesday--from New York to home! This proved to me that I can do an Ironman and then do another Ironman of driving. You may think the drive was boring (OK, so I had to speed through Canada), but for some reason it was just another opportunity to apply my focus on something and get it done.
• I got to be a part of other athlete's successful days. Cindy rocked the course, and I am so happy for her! Other friends of mine did the same. So what if it didn't happen to me. And the best part is nobody (at least to my face) said anything remotely like "you suck" to me.
  
• I learned some do's and don'ts for riding and running in the rain. Obviously, if I ever have to do it again, it won't be such a big deal to me.
• I got to be taken care of for a few days. By good friends, and by total strangers. It was the best!
  
• I set a new PR for number of times I peed in a single day. It had to be well over 50 times!
• I think other than during the actual race, I spent more time laughing than doing anything else!

While yesterday morning was an emotional blowout for me (pretty normal post-IM crap), by yesterday evening I was already looking forward to my next adventures--NothingMan is coming up, and I've already got a secret hardcore schedule prepared for 2009 that is beginning to take shape.

In the meantime, I am still a bloated pig with all the extra water I am carrying around--I look nothing like in the pictures above--I'm up about 6 pounds--and while still pretty tired, I'm actually going to go for a short swim today and looking forward to a weekend outdoors.

Life is FUCKING AWESOME!!!

Ironman Deluge Brief Race Report

Actually, I came up with a number of names for the race while out there yesterday:

• Ironman pee pee socks
• Ironman deluge
• Ironman what the fucking hell
• Ironman Beat the Dead Guy (more on that later)

I did not have a good day, but I didn't have a bad day. 15 hours and a minute or so (which I could have saved had I not stopped to pick up my special needs bags before finishing). I think the rain got to me, I think I didn't have enough hill riding under my belt, and I think some of the cumulative stress of the last 9 months managed to stay with me.

I knew it was going to be a rainy day, but I managed to put my wetsuit on in the beach house next to the lake before it started coming down, so that was a good thing. I lined up way in the back so I could wait for the washing machine to pass, and at some point while swimming, I figured out it was raining. It didn't seem to add too much chop to the lake, though, so that was a good thing. Although I thought I was swimming well, I guess not. I just can't figure out this swim! I can do 2.4 miles in a pool in 1:15, so what's up with 1:25? Oh well, get out and get on with the bike.

I met, or should I say he spotted me, Swordfish, on Saturday, and he gave me a great tip that I used--lube up my feet with Vaseline to avoid water blisters. Also, I completely changed my mind about my race day outfit due to the rain, and my theme for the day was "Appreciating Dryness." So I didn't put my Ironman Canada bike jersey on until after I got out of the swim. That was a nice touch. At this point, knowing it was going to be a long, wet day, I didn't see the point in rushing too much.

As soon as I got out of the changing tent, it started pouring like a mofo. I had wondered what it would be like wearing an aero helmet in the rain, but it turned out to be a wise decision, just because it kept my head relatively dry. Also, it encourage me to stay aero and tucked. I had put a rain jacket over my jersey, and it worked pretty well all day to keep me relatively dry underneath. In looking at the weather almanac for yesterday, apparently it stayed right around 60-65 all day. Generally that's pretty comfortable on the bike, but for me with the rain, I was a bit chilled.

Last year, I bombed down (relatively) the descent into Keene, but I was too timid with the rain this time so I held back to maybe 25MPH. I just didn't feel safe going any faster, and I know that cost me some time on the ride, but whatever. I felt like I climbed pretty well, and while I didn't watch my watts like a hawk, I could pretty much tell where I was.

What sucked was that my hands got all wrinkly like I had been taking a bath all day, and then my forearms weren't all that great with the rain jacket on the aerobars. Again, oh well, too bad, keep going. I don't think I have ever felt so miserable in an Ironman--I mean, knowing I could finish but just not wanting to. I wanted to bag it so many times.

While riding, every time I would drink my Infinit or water, within seconds I would need to pee. Since it was raining so hard, no worries, I just kept peeing on the bike. I lost count after about 15 times--I swear it was at least 5 times an hour! I don't know whether this means I didn't need to drink so much or it was a sign of slight hypothermia or what. At Ironman Brazil in 2006, I peed on the bike 7 times and I thought that was a lot! Other athletes reported the same experience, so it seems that the cooler temperatures contributed.

One of the things that kept my spirits up was telling volunteers that I hadn't planned on a 140.6 mile swim today! I caught one guy on his bike standing up and as I passed, I asked him if he was peeing, and I said, "Nice work!"

