Clusterfuck of Failures

I'm batting 1000% for things failing on me in the last 2 months. First, there was my lungs, and then my suspicion of thyroid malfunction. We can now add elbow and furnace failure,--although there's my ever present Morton's Neuroma. I won't even go into all the failures I am managing in my job!

My lungs are OK, as it turns out. I was having an allergic/asthmatic episode. I had full lung function tests that confirmed my lungs are OK--no COPD, no asthma, no nothing. So running a good air cleaner in my bedroom plus using albuterol before workouts plus daily Nasonex seems to have fixed that. Yay! The initial chest tightness I experienced may have been a combination of the episode plus tight pecs. After I was off the prednisone, it came back, but my massage therapist confirmed it was muscular.

As to the thyroid, I was correct in that it was underperforming. I have Hashimoto's thyroiditis, which is an auto-immune disorder basically meaning my thyroid gland is under attack. Different people experience different rates of decline in function. While mine isn't horrifically bad (yet), it's enough that coupled with the intensive training I do that's it really noticeable to me. I'd noticed I'd put on a few pounds after increasing my training volume, and while I have indulged in more frequent treats, it's not been enough for me to be gaining more than a pound or so. And then even after paying careful attention to my calorie intake, the number wasn't budging.

I got tested in January and we upped my dose of Synthroid, but no weight came off, so my guess was that at my next test we would need to up the dose again. I was right! If this dose is effective, I should know in another week or so. Last time I was in this situation, 3 lbs. disappeared rather quickly without me even thinking about it. Good thing I pay attention to the nuances of my diet and weight, huh? My doctor said, "Maybe you are just getting old." I schooled her real good on that!  We also had a chat about testing me more often, and she's on board--all I have to do is indicate, "I don't feel right." I've known I've been off, and it's subtle for me to know it. I hope the new dose works, but at least I will get tested again in 6 weeks. Doctor said it might be hard to keep my TSH where I want it, but at least I will know we are doing everything we can. I would really like to be able to do Ironman Louisville while I am properly regulated. I have never experienced that, but I give myself some credit as to what I have been able to do all these years despite a fucked up thyroid.

Last week, it had been 2 weeks since my right inner elbow was sometimes hurting. I thought it might be from changing my swim stroke, and that may be a factor, but I went to ortho, and she confirmed what I had surmised from Internet--medial epicondylitis. Layman's term "golfer's elbow." Isn't that funny? Like I will ever golf! Anyway, it's overuse and it's on my right arm, and I'm right-handed so it makes sense. I think it's from increasing weights (and maybe once or twice using incorrect form), changing swim stroke, sewing, shoveling, basically using my good old right arm A LOT. Doctor says it can take 3 months to heal. I'm doing my 4x daily stretches (it's overuse of the flexors, particularly when twisting my wrist) and icing after I swim or lift. I am also being left handed whenever I can. It does seem to be a bit better after only a week. Of course, I asked if swimming was OK, lifting pianos (just kidding), and what kinds of lifts to avoid. Really it's open palmed biceps curls, but I notice that I need to be extra careful to lock my wrists on any overhead moves, and it seems to work. Swimming seems to aggravate a little, but again, if I lock my right wrist, it feels just fine.

Of course, the Morton's Neuroma in my right foot gets aggravated from time to time when I push the envelope. My toes were being tingly and numb last few days from the weekend festivities, but they seem fine today.

Last night, my furnace failed. I had a repairman here and went to sleep, only to wake at 2:45AM and notice the house was rather cold. Failure again. I've just had a part replaced that may be covered by warranty, but I don't care--I need heat! Luckily, since my house was all sealed up nicely a few months ago, the temps didn't drop too precipitously, and I had a ceramic heater laying around from when I'd had burst pipes a year ago. The new part is in, and fingers crossed, we are done for now, although I will probably have a new furnace installed in the spring (long story here that I will not go into--it's related to my 2012 Catastrophic House Failure episode, which spanned 7 months and included central air failure, full electrical service failure and contractor failure).

So that's 5 things. Am I waiting for 6? I sure as fuck hope not.

Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy!

Sometimes I wake up and pinch myself because there are so many good things in my life. Today is one of those days.

Ostensibly, I should feel like crap. Today is Day 6 of the Tour of Sufferlandria. From Monday-Wednesday this week, I've already put in 8 hours of training. What I've needed to do is eat like a champion to keep up with this. My legs are alternating between feeling like concrete and "not too bad." Daily stretching and trigger point work helps with that. Swimming seems to help, too. I don't have a swim scheduled for today, but may go anyway just for an easy 1500. It seems that running super easy is helping, too. Finally, caffeine. Yesterday morning I felt like I feel during a 20+ hour Ironman training week (which isn't that far off--13 weeks!) at some point where I would rather not work out but know that I can get through it. I debated whether to skip the swim, and decided what the hell, let's swim, but let's drink Coke. So I drank a Coke (in a water bottle) while I swam, and swam like a champ. The workout had a really long warmup and then 15 50's alternating speed with easy. A short and sweet workout. I nailed the 50's--and I even used paddles. Then I ran :15 on the treadmill super easy, then headed to the track and did a bunch of running drills alternating with fast laps. It was fun to zip around the track, since I'd been doing solid track workouts for 8 weeks. Despite having drunk Coke, after a few hours of work I went down for a short nap. It seems my pattern of working out some early, working super early a few hours, then a nap is good for me, although I don't know how much longer I can keep it up. I have never napped so much in my life! I am fortunate to work at home and be able to manipulate my schedule.

I ate 4 meals yesterday. First up was my usual banana/wheat germ muffin and hardboiled egg for breakfast. Then I swam and drank Coke during that and a few sips of Gatorade while I ran. Then I drank Endurox R4 and had a toasted, buttered English muffin with lox on top. Then I had a Lean Cuisine before I got on the bike, and for dinner I had a big salad with about 3/4 lb. of broiled sockeye salmon! Initially, I ate 1/2 the salmon filet, thinking I'd wrap the rest for today, but it was so good and I still felt hungry, so I ate some more and then wrapped the rest. About 2 hours later I polished it off! I think I also ate a banana, some prunes, some almonds, some jelly beans and string cheese. I have no idea how many calories in all that, but this morning I feel ready to eat again, so I must be fueling myself well.

So the first thing I'm so happy about is that I don't feel like complete and total crap despite the training load I'm carrying, so soon in this training cycle.

