Set of pics updated on Flickr.
On may way home from the dentist last night, I had a hankering for sushi, so I went to Bistro Nami and ordered some of my favorites: Fire Roll, (2) maguro, (2) ikura and (2) sake. I originally wanted some quail egg, too, but they were out, so I ordered something I think was called Fire Crab. All in all 22 pieces, plus I got some miso soup (in lieu of eating salt pills before bed) and a big Sapporo beer. I ate about 10 pieces of the sushi/rolls at the restaurant, and maybe 5 more about an hour after I was back home.
I checked the weather forecast and it looked like it was going to rain all day today again, so I assumed I'd be biking on the trainer and hopefully running outside again. I took 2 Advil PM plus a Tylenol Sleep to help me get to sleep since I'd had a lot of caffeine, and I actually fell asleep pretty quickly.
When I woke up this morning, I noticed I didn't have a headache! This was great, since I thought maybe I was coming down with a sinus infection, but I guess not. In retrospect, the headaches were probably a combination of not working out for 2 days, dropping my usual caffeine intake down, and then blasting it back up quickly. Possibly the weather, too, since I have allergies. Whatever, I was just SO happy to not have a headache!
Of course, my muscles were feeling a little toasty this AM, and I'd woken up at 4:45, and immediately got on some coffee and looked at the weather. Well, now, they were saying maybe NO rain today, so I had to hustle to get LGL (Bitch still isn't ready to ride until tomorrow!) ready to be outside, choose clothing to ride in so I could take it with me to the pool, and also lay out my run clothing so I'd have a quick transition. I needed to get everything done by about 2:30 today so I could make a 3:15PM massage.
I wanted to ride 66 miles today so tomorrow would be only 90, and since I wasn't up terribly early and was taking a bit longer than I'd hoped to get ready for the day, I didn't think I'd have time to ride to Fermilab, so I decided to just ride from home.
I drove to the pool and got started at 6:26AM. I'd hoped to be swimming at 6:00AM, but oh well, this is all very malleable, so no worries. I was starting to feel it today, but as soon as I started swimming, it felt so nice to be in the cool water. Swimming always seems to help me recover from the prior day's efforts, and ROTPM has been no exception. I just swam easy (as usual), and decided to spend about 5 minutes in the hot tub afterwards to stretch out a little bit. Even though I am swimming at a foreign pool, sometimes I wish I belonged to this club just for the hot tub! But, I am on a mission, so I got out to shower and change into bike clothes. I did take time to dry my hair, as I didn't want my head chilled when I started riding. Even though it wasn't raining, it was in the low to mid-60's, so a little cool.
As advertised, it wasn't raining when I left, and when I got home I got on the bike pretty quickly, although truth be told, I wasn't in a hurry. I had to decide how I was going to accomplish my miles, so I thought I head east for about 15 miles and back and then maybe repeat that plus a little extra. The roads were wet, and it was rush hour, and I had to be extra careful due to half-asleep commuters not paying attention, and almost got taken out twice. But I felt good riding, and my legs felt great. It was nice to be outdoors!
When I was about 4.5 miles from home, I decided to add in a Pepperidge Farm interval, just to get some more hills in and a few more miles, so that by the time I got home, I was at 33 miles. Then I decided to keep going and did a few laps around a few blocks, then decided I wanted to be at at least 40 miles before a pit stop, so I went back east and got home to 42 miles completed. Between stopping to pee and traffic lights and such, I had to hustle, and I stopped to eat a hardboiled egg and some cheese crackers, as I just wanted some actual fucking food! That sat well, and I went out and got 21 more miles done, snapped a photo, and took off my disgusting bike clothes, toweled off, changed into running clothes, got in my car, and drove to Waterfall Glen to run.
It was about 70 now, but uncharateristically, I decided to start off with a tank top on. It helped only in that it absorbed all the copious sweat I was putting out due to the high humidity. I started out and felt pretty good, and was running 9 somethings pretty steadily. I was surprised that I didn't feel bad, actually, considering I was running hills and had been hitting it rather hard for a few days.
I did one out and back of about 10.3 miles, got rid of the tank top, put on my streamers, chucked my hat and put on a visor, grabbed some more Coke, and headed out to finish. I had enough time to get in almost 13.5 miles total before I would need to quit, drive home, shower, and get to my massage.