On the second lap of the bike, I had decided I'd dump some of my Dad's ashes at the top of the biggest climb next to Whiteface mountain. I had brought them with me in a crack baggie, and this was the only time I stopped my bike all day. I told him I wished him a beautiful view from there!

Bike time 7:34 and change. Pretty crappy for me. But I felt steady and strong all day, and just suffered for the conditions. Still, I felt pretty much like a poseur--I mean I should have been able to do better than that.

My nutrition was spot on, and I didn't feel calorie depleted or bloated or anything like that, and when I got into T2, of course, I was very happy to get off my bike, and told a bunch of people on the way in, "FREE BIKE!" The volunteers are awesome, and so are the spectators, and as suck ass as I felt, I still wanted to smile as much as possible and thank everyone.

In T2, I opted to just leave my bike shorts on even though I packed a clean pair of running shorts. Why? Because I figured I would keep peeing on myself. I lubed my feet again with Vaseline and put on fresh socks (I should have told the volunteer to throw the bike socks away!), my Fuel Belt and a running hat, and just as I was about to get up and go, we could hear the rain pick up to a heavy downpour. Great!

My legs didn't feel too bad exiting T2, but my back was really tight. This is where I think I needed the hill riding--not so much for climbing ability, which I have since I'm so small, but to get used to holding that position while climbing. Also, I think I was hunching my shoulders while on the bike to keep my neck dry. Not a good thing!

Anyway, nobody is going very fast in an Ironman marathon, including me. I just decided at this point that I wasn't looking at my watch, because it was going to be what it was going to be. The streets were wet, wet, wet, and my peeing odyssey continued. I used up almost all of my Ultra Violence, and supplemented with Gatorade, water and chicken broth (broth was to ensure I kept getting enough sodium). Nutrition-wise, I was doing well, although at Mile 14 I had to stop and actually use a porta-potty to take a well-earned dump. That had been keeping me feeling full, and I took a nice, full, emptying pee in there, too, but as soon as I began drinking again, the peeing began again in full force.

The road camber bothered me, just as it did last year, but I think I made a mistake in wearing my ultra lightweight running shoes. On the one hand, they were good because they didn't hold too much water; on the other, my feet took a beating. Oh well!

There were a few times during the marathon that I felt almost really cold once the sun went down, and that alone kept me moving just to get someplace warm! On the little out and back before the finish line, I decided to grab my special needs bags, because I had some good stuff in there that I wanted back, and didn't want to walk another 2 miles or try and get Shelley (who graciously was getting my bike and bags out of transition) to get them later. Unfortunately, there were no volunteers manning the bags at this point, so I had to just find them myself, and when I realized I might finish in 15:00 or slightly less, I was pissed that I wouldn't because of this, and I just thought fuck it. At this point, I've had a tough race as it is, and worrying about 1 or 2 minutes just wasn't worth it!

Once I got to the oval, there were so many people lining it who gave me so much energy that I just ran and ran and slapped as many hands as I could, and I heard my name, and it was all over! After getting my hat, medal and t-shirt, I had a finishing photo taken, and I just left the damn rain jacket on, because it went all the way with me!

On the run, I also carried some of my Dad's ashes with me, and if it wasn't for that, I'm sure I would have just quit. I kept thinking he would tell me that I was the one that had signed up for this and so it was up to me to finish, and so I did. I emptied the bag of ashes in the transition area in the hope that they will bring me good luck next year when I return to face the same course!

They allowed athletes to register on Saturday, and while I had been thinking I would do Ironman Wisconsin in 2009, Shelly convinced me to go with IMLP, and hopefully, we'll get the same great house to stay in. As I write this, I hear the race is sold out for 2009 between athletes re-upping, volunteers onsite getting preferred registration, and all others onsite, so there is no online registration.

This was one of my toughest finishes ever, and while I'm not proud of my time, I'm proud that I finished it, and gosh, I should be in good shape for NothingMan in 7 weeks!

I am happy that my Dad got to do the race with me. He never saw me do an Ironman, and when I first started doing it, he didn't understand why I did it, but in about 2 years, he figured it out. No matter how bad I felt yesterday, it couldn't compare to the suffering he went through in his last week of life--maybe I actually wanted myself to suffer yesterday--who knows? But this I do know--every time I do one of these I learn something new about myself and acquire new skills, and this one is no different. Other than getting through it in the rain, I'm not checking in yet on just all what I learned about myself--that will take a few weeks.

Now it's time for some beer and more food! Thanks everyone who was watching and rooting for me out there. I feel badly I made you wait so long for me to finish--I'll try harder next time, I promise!