Another thing is that the dress I am sewing for my friend's wedding is nearly finished, and it's absolutely beautiful! It occurred to me that I have a warped perception of my body size--I wouldn't say I'm completely dysmorphic, but I think what's happened is that since I don't wear dresses very often I forget just how small I am. I look at this dress I'm making and think, "how the fuck am I going to fit in that?" But then I put the pieces on, and it's fine. I actually bought a dress recently, too, and when I took it out of the package, I wondered how the hell I would fit in it, but I put it on and voila! I'm a size 0-2 depending on manufacturer, I guess. I am still used to how sizes used to run years ago, when I was a perfect 3 and sometimes even a 5. So in my head, I'm a size 3, so 0 and 2 don't make sense to me! Back to sewing--the dress is an Oscar de la Renta design. The pattern is from 1989! I had the pattern and the fabric that long and never sewed it. It's simple yet elegant. I will post a picture of the dress when it's done. I'm making it out of raw silk, which is very delicate and will snag at the slightest wrong touch, so I am being very careful to have clean hands and filed nails as I work on it.

Another source of happiness is that a friend I am coaching is doing quite well in her training. She's only raced once so far, but I have very high expectations for her and will just have to see how it goes, but so far so good. I really care more about how well she does than me. Although good thing she's not in my age group! Another friend that I gave a training plan to is working through an injury (not caused by my training plan!) in a way that I think will leave her in a much better place. I think this will finally be the impetus for her to get on a regular strength routine, which I've advocated to her for years. But other than not being able to run temporarily, I think she's doing well, all things considered.

Another really great thing is that a friend of mine is moving to Cincinnati from Dallas area, so we will be close enough to drive and train with one another! I coached him in 2013, and he's less than half my age, but we have a great time together always. I've been at a few of his Ironman races, and we've done a few together. He even offered to help me out with my Ultraman training! Even if we get to spend 2 or 3 times a year together, that will be just great. He is one of those rare athletes who is not afraid of anything, training or racing-wise. Sometimes when we talk, we make up stupid shit that we want to do. Brad came up with this:

Well, he came up with the format--I came up with the name and T-shirt logo. I may end up doing this as part of my Ultraman training. Doesn't it look stupid? We even thought how funny it would be to do the last day, a sprint, in an actual race. We'd be dying and going so slow, maybe even DFL, even though we'd look like these fast racer types. I've done sprint/Oly/half IM a number of times, and I've done sprint/Oly/half/full IM once in 2009 to prepare for Ultraman Canada. Working back down the pyramid would be the tough part! But doing these things is all about pacing and letting go of your ego. But there is a tremendous training benefit to these NothingMan events. They just toughen you up and give you this incredible confidence in yourself that you can do ANYTHING. Brad is that rare young man (a talented triathlete!) who understands that you can't go out and hammer every workout all the time. I think that's from his background as a bike racer, among other things.

Anyway, how much fun would it be to do Tri Like an Egyptian? If I can swing it next year, I'm doing it, but at least 4 months out from Ultraman. If I don't do that, then I'm hoping Brad will team up with me for 24 Hours of Triathlon. That's something we've been meaning to do together so maybe next year will be the right time. Luckily, he has an amazing wife that I am also friends with who would help crew for us. Morgan is an awesome woman! I got to witness the marriage proposal back in 2010!

I think it's hilarious that a guy less than half my age wants to train and race with me, considering I have other men friends that feel like they are competing with me (and I am faster than some of them) whose egos get bruised easily. Poor babies!

While I haven't yet raced in 2015, that's coming up in about a week! Shit! Then I will truly know how I'm doing. I actually didn't race too badly in 2014 considering my late start, so it will be interesting to see how I do.

In 7 weeks I'm going to Florida with a friend to race a 1/2 IM, and then I'll also be doing an Oly the next day. Because I'm stupid. But I will get to see some friends down there that I haven't seen in awhile. So the racing part is just an excuse to go down there!

I've been moved up a notch in Synthroid dose, and soon I will have enough data to present to my doctor to show that I will probably need to cycle dosage and be monitored closely while I am in these big training cycles. I went to see a pulmonologist, and have a full lung function test next week. It will be good to have that data, again, so I can check that regularly and know what constitutes 100% for me. At the appointment, they said my blood O2 was good and my lungs sounded clear. The test will verify whether what I'm experiencing is asthma or COPD. It could be either, but treatment is effectively the same. I got an air cleaner, and that is already helping, so for sure I know that my allergies have been acting up. It's possible I also have GERD--I'll get that tested, too, and while I hate taking meds, I have reconciled myself to doing what I need to do.

I feel pretty optimistic I will finish the Tour this time, although I have a healthy fear of Saturday--there are 3 videos strung together, starting with one of the hardest of the bunch! But, I am discovering that not everyone can do every workout exactly as specified. I feel pretty strong, but I'm evaluating whether to try and actually do a long run tomorrow. At least I have a massage scheduled! Every time I do these crazy things, I learn more about what my body can handle and what constitutes a reasonable training load. I am still pleased with how much I am able to do at my age, all things considered.

So today I am going to just be happy for all the wonderful things in my life and be optimistic that in general, things will continue to go well, that I can keep training like I am, and that I have some decent race results this year. I'm trying not to look too far ahead, but 8 weeks out is reasonable, I think.

Life is great!

Mystery Science Theater 2015

I am in science experiment mode again. After experiencing what I initially perceived to be a minor infection (as in "maybe I'm getting a cold") and sensing I could swim faster if I could just get more O2 to my muscles, 2 weeks ago I contacted my doctor to get a refill on an albuterol inhaler. I'd had one laying around from a prior cold/flu incident that wasn't used up, and had been self-administering just a little as I felt necessary since beginning of October. I wasn't full dosing it, as I thought I only needed a little bit.

As winter arrived, and finally really cold weather, I noticed this slight shortness of breath wasn't going away, and I was running out of inhaler. It was also time for me to schedule my annual (that I will attempt to begin doing quarterly) blood work roundup consisting of CBC, liver enzymes, thyroid, cholesterol, fasting glucose, etc. I scheduled the blood work, asked for the inhaler, and my doctor said I needed to come in for whatever I thought I needed the inhaler for. Smart move on her part!

So last week, I went in, to get both the blood draw and the evaluation. First thing I got was, "Who ordered your blood work?" Um...me? Then they said it needed to be authorized, and I was like, OK so I'm seeing doctor make her do it. That was taken care of.

Now, in addition to the breathing thing, I had really felt like I'd put on just a few pounds that shouldn't be happening as I've increased training and am pretty good about matching my calorie intake to my outgo.

During the appointment, this was first time I was tested on a spirometer. My readings were "normal," and I told the nurse practitioner (PAC whatever that means) that I should be off the chart given my aerobic capacity. She listened to my lungs, and of course, said they sounded normal. I said they aren't. I listed a whole pile of observations I'd made as to what's been going on as I've noticed this issue with my lungs:

• Increased my training load
• Moved most of my training indoors
• Cold weather
• Tightness in chest

Now, there are other things at play here that wouldn't make sense to anyone except another athlete:

• Changed my swim stroke. So there is some left pec soreness/tightness still lingering. I know this because I tested myself. When I shovel snow right-handed (which is my natural), it hurts a bit, but not when I move to left-handed shoveling. Therefore, my left pec is still getting used to the new swim stroke.
• This is first fall/winter in my house since I've had it air sealed. It's great, because the house is no longer losing all the warm air, but bad, because it's trapping in a million things that I'm allergic to.