On my second little leg, it started spritzing and I was laughing thinking that it wouldn't be a NothingMan if there wasn't some sort of inclement weather! I swear if you are having a drought, invite me up for one of these events and it WILL rain!
I finished running, snapped a pic, toweled off, got in the car, guzzled Endurox R4, got home, ate the rest of the sushi from last night, took a really quick shower, and made it to my massage right on time!
I'm a little gnarly right now, but feeling OK, and still making tons of notes of things that will be important for Ultraman. Right now I need one more slice of pizza (I ordered a large BBQ chicken and will finish almost half tonight saving the rest for tomorrow), one more beer while I get Bitchie all ready to go plus packing all my clothes for tomorrow, and then it's off to bed.
So far this is really an adventure, and I feel very fortunate to be able to get through it! I will not have an update tomorrow, as it will be very late, and I will be drinking...er...taking painkillers, but will update on Sunday AM whenever I manage to wake up!
Here's what I got done today:
Swim 2500 yards in 46:00 (pace=1:50/100 yds.)
Bike 63 miles in 3:32 (pace=17.8mph; avg. cadence=96)
Run 13.4 miles in 2:05:13 (pace=9:21/mile)
Total Time: 6:23.13
Total Distances so far:
Swim: 7500 yards
Bike: 131 miles
Run: 31.5 miles
Total Time: 14:05.17 (this is over IM distance, thank you very much!)
Mileage to go (a bit less than an Ironman):
Swim: 2500 yards
Bike: 93 miles
Run: 20.9 miles
Friday, August 28, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
ROTPM: Day 2
Pics uploaded.
First, the rest of yesterday. I don't know if it was the caffeine or if I really have a sinus infection, who knows, but I had a headache most of the evening/night, had trouble falling asleep so I took some Advil PM which just upset my stomach, woke up at 3:15AM with the headache and noticed the power was out, took some baby aspirin which helped with the headache but not with the stomach...oh well.
At least the power came on before it was time for me to wake up (no worries on the alarm--I use a battery-powered clock) so I could make some coffee, although I had backup in the forum of iced coffee in the fridge. In terms of legs, I felt pretty good.
In terms of weather, well, it was raining pretty hard, which was fine since I was swimming in a pool, but I'd hoped to bike outdoors, but from the radar, I wrote that off. I hoped that it might quit before I started running, because I was not interested in the treadmill again!
The swim was no big deal--about the same time as yesterday--although when I started out, I felt tired. Not systemically tired--just not as fresh as yesterday. Still I picked it up and had an OK swim. Even though I'd left late for the pool, I started at the same exact time as yesterday (6:40AM), and managed to be on my bike at 8:15.
Biking felt good. It felt REALLY good. Biking is my thing, I love biking, I could bike all day (wait--I have done that). I felt absolutely no soreness in my legs while biking, and since I felt like I was on a roll, I started plotting changing up the bike and run distances for today. See, this is MY event and I can do whatever the hell I want!
I almost ended up biking a lot longer, but thought that it might make running really suck today, so I decided to stop at 40 miles. Which means that I can either make Sunday only 100, or if I decide to up tomorrow's ride to like 60, then even less on Sunday. Who knows? I will decide tomorrow!
Today I watched Ironman Hawaii 2005, which was the year Shelley did it (in honor of her being Captain of my crew for UMC), and then I watched Running on the Sun, which gave me more ideas of gear I need to get for UMC. I tell you, once I have all this gear accumulated, I am going to need to use it more than once, right?
Also, I thought I'd run further than 7.5 miles. I figured I could go 10, but left that up to my legs. When I got off the bike, I felt a little tightness in the vastus lateralis, but other than that, I felt good to go. I went and checked the radar, and it looked like we might get spritzed in the next hour or so, but I decided to take my chances. I got rid of my bike shorts which were soaked and put on fresh run shorts. I decided against the streamers today since if it started raining it would just be messy. I only took 12 oz. of Gatorade with me since I'd chugged 1/2 bottle of water and finished out my biking Infinit right before I headed out.
At first it wasn't raining at all, and I was surprised to hit the first mile in 8:53. I was really just running a pace that I felt like was comfortable. As I headed into the next mile that includes a bit of a climb, I felt great going uphill, and I just felt super motivated to run well today.
Once I hit 3.75 miles out, I didn't want to turn around and felt good to go out for 5 miles. I was running all the hills, it was cool, and I had plenty of tree cover in case it started raining. When I turned around at mile 5, I really needed to use a bathroom and was rewarded with a porta potty in about 1/4 mile by a train station. While I was in there, a big freight train rumbled through, and I was laughing at my great timing for taking a dump!
I continued on and kept up a good pace and it began raining, more than just drizzle. Oh well, I'd make it home just fine and it really wasn't that bad and I was comfortable as long as I didn't stop, which I didn't.
When I was almost home, I was trying to do some math, and realized that if I ran an extra 1/2 mile that I would be at 18 miles in 2 days, so I ran past my house and got that in!
Here's what I got done today:
Swim 2500 yards in 47:00 (pace=1:53/100 yds.)
Bike 40 miles in 1:55 (pace=20.87mph)
Run 10.5 miles in 1:35:24 (pace=9:05/mile)
Total Time: 4:18.36 (yesterday was 3:23.28--forgot to post that)
HAH! I ran faster today than I did yesterday, and biked a little bit faster too, even though I went further! This training and not working thing is pretty fun!
Total Distances so far:
Swim: 5000 yards
Bike: 68 miles
Run: 18 miles
Mileage to go:
Swim: 5000 yards
Bike: 156 miles (I can do 56 and 100 or whatever strikes my fancy)
Run: 34.4 miles (I'd like to do only 20 on Saturday, so maybe I'll do 14.4 tomorrow)
I stretched out really well and may do an ice bath later. I did really well on replacing my calories yesterday--here's what I ate in addition to sports nutrition:
2 forkfuls of creamed herring
3 beers
4" x 3" homemade lasagna
1 piece string cheese
sandwich: 3 slices turkey, 2 slices white bread, fake mayo, sprouts
Easy Mac!
Ice Cream
(2) Lean Cuisines
As of right now, I have about 1700 calories to go to replace everything today. I also am weighing myself right after I finish running to check how I'm doing on hydration, and it appears perfect--yesterday I was 108.8 and today 108.6.
I have to go to the dentist in about an hour to get a crown replaced (YUK), but after that it's more eating, preparing for tomorrow and then laying around. I really wonder how I am going to feel tomorrow--it would be nice to see the sun, and I do want to get out on Bitchie, but I will be prepared for whatever comes my way.
ARGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!
First, the rest of yesterday. I don't know if it was the caffeine or if I really have a sinus infection, who knows, but I had a headache most of the evening/night, had trouble falling asleep so I took some Advil PM which just upset my stomach, woke up at 3:15AM with the headache and noticed the power was out, took some baby aspirin which helped with the headache but not with the stomach...oh well.
At least the power came on before it was time for me to wake up (no worries on the alarm--I use a battery-powered clock) so I could make some coffee, although I had backup in the forum of iced coffee in the fridge. In terms of legs, I felt pretty good.
In terms of weather, well, it was raining pretty hard, which was fine since I was swimming in a pool, but I'd hoped to bike outdoors, but from the radar, I wrote that off. I hoped that it might quit before I started running, because I was not interested in the treadmill again!
The swim was no big deal--about the same time as yesterday--although when I started out, I felt tired. Not systemically tired--just not as fresh as yesterday. Still I picked it up and had an OK swim. Even though I'd left late for the pool, I started at the same exact time as yesterday (6:40AM), and managed to be on my bike at 8:15.
Biking felt good. It felt REALLY good. Biking is my thing, I love biking, I could bike all day (wait--I have done that). I felt absolutely no soreness in my legs while biking, and since I felt like I was on a roll, I started plotting changing up the bike and run distances for today. See, this is MY event and I can do whatever the hell I want!
I almost ended up biking a lot longer, but thought that it might make running really suck today, so I decided to stop at 40 miles. Which means that I can either make Sunday only 100, or if I decide to up tomorrow's ride to like 60, then even less on Sunday. Who knows? I will decide tomorrow!
Today I watched Ironman Hawaii 2005, which was the year Shelley did it (in honor of her being Captain of my crew for UMC), and then I watched Running on the Sun, which gave me more ideas of gear I need to get for UMC. I tell you, once I have all this gear accumulated, I am going to need to use it more than once, right?