I failed to mention the air sealing and allergy thing at the appointment. I spaced out! When I was in college, I became quite sick once and was put into the infirmary. My lungs were messed up. I had a history of recurring bronchitis as a child, so once I was well enough to be discharged, they sent me for allergy testing. Turns out I'm at least mildly allergic to almost everything except foods--so pollen, mold, dust, pet dander, air... It's just enough that if I catch a virus, I can be severely impacted. So I went on allergy meds that at the time were like speed! They were great--you put speed on top of my normal high energy level, and I was basically bouncing off the walls constantly. Until they took that drug off the market, LOL! A few years after college, I was switched onto Claritin (which was prescription at the time) or Allegra, and I also took desensitization shots, as I had a cat, and the cat was a major allergen. Not as bad as some people who can't even be around them, but just enough to be a bit wheezy.

I kept taking allergy meds until I no longer had cats, in 2005. I love cats, but my last pair went psycho and had sprayed all around my house, and I just have not wanted to get more, plus the care and feeding. But I adore cats. Someday...

Anyway, once I no longer had cats, I tried going without the allergy meds, and seemed to do OK. Until this year. It didn't dawn on me until after my doctor appointment.

Back to the appointment: the PAC gave me a 5-day prescription for prednisone (sadly, the last day was yesterday), and sent me to get a chest X-ray. I started on the prednisone right away, and went and got the X-ray. The radiologist said my lungs look fine (no spots or anything odd), but that my diaphragms are "flat." This can be indicative of COPD. So that's what the PAC told me. I was, of course, like, FUCK! But I'm lucky to have a close friend who is a nurse and said just wait it out. The PAC said I should go see pulmonologist.

So after this little wakeup, I remember about my allergies and that I've not been being treated for them, and when I think about it, this is exactly how I felt when I failed to take them. I also think I may have exercise-induced asthma. COPD? It's possible due to my history of bronchitis, but I am hoping that is off the table.

The interesting thing is that through these last 3 months, I've become faster at Swim/Bike/Run and stronger in the weight room. So yay for me overcoming whatever the fuck is wrong!

So...well let's just say I love prednisone. Me on steroids is pretty entertaining. I felt no pain, although I don't think I actually over-extended myself. I just knew I should be way more tired at the end of each day than I was. But I wasn't. No wonder people become addicted to the things! I will surely crash today, though. I had these nice rosy cheeks, smiling all the time, and was very chatty. Also a little more "don't fuck with me," but I was able to keep that at bay.

I have the pulmonologist appointment set up. I asked my doctor for Advair, as the albuterol isn't cutting it now, and even if I do have COPD or allergies or asthma, they'd probably put me on that, so yay for me asking for it, and I have it without another doctor appointment.

Now onto the blood work. My cholesterol is awesome (HDL 72 / LDL 110 / triglycerides 59). CBC looks good, although I will need to compare to my last results. What is fucked up? TSH. I learned from 2013 that when I am feeling great and nearly hyper (even without steroids!), that it can mean my thyroid is underperforming, or more accurately, I don't have enough to meet the metabolic demand I am putting on myself. And I was right!

Now, my suspicion is that my body can only produce so much thyroid hormone, so when I start ramping up training, I tend to go more hypothyroid, as my body plus existing meds can't keep up with what my body needs in order to do the training. This I will share with my doctor. I had thought she said they wouldn't give me more Synthroid, but she is giving me more, and then I will need to be tested again in 6 weeks to see where I stand. Ugh...this is the part I hate.  The waiting to see if the dose works, etc. It is so ridiculous that a test hasn't been invented yet for measuring thyroid function that you can do at home with a prick of your finger, like you can to check your blood glucose. I would do it daily.

So...in conclusion, I have some lung shit to get sorted, and I'm back on the thyroid testing/dosage adjustment train again. Which means I still haven't been through a full Ironman training cycle with my thyroid properly regulated. EVER. Not in a single one I've done, since I know that I've been hypothyroid way before I ever started all this--it's just that the acceptable ranges have changed, and if you're even a little off doing what I'm doing, it's a huge impact. I have a feeling that what I will need to do is modify my dosing based on my training cycle, so I will talk to my doctor about how we can best manage this. I think at a minimum, I need to be tested every 3 months to see where it's at. But in a way, I'm happy this is all happening to me, and glad I'm doing this now. Because I think I have time to get myself better adjusted and functioning properly again!

How exciting will it be for me to have my 100% lung power plus having all the thyroid hormone I need? I am optimistic that my athletic performance will finally rise to the level of training that I do. It's not been poor, by any means, but I know I can do better. I will also once again offer my doctor the opportunity to write me up as a case study. She should welcome the offer, but you never know. If she wanted to run blood work on me monthly, I'd do it.

So yay for me for demanding the blood work now, even though technically some of these things didn't need to be tested until April. But it was time, I had the feeling my TSH might be off, and that is something I have to attend to. The difference in how I feel at various levels can be subtle, but now it makes perfect sense to me and I'm learning to interpret how my body feels at different levels. Last time I'd been tested was in April, 2014, and TSH was fine, but I was hardly training at the time. So this correlates to my theory of how much hormone I can manufacture, and that when I'm not training much, it's enough, but dump on more training, and it's not.

My pharmacy fucked up my Synthroid prescription, though. They gave me generic. Luckily I caught this last night and called them. It was their mistake, not my doctor's. I can't take generic--I went through that fucking shit in 2013 of being on a rollercoaster because my body is sensitive to the drug purity. So glad I didn't take that. I will pick up the correct Synthroid this morning, and off we go! Recall that for Ironman Cozumel, I was still on generic levothyroxine, and I wasn't being given enough of it, and so I had a craptastic performance in the race. I am very excited to see how I will feel when we synch up the brand drug Synthroid at proper dose with my training!

Based on all this, I highly recommend to anyone doing Ironman training to get their blood work done at least twice a year, quarterly if feasible. The training puts such a high demand on your body that it's imperative to ensure it's in perfect working order, and as happened to me, the high training load can reveal issues you have that you might not otherwise find out about until years later. And things will change throughout the training cycle, so just because you were fine 3 months prior doesn't mean you should just live with the status quo.

Happy training and science experiments!

Ironman Cozumel 2013

This was my 17th Ironman+ distance (18 if you count Ultraman Canada as 2 of them) race.  That number includes 4 NothingMans, so technically 13 (or 14) "real" ones.  However you count, that's a lot of stuff over 13 years.  IMCOZ was my one and only triathlon for 2013, unless you count that 1/2 NothingMan back in July.