Also, I thought I'd run further than 7.5 miles. I figured I could go 10, but left that up to my legs. When I got off the bike, I felt a little tightness in the vastus lateralis, but other than that, I felt good to go. I went and checked the radar, and it looked like we might get spritzed in the next hour or so, but I decided to take my chances. I got rid of my bike shorts which were soaked and put on fresh run shorts. I decided against the streamers today since if it started raining it would just be messy. I only took 12 oz. of Gatorade with me since I'd chugged 1/2 bottle of water and finished out my biking Infinit right before I headed out.
At first it wasn't raining at all, and I was surprised to hit the first mile in 8:53. I was really just running a pace that I felt like was comfortable. As I headed into the next mile that includes a bit of a climb, I felt great going uphill, and I just felt super motivated to run well today.
Once I hit 3.75 miles out, I didn't want to turn around and felt good to go out for 5 miles. I was running all the hills, it was cool, and I had plenty of tree cover in case it started raining. When I turned around at mile 5, I really needed to use a bathroom and was rewarded with a porta potty in about 1/4 mile by a train station. While I was in there, a big freight train rumbled through, and I was laughing at my great timing for taking a dump!
I continued on and kept up a good pace and it began raining, more than just drizzle. Oh well, I'd make it home just fine and it really wasn't that bad and I was comfortable as long as I didn't stop, which I didn't.
When I was almost home, I was trying to do some math, and realized that if I ran an extra 1/2 mile that I would be at 18 miles in 2 days, so I ran past my house and got that in!
Here's what I got done today:
Swim 2500 yards in 47:00 (pace=1:53/100 yds.)
Bike 40 miles in 1:55 (pace=20.87mph)
Run 10.5 miles in 1:35:24 (pace=9:05/mile)
Total Time: 4:18.36 (yesterday was 3:23.28--forgot to post that)
HAH! I ran faster today than I did yesterday, and biked a little bit faster too, even though I went further! This training and not working thing is pretty fun!
Total Distances so far:
Swim: 5000 yards
Bike: 68 miles
Run: 18 miles
Mileage to go:
Swim: 5000 yards
Bike: 156 miles (I can do 56 and 100 or whatever strikes my fancy)
Run: 34.4 miles (I'd like to do only 20 on Saturday, so maybe I'll do 14.4 tomorrow)
I stretched out really well and may do an ice bath later. I did really well on replacing my calories yesterday--here's what I ate in addition to sports nutrition:
2 forkfuls of creamed herring
3 beers
4" x 3" homemade lasagna
1 piece string cheese
sandwich: 3 slices turkey, 2 slices white bread, fake mayo, sprouts
Easy Mac!
Ice Cream
(2) Lean Cuisines
As of right now, I have about 1700 calories to go to replace everything today. I also am weighing myself right after I finish running to check how I'm doing on hydration, and it appears perfect--yesterday I was 108.8 and today 108.6.
I have to go to the dentist in about an hour to get a crown replaced (YUK), but after that it's more eating, preparing for tomorrow and then laying around. I really wonder how I am going to feel tomorrow--it would be nice to see the sun, and I do want to get out on Bitchie, but I will be prepared for whatever comes my way.
ARGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
ROTPM: Day 1
Pics are here.
Checking the forecast last night, it looked pretty good for rain today, but still I acted as if that wasn't going to happen. I chose bike tops, shorts and socks, and run shorts and hats assuming it wasn't going to rain for 4 straight days.
I set my alarm, set the coffeepot, got my swim bag ready to go, cleaned 6 pairs of sunglasses (I have many others as well; but there are 6 that I wear regularly), cleaned and lubed LGL, and got to sleep.
It was funny that I felt the typical nervousness before a race as I lay in bed, and I even had some of "the dreams." Sometime during the night I also changed the parameters for days 1 and 2, figuring I may as well just make them the same, so 2100 yd. swim, 28-mile bike and 7.5 mile run. Which would mean that if I run 13 on Friday, then on Saturday I only need to run like 24 miles. "Only!"
When I woke up today, it was already raining, and there was a big radar blob that looked to hang around most of the day, and wimp that I am, I decided I do everything indoors today. I just didn't want to deal with cleaning the bike again, being miserable, and possibly contributing to worsening whatever touch of viral crap I have. So I got LGL set up on the trainer for when I arrived back from the pool, and packed a gym bag so I could run on the treadmill at the Y.
I left for Good Samaritan (the only open pool in the area, it seems), right on time, and I should have been swimming right at 6:30, but I decided to jabber with a couple of guys before I got going. No worries, I started at 6:40.
Since I hadn't swum since Friday, and Friday was a whopping 4,000 meters, it felt really good to swim! The water temperature was nice as was the air, and I was glad to do it. Somewhere during the first 500, I decided I should just swim 2500 yards each day of ROTPM, so I'll end up at 10,000 yards, which is sorta like Ultraman distance, but 10,000 isn't that hard anyway since I've been doing about 12,000 per week for awhile.
The swim went by quickly, and it was nice to take a hot shower before changing into my bike clothes. It was still raining when I left, and there was some rush hour traffic, but I was back home and got on the bike at 8:10AM, so I was sticking on my schedule only 10 minutes late. I put in a tape of the 2004 Ironman Hawaii (the year I did it) and settled in with my bottle of Infinit.
I couldn't remember the last time I'd been on the trainer, but it didn't bother me one bit, especially knowing all I had to do was 28 miles and I was fresh as a daisy! I actually stayed in the small chainring for the first 45 minutes just to force myself to not go too hard. I have discovered this year that I bike best when I can be at 100+rpm. My average cadence today was 105. At IMLP it was 92, which is good considering all the climbing.
I toweled off a little and headed to the Y (still raining), and got my favorite treadmill. I couldn't remember the last time I'd been on a treadmill, but I thought it was a good thing I was on one now, as it would be a good way to reintroduce my legs to running for the torture I am putting them through in the next few days!
My warmup pace felt nice and easy, which is how it should feel, and I could have run harder and faster, but I chose not to.
I was on top of my nutrition today--following what I'd mapped out in my spreadsheet, and even drinking more while running that I normally do. So I get to do the same thing tomorrow! Only I hope it's not raining--I'd rather bike and run outdoors, but we'll see.
Here are today's totals:
Swim 2500 yards in 47:00 (pace=1:53/100 yds.)
Bike 28.125 miles in 1:24 (pace=20.09mph)
Run 7.56 miles in 1:11 (pace=9:23/mile)
Mileage to go:
Swim: 7500 yards
Bike: 195.9 miles
Run: 44.8 miles
Ouch!
It's still raining, and I must try and nap a bit, and then get up and eat, stretch, think about tomorrow and do it all over again!
I am still quite giddy over having been invited to Ultraman Canada, and I am very happy that I am doing ROTPM, because I am thinking of so many things that will be relevant to UMC. Even though I've done Triple T a few times, I am being more meticulous with ROTPM because there is that Ironman at the end. So off to bed I go, and will catch up tomorrow on Day 2!
ARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHH!
Checking the forecast last night, it looked pretty good for rain today, but still I acted as if that wasn't going to happen. I chose bike tops, shorts and socks, and run shorts and hats assuming it wasn't going to rain for 4 straight days.
I set my alarm, set the coffeepot, got my swim bag ready to go, cleaned 6 pairs of sunglasses (I have many others as well; but there are 6 that I wear regularly), cleaned and lubed LGL, and got to sleep.
It was funny that I felt the typical nervousness before a race as I lay in bed, and I even had some of "the dreams." Sometime during the night I also changed the parameters for days 1 and 2, figuring I may as well just make them the same, so 2100 yd. swim, 28-mile bike and 7.5 mile run. Which would mean that if I run 13 on Friday, then on Saturday I only need to run like 24 miles. "Only!"
When I woke up today, it was already raining, and there was a big radar blob that looked to hang around most of the day, and wimp that I am, I decided I do everything indoors today. I just didn't want to deal with cleaning the bike again, being miserable, and possibly contributing to worsening whatever touch of viral crap I have. So I got LGL set up on the trainer for when I arrived back from the pool, and packed a gym bag so I could run on the treadmill at the Y.
I left for Good Samaritan (the only open pool in the area, it seems), right on time, and I should have been swimming right at 6:30, but I decided to jabber with a couple of guys before I got going. No worries, I started at 6:40.
Since I hadn't swum since Friday, and Friday was a whopping 4,000 meters, it felt really good to swim! The water temperature was nice as was the air, and I was glad to do it. Somewhere during the first 500, I decided I should just swim 2500 yards each day of ROTPM, so I'll end up at 10,000 yards, which is sorta like Ultraman distance, but 10,000 isn't that hard anyway since I've been doing about 12,000 per week for awhile.