I had not done an Ironman or run a marathon since 2010, and while I would generally not advise (in a coaching capacity) someone to run a marathon in training for an Ironman, in some cases it makes sense, and I would say that would be when you are in your late 50's, as I now am.  Or at least I feel like I was missing some leg toughness that you can only get by subjecting yourself to that either through an open marathon or Ironman.  In 2010, I did Goofy Challenge in preparation for Ultraman Canada, and the 3 prior years I did an IM plus a NothingMan, so this hiatus left me lacking in leg strength.

Regardless, I had no clue how my body would be working for this race, with all the gyrations I'd been through with my thyroid.  I have never felt so out of touch with what/how much fuel my body needs as I have for the last 15 or so months.  I had had all that dialed in with a fair degree of precision.  Not that I tracked everything I ate and drank, as I haven't done that for years, but being able to tell at the end of the day whether I had taken in enough calories to support training.  Then I had that little episode with sodium which led me to believe that not only was my body misbehaving calorie-wise, but in many other aspects as well.  So, as should always be the case for an Ironman, goal #1 was to just finish.

One of the things that guides me in feeding myself on a daily basis as well as during a race is the degree to which I am experiencing hunger, specifically mechanical and chemical hunger (read this excellent piece which describes the types of hunger).  Needless to say, I have a pretty good amount of control over aesthetic hunger (except for beer and candy LOL), which is where I think most people get into trouble in their diets.  From fall 2012 through even now as I sit here writing this, I haven't felt that I've been dialed into mechanical and chemical hunger feelings as much as in the past.  Perhaps it is just being out of practice, but I honestly think it has to do with my thyroid hoops.  That is the one thing I am looking forward to getting "fixed," because when you are trying to do something as metabolically demanding as long course triathlon training, it's pretty much priority #1.  In fact, I would say that when athletes err on the calorie intake side, it's because they have never really been in touch with mechanical and chemical hunger as much as they should be.

Sure, I practiced all my sports nutrition as best I could, only because that is job #1--take in Ultrafuel for training sessions of 4+ hours, use Infinit for any 3+ hours otherwise Gatorade, drink Endurox every day after the first workout on a day when training 1.5+ hours (pretty much daily).  So that is what comprised my sports nutrition plan, and that takes up quite a bit of calories.  I did not have to think about it--I just did it--because I know that is the baseline.  Then "regular food" fills in for the rest--to make up for whatever calories I'd burned plus what I need on a daily basis just to exist.  But I never felt like I knew whether either the sports nutrition or regular food was enough, too much, or whatever.

Now, you might say that I would know depending on whether I was losing, maintaining or gaining weight.  I went through a number of weight fluctuations during the year, too, sometimes seemingly justified, other times puzzling.  That's the thing with a wacky thyroid (and wacky drugs, in my case!)--you are constantly experimenting.

Well enough on that.  Let's just say that all during the race, I never had the sense of I have it right or not, could not sense fullness or full hydration or lack of it or a need for more or less calories.  It fucked with my head and I knew it would fuck with my body, and that played a big part in my inability to run, I think.

So, anyway, I did enjoy the race!  The race was really well run with my only complaint being not enough porta-potties on the run course.  Other than that, it was superbly run.  Young children manned most of the aid stations, and they were so enthusiastic and helpful it was crazy.  And almost all of them looked to be in good physical condition--I can't recall any that weren't on the thin side.  Many of them knew English, but a lot of my Spanish came back to me while I was down there, so whenever possible, I tried to go with their native tongue.

Race morning: I had set my alarm for 3:15, and had told my compadres, Brad (the young man I coached to a 1+ hour PR!) and his mother in law, Melinda (who is in my age group and also racing) that I was NOT GOING TO WAKE THEM UP.  But we'd agreed that we would leave for the start at 4:45, so a little after 3:30, I began knocking on bedroom doors, and probably said WAKE THE FUCK UP!

It's annoying that I have to take the thyroid meds and then wait 1/2 hour to eat anything, although I was used to it during training.  On a race morning, it sucks, because you want to start getting calories down, and it was like I was pacing waiting for 30 minutes to pass, but it did, and I had my usual Power Bar Triple Threat, then at 4AM I drank 400 calories of Ultrafuel.  I felt full-ish, and had a bottle of Gatorade to sip on until the start.  I tried to be social and not flip out, but the truth was that I was nervous as could be, only because I felt like I was stepping into the great abyss.  You'd think that with all the races and such I've done that I wouldn't feel like that, but I just didn't have a sense of this going one way or the other.

Let me back up a few days.  On the day we arrived (except for Morgan, Brad's wife, who arrived on Thursday), Wednesday, the winds were kicked up pretty good, making for some challenging surf conditions.  No small craft were allowed to leave the harbors until Saturday.

The Three Amigos went for a :30 run on Thursday morning, since we couldn't pick up our bikes until later that day.  Along the way, we saw 4 penises spray painted on the sidewalk alongside the ocean--2 were pointing north, and 2 were pointing east.  We don't know the significance of them, but they certainly made us laugh!

By the time we shlepped around Thursday (we didn't yet have our fabulous cat piss jeep) and collected our bikes, I didn't ride that day, but Brad and Melinda did get in a short ride.  Our condo was about 1.5 miles from the expo/bike to run transition, and maybe 6 from the swim start.  We all walked a lot, but Brad won the prize for walking that day.  He tried to secure a rental car on Thursday, but he ended up walking all the way to the Cozumel airport to pick up Morgan and ended up with no car.  I secretly think his 6+ mile walk was the reason he did so well in the race ;)

Brad and I did another :30 run on Friday morning, once again laughing about the sidewalk penises, and the Three Amigos went for a 1 hour-ish ride after that.  We had an amazing tail wind going south and then a good headwind back north to our condo.  Here's the view from our condo:

That's the biggest cruise ship in the world, Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas.  Cozumel is the world's largest cruise ship terminal, so we got to see many, many boats docking and leaving while we were there.  We all became cruise ship aficionados!

The winds were still really hefty on Friday, and at the race meeting the officials (Michael Lovato and I can't remember the other guy's name--some Aussie) were confident they would die down and we would still have a swim on Sunday, but it sure as hell didn't look good on Friday.

We all got tired of walking so much so on Friday we also became hell bent on getting a car.  We (or I should say Brad as he acted as the negotiator) tried several different places, but it was tough with all the cruise ship traffic and it seemed we might be out of luck.  Finally, though, this guy Victor guaranteed we'd have one at 5PM.  We placed bets on whether it would actually materialize, and were pleasantly surprised when there was actually a vehicle waiting for us not even a block from our condo!  It was a deep green jeep of some sort with many charms--a little string to help close the driver's door, missing snaps and such to secure the "hood," and the whole thing smelled like cat piss.  Oh well, at least we had something!

We were able to drive down to the pasta dinner, where we met up with Brad's parents, Darcy and Jim, and his sister, Caitlin.  It was like a big family reunion, even for me, since I feel like I'm part of their family now.  The dinner itself was nothing to write home about (and there was no dessert, WTF?), and while I'd expected some sort of local dancing extravaganza like they'd done in Brazil, there was just a video about a physically challenged athlete, which was still cool.  We said our goodbyes, knowing we'd meet up with the rest of the family again soon enough.