The swim went by quickly, and it was nice to take a hot shower before changing into my bike clothes. It was still raining when I left, and there was some rush hour traffic, but I was back home and got on the bike at 8:10AM, so I was sticking on my schedule only 10 minutes late. I put in a tape of the 2004 Ironman Hawaii (the year I did it) and settled in with my bottle of Infinit.
I couldn't remember the last time I'd been on the trainer, but it didn't bother me one bit, especially knowing all I had to do was 28 miles and I was fresh as a daisy! I actually stayed in the small chainring for the first 45 minutes just to force myself to not go too hard. I have discovered this year that I bike best when I can be at 100+rpm. My average cadence today was 105. At IMLP it was 92, which is good considering all the climbing.
I toweled off a little and headed to the Y (still raining), and got my favorite treadmill. I couldn't remember the last time I'd been on a treadmill, but I thought it was a good thing I was on one now, as it would be a good way to reintroduce my legs to running for the torture I am putting them through in the next few days!
My warmup pace felt nice and easy, which is how it should feel, and I could have run harder and faster, but I chose not to.
I was on top of my nutrition today--following what I'd mapped out in my spreadsheet, and even drinking more while running that I normally do. So I get to do the same thing tomorrow! Only I hope it's not raining--I'd rather bike and run outdoors, but we'll see.
Here are today's totals:
Swim 2500 yards in 47:00 (pace=1:53/100 yds.)
Bike 28.125 miles in 1:24 (pace=20.09mph)
Run 7.56 miles in 1:11 (pace=9:23/mile)
Mileage to go:
Swim: 7500 yards
Bike: 195.9 miles
Run: 44.8 miles
Ouch!
It's still raining, and I must try and nap a bit, and then get up and eat, stretch, think about tomorrow and do it all over again!
I am still quite giddy over having been invited to Ultraman Canada, and I am very happy that I am doing ROTPM, because I am thinking of so many things that will be relevant to UMC. Even though I've done Triple T a few times, I am being more meticulous with ROTPM because there is that Ironman at the end. So off to bed I go, and will catch up tomorrow on Day 2!
ARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHH!
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Holy Crap, I'm IN!!!!!
You can see I'm listed here.
Wow, wow, WOW! At about 5:45PM last night, I check my email, and I had a message from the RD:
I was speechless when I read it. I got the shivers. I shed a few tears of joy. I grabbed a bottle of champagne out of the fridge to take with me to visit with some friends. I woke up in the middle of the night last night and couldn't believe it--is this MY life is this happening to ME??? But I guess it is. I was expecting to wait several weeks to hear back, but all it took was maybe 5 hours.
While I lay awake for maybe 1/2 hour last night, I was already visualizing myself crossing the finish line on Day 3. Man, I know how hard it is going to be to prepare for this--mentally, physically, logistically and spiritually. It's almost as if I feel selfish to be able to do this--that I will need to have a crew with me that will be making a huge sacrifice for me, to get me across that finish line.
And, of course, it gives new meaning and joy to what I am about to do this coming week--Revenge of the PirateMan!!! I finished my schedule and nutritional layout this morning, and this afternoon I celebrated the high holy day, Festival of the Bottles:
This is my run nutrition, left to right, for Days 1-4: Blue Gatorade for Day 1, whatever is in that next bottle (I think it's Gatorade and Ultra Violence) for Day 2, 2 Cokes (which are now busy defizzing) for Day 3, and lots of Ultra Violence (which I will just chug before/after each out and back section that I do, so I can drink it fully fizzed) and Gatorade (Lemonade flavor) for Day 4, which is the marathon.
This is my pre- and post-race fortification. For Day 1, I'll drink 200 calories of Ultrafuel in addition to a PowerBar. For Day 2, I'll drink 300 calories of Ultrafuel; and for Days 3 and 4, I'll drink 400 calories of Ultrafuel. After I complete each day's event, I'll drink a bottle of water and a bottle of Endurox R4 (Endurox is behind the pink Ultrafuel bottles).