Saturday morning all we'd planned was to check in our bikes.  They'd told us at the pre-race meeting that we could drop our T2 bags at the same place, and then the race people would transport them to T2, but when we got there, we were told that no, we had to take our T2 bags there ourselves.  Whatever, we were getting used to "Mexican time" pretty well by now.  At least we had a car, and Morgan met us after we dropped our bikes, then we made a trip to drop our T2 bags, and then we decided to go for a drive to see the other side of the island, aka the rest of the bike course.

Here we are somewhere in our fabulous jeep contraption:

Pretty flat, huh?  Decent enough roads, though.  We ended up heading east near town (there is really only one town on the island, San Miguel) to get to the coastal road where there is pretty much nothing:

Well, except for a lot of beautiful waves and sand and wind!  Here I am pointing at some Punta (it means "point") or other:

We knew there would be a shit ton of wind over on that stretch of the bike course.  After we finished our tour, we went to Brad's parents' resort to try a little swim (and also indulge in free food and drinks as it was all-inclusive).  The winds on the west side of the island, where the swim took place, seemed to finally have calmed down.  I really needed to get in the water, as it had been almost 2 years since I'd even been in open water let alone ocean!  Brad and I got in and swam against the current for maybe 200 yards or so, and it wasn't too bad, and then got a little push on the way back in.  I felt like I would be able to survive the swim, which was supposed to be 700m into the current, and then you turn and go with it for 2100m, plus some turns at both ends.  We'd heard stories about last year's swim where several hundred people didn't make the swim cutoff because of the currents.

I was glad I got in the water, and this lessened my jitters about the open water swim with currents.  We went and had dinner just a short walk from our condo at the same place we'd gone on Thursday night.  Here's what we had on Thursday:

 Here's Brad and Morgan, one of the cutest couples I know:

I had the fish sandwich on Saturday.  It was huge.  I felt like I got in enough calories and was full, but in retrospect, maybe not.  Who knows?  We talked to some folks at the next table while there.  2 guys were doing their first IMs, and were self-proclaimed "bike gods."  One guy predicted a 9:35 finish (he came in at 10:3x, still pretty good), and the other was going to blast the bike course and then walk the marathon because he had a bum ankle.  He put on this skinsuit for the ride that looks like a woman wearing a bikini.  I saw it and got a kick out of it.  Turns out Brad beat his bike split (way to go!), and the dude gave up on the marathon because he just didn't see the point in continuing.  I think it was because he didn't meet his objective of crushing the bike course.

I failed to check my email that night which would have told me that they were shortening the swim course and making it point to point all with the current, but we found out right away on race morning, as they kept announcing it over and over again.  This, of course, made me feel even better about the swim, but part of me was disappointed in not getting the full challenge of the course.  I heard several repeaters remark that in normal years, IMCOZ is the most challenging swim of all the IM races, and I can believe it.

The swim course was going to be 3.1k, or 1.9 miles, in a bracket shape, and they bused us just a ways north to get to the start.  The Three Amigos should have been the last people let onto the bus we took, but then 2 more guys snuck in, one of them saying they HAD to get on the bus.  I turned and said, "What, are you pros?"  Yep.  One of them was Peter Kotland, and it took a few minutes for my brain to kick in and recall that I'd met him at IMFL in 2008, when he was training for Ultraman Hawaii and pulled out after the 1/2 marathon.  Here we are back then:

Peter said he remembered this, but who really knows?  I told him that I went on to do Ultraman Canada, and I had a lot of fun chatting with him, and I think some people around me were like WTF she knows this pro dude.

We got off the buses and walked in our bare feet down to the swim start area.  It was a tiny little bay, and I couldn't imagine how all 2800 or however many there were of us, would fit in there.  I hope eventually there are pics posted from that, because it was really cool!  I chatted up a Canadian guy, and we waded out to near the start line and just floated, talked, and treaded water.  He asked me how long I thought my swim would take, and I pulled 1 hour out my ass.  Turns out I was dead on!  Anyway, we'd watched the pros start, and then we were waiting our turn, when my watch said it was nearly 7AM and somehow all those other bodies got into the water, and then I don't remember hearing a cannon or anything, but it looked like people were going, so I just started swimming.

The water temperature was awesome--maybe 80--and clear as shit.  Also very salty, but that didn't bother me.  I just swam and swam and swam.  Most of the athletes were quite polite--only one guy grabbed the middle of my calf a few times and the last time I shook him off and stopped and said, "GET THE FUCK OFF ME!"  Everyone else was good.  I saw divers on the bottom waving up at us, and that was cool.  Some fish, but I really wasn't looking at fish.  Somehow I could just tell how far we'd gone, and when it had been about an hour, and I looked up, and we were making the turn for shore! 

I'd heard it could be tough to swim back in, but there was such a pull from the hundreds of people around me it was no big deal.  I got to the stairs that went into the water about shoulder high (for me, anyway), and grabbed on and waited a few seconds to get my slot up onto them and I was out.  I looked at my watch, and 1 hour on the nose!  I was good with that, as I am the world's crappiest swimmer.  Still, with all the people getting out with me, I couldn't have done that badly.  Here I am coming out:

The skinsuit was great for just holding the clothes tight to my body.  I couldn't imagine swimming without one, so that was $250 well spent, I guess.  I ran through the crappy showers (hanging hoses) and tried to rinse off, including my mouth, and went to grab my T1 bag.  It was mayhem with so many people coming out of the water, but I knew where mine should be and got it fairly quickly.  I went into the tent and found a chair, and a chica offered me some mouthwash to rinse out my mouth, which was such a great idea!  I already added that to my awesome packing list and bag checklist.

I got changed fairly quickly and we had to take our T1 bags with us to our bikes and leave them there.  That turned out to be a great idea, as there really wasn't room near the tents to collect them, and that way, the volunteers could grab them in numerical order for transport down to the finish.

I got on the bike all soaked with salt water, and of course, I wanted fresh water, but I needed to wait.  I just started pedaling, and there were so many bikes around me, but I tried to stay to the right.  There was an aid station quickly enough so I could grab a water bottle, and right away, I was like, I want to keep one of these!  I managed to keep 2 of them, and gave one to Melinda, since she hadn't saved any.

Pretty cute, huh?  I saw athletes out on the bike course stashing 3 or 4 of these in their jersey and cages just because they are so cool looking!

Anyway, I'm pedaling and have a slight tailwind and life is good until we make the turn around Punta Sur (South Point) and get on the east side of the island.  Right away the winds were kicked up we had a good headwind and there is also a slight elevation gain over there, just enough that combined with the headwind makes you go hmmm...maybe I should dial back a little.  So I just went into my small chainring and spun, even letting my watts dip lower than I might otherwise, so all was good.

I got caught up in a drafting pack and was like WTF none of us are winning anything and was conflicted as to what to do.  I almost needed to come to a full stop to let them pass, but it didn't take very long for me to just kind of shut things down and let them go by.  I saw a number of blatant drafters--people wearing the same kit riding side by side ("drafting buddies") and groups of 3-10.  I didn't get pissed about it, since none of us were going to be winning the race.  There were penalty tents, and there was always at least one person in there.  It was tough to distinguish a race official from a bike support guy, as everyone was on scooters, so you just had to be careful, and I was.  Still, there were some times along this stretch where I would just go ahead and pass the person in front of me as they were struggling.

We made 3 loops around the island, and on each pass, the wind got worse on the east side.  Oh well, it was the same for everyone.  I did not pay attention to my speed, and just rode the appropriate effort/watts for the conditions.  I came to refer to all the various points jutting out into the ocean on the east side as Punta Fuck-o.  Every time I'd see one, I'd say in my head, "Yay, we're at Punta Fuck-o!"  You have to find a way to make the ride festive, as it's otherwise just grinding away on the pedals.  It got hotter on each lap, too, but I wasn't sure if I was guzzling water or what.  I was on top of my Infinit consumption, and never felt hungry, but that is not normal.  So either I need less calories than I think or my sense of hunger is fucked up.  I'll take fucked up for $400, Alex.

Here I am coming back into town, I think this was the last lap.  I always try to smile for the spectators and photogs no matter how crappy I feel:

Anyway, on each loop when we turned off the Punta Fuck-o road to head west back into town, it was cool because locals had line the road and were cheering their heads off for us!  There was an aid station in this stretch that I chose for my 3 potty stops, one per loop.  Of course the porta-potty was disgusting, but that's what happens in an IM.  All I know is that on that last lap I was plenty ready to be done biking.

When I dismounted my bike, I could feel that my legs felt like someone had been pummeling them with a hammer.  I have no idea whether I was dehydrated (probably to an extent), out of shape (probably to an extent) or I had just forgotten how bad this feels.  I am going to say (a) and (b).  I never felt like I was riding too hard, and my watts bear this out.  They were pitifully low.  Also, I ended up with 117 miles on the bike computer.   Now some people say it was 113, others 114, but I did not think my computer was off.  At any rate, the bike was long, and it more than made up for the shortened swim!

I did not change clothes, but I did change socks, and was glad I did.  I didn't pee on myself on the bike, but it was still nice to change into fresh socks.  My feet had felt like they were on fire on the bike for the last lap, and others commented the same thing, but I was glad that it was BOTH FEET for me, since I'd had trouble with my right foot on and off during training.  I put on my run hat and sunglasses.  I already had the number belt on since we had to wear it on the bike, so sadly, I wasn't able to wear my streamers.  I'd wanted to, as it's been a tradition, but unlike some of the other recent IM races, we were required to wear the bib on the bike.  My bike time was something like 6:44, which was slow for me, so maybe I am just slow now or maybe I paced right, or maybe I just suck.

In starting to run, I couldn't believe how trashed my quads were, more so than any other IM I've ever done.  I still chalk this up to having taken a break from IM and marathons, and will never do that again!  I know part of it was the constant pedaling on the bike, but still, I'd done plenty of that in training.  Oh well, gotta do whatever I can now.

I saw Brad pretty early on as I started the run and he looked great.  One of my secret goals for this race was for him to have the race he deserved, regardless of how I did, and that goal came to pass.  I couldn't even hold 11:30 pace out of the gate, and I knew this "run" would be a struggle for me.  The entire time, I just couldn't tell if I was on top of or behind on calories or hydration.  In retrospect, while I liked the compression shorts I wore, I may never do that again, since I like having my belly free to roam and distend, which I think is helpful for sensing whether I need calories or water.  I like the compression on my legs, but not on my belly, and even though it's less there, I think it might be too much for racing conditions.  So I will do something different for my next IM.  Also, it feels really good to fully change in T2, so I will go back to that mode again.

I was only able to run with Brad for a few blocks, and then I let him go.  I felt good in knowing that he seemed to be on track for a very good race, and now I just needed to suck it up as best I could and get this thing done.

I forgot to mention that we did get rained on on the bike, and my bike was sprayed with sand and shit, so when I get it back I will need to clean it up in the house!  I had no sense of my body temperature, and it wasn't until the third lap of the run that I decided to put ice down my top and what the fuck do you know, I was OVERHEATED because the ice felt great!  So fucked up thermoregulation and sensing and calorie/hydration miscalculations.  Oh well! Still, I tried not to revert to complete walking, and I ended up with a "run" split less than my bike split, so oh well, I'll take it.  Here I am on the run looking WAY better than I felt:

It rained on the run, and HARD.  The streets don't drain too well there, so we were running through a bunch of puddles, but in the big scheme of things it didn't bother me, as I felt like ass anyway.


My legs felt so rotten I couldn't even pick it up as I approached the finish line.  Trust me, I tried!  But then as I got close to it I saw they had put a ramp there, and I was like WTF???  You can see me saying this:

I had to pick up my left foot like I was marching to ensure I wouldn't trip.  Oh well, it was over.  I had some pizza (again, just because I thought I should not because I was particularly hungry), got a cool beach towel, finisher shirt and giant medal:

So, I have some work to do, and that work begins next week.  Training for a March marathon, then Triple T, the Chicago ITU Olympic, 24HOT, and then Leadman. I get a blood test next week, too, and we will see how my thyroid is doing.  I have a feeling I need a tad more Synthroid, but we shall see.  I'm also getting a complete blood panel, so it will be interesting to see what everything looks like post-IM.  And then hopefully I can start to get my body back in touch with the sensation of hunger and adequate nutrition and such.  I am not implying that I am all that special, but being small by nature with a thyroid issue I think makes it even more challenging to manage myself.  I am glad that I was OK with this race being a crap shoot, and I could have done worse.  At any rate, I gave my legs some much-needed toughening up, and I think that will help me in my training over the next few months.  Hell, I only trained for this thing 20 weeks and I'm pretty old now, so I shouldn't complain, right?  Still, I want that IM PR! 

If you made it this far, congratulations!  You just won nothing!

I Should Write a Blog Post

I don't really know how many people read my blog, but I'm pretty sure that the ones who do anxiously await my next missive, so here goes.

I've been on the non-generic Synthroid for 5 days, and I am optimistic that it is making a difference for me.  My heart no longer feels jumpy 2 hours after I take the meds, and I just feel more "level."  But as to how I should feel, I still have no clue.  I am less than 4 weeks out from another Ironman, and while I have been able to execute most of the training in my plan, some of it has been at less intensity than I would prefer, and I couldn't tell you whether that's due to:

• Age.  Yep, I got older.  How the fuck did that happen?
• The underlying nature of hypothyroidism, whether or not medicated.
• The meds themselves
• I need to HTFU
• I really did get out of shape for over a year

So when somebody asks me, "How do you feel?"  I am not really sure what to tell them.  Overall, I would say I feel pretty great, considering how much I am training, that I'm 57, and I'm going on my 17th Ironman.  I mean, what the fuck, how many people are in that category?  I've noticed that I can't get my heart rate up much at all beyond maybe 110, and again, I am not sure what the reason is.