These are my bike bottles, which I will fill on Monday. On Days 1 and 2, I'll use Polar bottles that will be filled with Infinit. On Days 3 and 4, the bottles in the foreground will be loaded with concentrated Infinit, and I'll have a bottle of plain water along to dilute as needed. Day 4 will see the debut of my pirate bottles, that I ordered with the stuff I wore at IMLP. I have somehow refrained from using them up until this week!
Tomorrow I'll fully clean and lube both LGL and Bitch. I'll ride LGL on Days 1 and 2, and Bitch on Days 3 and 4. So far, the weather forecast is looking pretty good, but you never know around here this time of year! It could be blazing hot or chilly. This morning I did my last workout before ROTPM--I rode about 48 miles really easily in the morning, and it was pretty darn cool out. I hope it warms a bit this week, as my preferred racing temperature would be about 78 and sunny!
This is all going to be an out of body experience, I think. I can remember back 9 years ago when I'd signed up for my second Ironman before I'd even completed the first one! And now, I am officially entered in my second Ultraman (if I'm allowed to consider ROTPM an Ultra) before I've completed the first! Very odd, indeed. Kind of like this:
Wow, wow, WOW! At about 5:45PM last night, I check my email, and I had a message from the RD:
Hi Sheila,
Thanks for your application, we will be pleased to issue you an invitation. Those will be issued later on but in the meantime you can start your planning for your trip to Penticton.
When planning your trip please take into consideration the Schedule of Events from the Registration to the Awards Banquet.
I look forward to seeing you here and wish you luck with the rest of your season and your training for 2010.
All the best
Steve
I was speechless when I read it. I got the shivers. I shed a few tears of joy. I grabbed a bottle of champagne out of the fridge to take with me to visit with some friends. I woke up in the middle of the night last night and couldn't believe it--is this MY life is this happening to ME??? But I guess it is. I was expecting to wait several weeks to hear back, but all it took was maybe 5 hours.
While I lay awake for maybe 1/2 hour last night, I was already visualizing myself crossing the finish line on Day 3. Man, I know how hard it is going to be to prepare for this--mentally, physically, logistically and spiritually. It's almost as if I feel selfish to be able to do this--that I will need to have a crew with me that will be making a huge sacrifice for me, to get me across that finish line.
And, of course, it gives new meaning and joy to what I am about to do this coming week--Revenge of the PirateMan!!! I finished my schedule and nutritional layout this morning, and this afternoon I celebrated the high holy day, Festival of the Bottles:
This is my run nutrition, left to right, for Days 1-4: Blue Gatorade for Day 1, whatever is in that next bottle (I think it's Gatorade and Ultra Violence) for Day 2, 2 Cokes (which are now busy defizzing) for Day 3, and lots of Ultra Violence (which I will just chug before/after each out and back section that I do, so I can drink it fully fizzed) and Gatorade (Lemonade flavor) for Day 4, which is the marathon.
This is my pre- and post-race fortification. For Day 1, I'll drink 200 calories of Ultrafuel in addition to a PowerBar. For Day 2, I'll drink 300 calories of Ultrafuel; and for Days 3 and 4, I'll drink 400 calories of Ultrafuel. After I complete each day's event, I'll drink a bottle of water and a bottle of Endurox R4 (Endurox is behind the pink Ultrafuel bottles).
These are my bike bottles, which I will fill on Monday. On Days 1 and 2, I'll use Polar bottles that will be filled with Infinit. On Days 3 and 4, the bottles in the foreground will be loaded with concentrated Infinit, and I'll have a bottle of plain water along to dilute as needed. Day 4 will see the debut of my pirate bottles, that I ordered with the stuff I wore at IMLP. I have somehow refrained from using them up until this week!Tomorrow I'll fully clean and lube both LGL and Bitch. I'll ride LGL on Days 1 and 2, and Bitch on Days 3 and 4. So far, the weather forecast is looking pretty good, but you never know around here this time of year! It could be blazing hot or chilly. This morning I did my last workout before ROTPM--I rode about 48 miles really easily in the morning, and it was pretty darn cool out. I hope it warms a bit this week, as my preferred racing temperature would be about 78 and sunny!
This is all going to be an out of body experience, I think. I can remember back 9 years ago when I'd signed up for my second Ironman before I'd even completed the first one! And now, I am officially entered in my second Ultraman (if I'm allowed to consider ROTPM an Ultra) before I've completed the first! Very odd, indeed. Kind of like this:
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