So based on the above, I have no fucking expectations going into IMCOZ, because there are too many variables in play at the moment.  That's OK, though--I am pretty sure I can finish the thing and not do too poorly.  I am not sandbagging here, either!  I know some people on the sidelines are thinking WTF she has trained like her usual beastly self, she ought to come out really well, and to you I would say why don't you try stepping into my shoes?  Yes, I have retained this freakish ability to train a lot, and yes, I still enjoy it in a perverse way--the pain, the mental suffering, the stupid things that come up and my ability to get past them.

Just yesterday, for example, I didn't sleep enough, which I blame on the stupid time change.  I had settled into waking up around 3AM, which is still a bit earlier than I would like, but even still, I would get so many things done in the wee hours.  In case you are wondering, that is when I perform my coaching duties, clean my house (because if I wait until later in the day, I will be too tired and just go FUCK IT), wash the dishes, fix bottles for biking, catch up on email, write blog posts and generally organize myself.  Anyway, my legs were also quite sore yesterday.  From biking.  See this last push has me biking 4 days straight, and none of it is what I would call easy.  Plus I shelled myself a bit on Saturday with that 114 miles in 4:30--but I am also quite pleased that I did it!

So what did I do yesterday?  I started out by raking my entire back yard, and I think that took about 1.5 hours.  I tend to rake competitively, so it's like another workout in a way.  I thought that might tire me out enough to make me go down for a short nap, which I attempted, but failed.  I also felt nutritionally depleted, so after I raked, I ate another breakfast--2 eggs fried in butter with 2 slices of buttered toast.  YUM!  Then at about 11AM, I thought I'd eat lunch and have a beer and see if that would get me to nap, but again, I failed.  But after laying in bed for maybe 20 minutes, I did seem to feel better (sometimes a beer "resets" my brain don't ask me why), so I got up and decided to motivate and go work out at the Y, since I needed just to be around other people, since I've been doing a lot of training in my house.  I packed a Coke and a bottle of Cheaterade to fuel me for a 1:30 ride and :40 brick run.

Now, many people would have bagged their workouts given my lack of sleep and sore legs.  And I get that.  And there are times when I would make the call to bag it, too, but yesterday was not one of them, being close to the race, and with this and next week being the real tests of HTFU and final fitness building.  Plus, in the back of my mind is always the thought that there will be periods during the race where I will feel this shitty, so might as well get used to it now!

I got on a Precor stationary bike, and predictably, didn't have much power, but I had enough for the circumstances, and the Coke helped the time pass quickly, but near the end, I began dreading the run.  I just didn't think I'd be able to hack it, but I transitioned quickly (I wore my running shoes on the bike), and went to the indoor track, and figured I'd just start out nice and easy, see how I felt, and if I really felt too tired to keep going, it would be OK to stop.

My first mile was 10:05, which would be too fast for being in the race, but slow for me in training, but hey, I was running when I felt like shit, so I was OK with it.  Without even feeling like I was pushing any harder, my second mile was 9:34, then 9:27, then the last one was 8:47!  The entire time I was running, I kept thinking I will feel like this in the race, so just feel it and be OK with it.  And I would say that during the 3rd mile, I began smiling and that old feeling of how cool is this came back to me and how awesome is it that I am fit enough to do this shit, and I knew I would finish the workout.

Of course, when I was done, I felt absolutely great, took the BEST SHOWER EVER (I was moaning in there, though because I was pretty wasted), then hit the sauna for some stretching, put on compression tights and headed back home to work some more.

After I was done working, I stretched some more, then I headed over to my friend's house down the street, as she'd invited me for dinner, how nice is that?  We had a nice time talking about this and that and laughing, and I would have stayed longer, except for I was really tired.  When I got home, I stripped, got in bed and passed out in like 2 seconds, and woke up right at 2AM because I had to poop, and this is what happens, and it's hard for me to go back to sleep after that.  I tried, though, but I was glad I'd made it all the way to 2 (the former 3) without waking up once.  So I know I will be a bit tired today, too, but I will get through it.

I am having some work done inside my house next week, and in preparation, I have to move things around in my bedroom, which means, you know, cleaning, too, and I'm getting there.  Behind my big dresser, I found this:

It was my Mom's.  Isn't it garish?  But I love it!  I wish I could wear it during IMCOZ!  Wouldn't that just be a fucking hoot? You never know--maybe I will pin it to my race belt.  It's about 2.5" in diameter.  I would be the most sparkly Crackhead ever!

On that note, today I swim 3500 and then run 1:10 later, and while I feel a little worked, I'm pretty sure I can HTFU and get through it just fine.

Have a great day!

Mystery Science Theater 3000 and the 2014 Annual Training Plan (ATP)

First, let me say I love robots.

Second, the whole sodium thing was just me OD'ing on sodium when I didn't need it.  My weight is down to 113, which while I would prefer it to be about 2 lbs. less, is still going to be just fine for racing.  After 2 days on the mild diuretic and then just watching my other sodium intake, order has been restored!  I'm really not a fatty!  Even my massage therapist, Mike, said he could tell the difference between this week and last week.  I don't feel completely bloated anymore, and my skinsuit felt GOOD when I wore it for another 5K swim yesterday.

Third, I decided early this week that I was getting tired and frustrated with the management of my thyroid, and so I called to schedule an appointment with my doctor.  Only she's out for 2 weeks, so I decided (with help from a friend) that it couldn't hurt to speak with a different doctor at the same practice.  Of course, in preparation, I summarized a bunch of data and wrote up all the questions and concerns I had.

I had seen this doctor before, but he didn't remember much about me, so I led off with, "I am pushing the metabolic boundaries of my body."  He looked at me all puzzled, and I explained that I do marathons, Ironmans, the occasional Ultraman and sometimes ultramarathons.  I could tell by the look on his face that he understood what I was saying.  You don't say all those things in one sentence and not be taken for a serious athlete (or complete lunatic).

We reviewed my up and down thyroid tests, I explained that I was frustrated that we'd been at this for nearly a year and I am still not stabilized, and that I still didn't feel "right."  Now, don't get me wrong--in some ways, I feel fucking fantastic--but I can also tell things just aren't right.  I am hypersensitive to my heart performance, body composition, sleep, bowel movements, all that.  This doctor listened to me, and then he grilled me as to whether I was taking the meds properly (YES) and whether I was messing with the dosing on my own (FUCK NO I WOULD NOT MESS WITH THAT, although I did not actually say FUCK NO, although I thought it).

He paused for a moment and then said that we need to get me off the generic.  THE GENERIC???  I didn't know I was ON a generic and that there was NOT A GENERIC.  He said some people just don't do well on the generic, and the fact that I was forced to be cutting pills meant I wasn't getting a precision dose.  So here's what we are going to do: I started on the non-generic today at 75mcg, and we will see at my next test whether we are achieving the desired result.  He also gave me a referral to an endocrinologist, which I will utilize if I don't start to feel "right" in the next 3 weeks or so, i.e., right before IMCOZ.  Now, I recognize it will be hard for me to tell, because as you know, I have so much HTFU and I get so excited about all this shit and I will be tapering so how could I not feel great?  But I think I will know when all my bodily systems are synchronizing properly again.

The best part of my office visit was at the end, when the doctor looked me in the eye and said, "You look AMAZING for someone your age, and the fact that the only meds you are on is Synthroid speaks volumes about you."  He also said that anyone going through my metabolic ups and downs would be driven mad, let alone someone like me training for an Ironman!  You cannot imagine how great that made me feel.  Because I thought I was pretty damn healthy and that I was (despite the extreme endurance exercise) taking pretty good care of myself.  And that this science experiment has been a clusterfuck.

Oh and the other great part of the visit was that my blood pressure, despite the fact that I felt all jacked up when I walked in, was a beautiful 117/72.

So I am optimistic that perhaps we may have cracked the Crackhead thyroid nut, and if not, well then off to the endo I will go. 

Switching gears, I've been working on my ATP and came up with Version 1 earlier this week.  I know from having done this exercise several times that I always come up with something that's psycho initially.  I've learned more about myself including respecting the fact that I'm older and how much I can tolerate.  I've also learned just how incredibly fit I am despite thinking I did almost nothing earlier this year and most of last year.  I may not be fast, but hey, I can go all day and then some!

So I sat on the first psycho version of my 2014 ATP for a couple of days, then revisited it, because you really have to look at the numbers multiple ways in order to know you've got it right.  So I updated workouts and such yesterday, and this morning I checked my work and found out I'd made a few mistakes (this all comes from my actuarial side--it's called "reasonableness checking") and a few other things still weren't quite right.  Now I'm happy with what I've got, and it it still subject to change as I go along in the plan.  I'm tapering more on the front and back end of races, and there is still some wiggle room in there that I am sure I will need to take advantage of here and there.  But it's still a fucking awesome plan, and it's below.

My A race for 2014 is 24 Hours of Triathlon, or as Brad and I call it, 24 Hours of Crack!  Brad is in charge of creating the strategy for us to break the record based on our individual strengths.  Right now, Brad is the ace cyclist.  I might have him on overall swim and run endurance, though, but in terms of pacing, early on Brad will have me beat.  But he knows that the longer the event, the less I slow down compared to other people, so this should be interesting.

Red Rock Canyon marathon should be fun.  I should even have a chance at qualifying for Boston there, but if I don't, I won't cry.  I won't be doing straight-up marathon training for it, and will continue to bike and swim moderately throughout that cycle.  But if I rest appropriately after IMCOZ and can nail all the quality runs in training, I should do well.  I did go 4:20 at Goofy Challenge in 2010, and that was the day after a 1/2 marathon, so a 4:05 is a definite possibility, which is all I need to BQ.

Triple T in May will be a "train through" race, but I need to be in Ironman shape for it.  I love that race, and can't wait to see who else I know that I can con into going and sharing the Crackhouse (cabin) with me.  So far, it's just Lori, but I know there will be others.  It's nice to have a cabin full of people you know and love there!

Leadman 250 will be like my 3rd Ironman distance race of the year.  It's 5K/223K/22K, but one needs to build better than Ironman bike fitness (which I have and love maintaining), a bit better than Ironman swim fitness (which I have but it's currently dormant), and you might think you don't need to do Ironman-level run training, but yes you do!  Unless your Ironman marathon is under 3 hours ;)  So doing Triple T and 24CRACK in the leadup will be perfect preparation, and then just a bit more than my normal amount of bike training for part of the time.  Actually, I should close out 2013 with about 334 hours of biking, and the 2014 ATP plus estimate of the remainder through year end will put me at about the same amount.  So actually, in aggregate, I won't be biking more next year than this year--it will just be concentrated into less time, since I will go really light initially.

Oh yeah, there's that Chicago ITU Oly in there in June, but that's a "just for fun" race.  I will do however I do.

All in all, 2014 looks to be a great year if I can execute it.  So now I can just finish up the last few weeks of heavy training for IMCOZ knowing that I have other great things on the horizon no matter how that race goes.  I am grateful for being able to nurture such incredible fitness despite:

• Being on a thyroid rollercoaster for well over a year, including a scary hyperthyroid incident
• Landing in the ER for we still don't know what
• Overcoming a virus that took me completely down for 3 days and that lingered for 4 weeks
• Crashing while running and being beat up a little from that for about 2 weeks
• Self-diagnosing and overcoming a sodium overdose
• Experiencing on and off issues (and experiments) with my right foot and lower back in general

All in all, I will have only formally trained for IMCOZ for 15 weeks.  All of the above happened in that space of time.  Fuck!  That's a lot of shit for 15 weeks, isn't it?  But all of us go through bunches of shit--I am so grateful for the family and friends that stick by me through all of this.  Really, most days I have to pinch myself for all the goodness that is in my life, including right now.

Enjoy the Crackitude below!

Amended List of How to Know I'm at Race Weight/VERY Fit

#6-#12 are additions.

1. Men nearly crash their cars trying to gape at me when I'm running.
2. I want to listen to NIN and nothing but NIN.
3. I feel confident rolling my running shorts down.
4. I feel light as a feather running up hills. 
5. I have no problem taking and posting nearly naked pics of myself.
6. I have no interest in the news, but luckily other people tell me what I need to know like Ben Affleck is going to be Batman. 
7. I contemplate buying a spray can of whipping cream to go on top of the Twinkies.
8. My size 3 pants are practically falling off me.
9. I have a sudden urge to buy actual fashion clothing.  Because I know I will look good in it now.
10. Candy for breakfast (supplement to my normal breakfast).
11. Sandwiches for snacks and in the middle of the night.
12. A day like today where "all" I have to do is a 3-hour ride, practically feels like a rest day.

It always comes down to TWELVE STEPS, doesn't it?

By the way, the reduced STH is already working its magic as the overdose leaves my system.  I am waking up feeling more rested, I am feeling "normally" wired, and I am talking at a speed a little less than supersonic (thanks to Susan for letting me run out the audio tape on her these last 6 weeks).

If you need compression tights, get the Zoot CompressRx.  They are the best!  I wore them this morning just getting ready for my day and then finishing up my lifting for the week.  I would model for Zoot if they asked me!

I am going to see if my brother, Mike, is riding tomorrow because I only need to ride 2 hours, so I'd like to get on Death Machine! 

Enjoy the weekend!