Weekly Workout Totals 08/11/2008-08/17/2008 and Humble Pie

Woke up yesterday and felt pretty good. Plan was to ride 115 miles--the NothingMan course! I took off at 7AM on the nose as planned. It was cool, but I noticed the humidity right away. I had arm warmers on but didn't think I really needed them, but left them on until I got to Fermilab.

OK, lap 1. Feel pretty good, except that breakfast plus the Ultra Fuel wasn't yet through my system, so didn't feel like drinking right away. Wind wasn't too bad. Sun shining brightly. Mind wandering all over the place. Couldn't believe some of the stuff I was thinking about (can't even write it here!). Life is good, legs feel pretty strong.

Lap 2. Ergomo isn't working properly (watts display). Oh--should have done the reset after the IMLP rain festival, I guess. I had thought watts were off last week and even week before--I have a good feel for how hard I'm working, and the watts display was crazy low. Maybe this is why I've felt on the verge of shelled the last few weeks? Nah, that plus that silly IM race has done it. Haven't drank that much yet, but am getting the Infinit calories down. Boy is it humid. And hot. Seeing lots of cyclists today. Leo the dog (Newfoundland) takes off after me at the West Gate, but his master calls him off me. There were 2 other cyclists there--why did Leo pick me? Life is still good, feel pretty strong, wind is picking up.

Lap 3. Have no idea how hard I'm working, but based on speed alone and considering the amount of time I'm spending into the headwind, I must be doing OK. Life is still good. Lots of caffeine in that Infinit--maybe I should have mixed different ratios. Oh well, not feeling hungry, drinking plenty. Why was it I thought I needed to ride 115 miles today? Oh yeah--because next Sunday I'm going to ride 200K! About 8 miles into this lap, I come upon a huge oak tree that just fell onto the road. There's a security guard there, and I ask when it fell, and he said about 10 seconds ago (I had come around a curve). He remarked how lucky he was that it didn't fall on his car, and I'm thinking yeah, I feel pretty lucky, too. Starting to see triathletes on the roads. Figure many of them are doing their last rites either for IM Canada or a shorter ride for IMWI. Me? I'm just a dumbass circling around in here for no particular reason!

Lap 4. Life is not so good. My core temperature seems really elevated. It just hasn't been this warm on the weekend since IMLP and I'm definitely not used to spending this much time in the sun. I am disgusting--drool and sweat all over my face, assorted dead bugs all over my skin. The wind is pretty annoying, but at least it's going the right way so I should have a tailwind home. Think about cutting the ride short. I've never done 5 laps here. But when I finish this one, there is no option but to continue.

Lap 5. Legs don't feel bad but the miles are sure going by slowly now. I am hot and tired. My head is on fire. Feet feel OK, though. Still no clouds in the sky. When I get back to my exit gate, I am so excited to be on my way home. I'm guzzling water, but luckily I don't seem dehydrated (I can tell by tapping on my deltoids--kind of like cake testing).

Thank God the tailwind is here! I'm not looking at speed or anything, just going. The first major stoplight is dead, and I'm the only vehicle going east--will the cars let me pass? I watch the 3 other directions and when I think it's my turn, sure enough, there are a bunch of cars waving me through. That's a nice feeling. About 4 miles later I have to get into some shade, I really feel like I'm overheating. My water is warm, though. I keep going, and when I get to my home town, there's a bike race going on. I haven't looked at the clock all day, so have no idea of my elapsed time, and finally I look and actually I've done pretty well, considering. At a stoplight, I hear someone yelling my name and see a friend. I dismount and since the day is about bikes, I'm getting a lot of people looking at me and mine. Dan asks how far I've gone, and I'm at 112 miles with about 1 more to go. Boy, am I hot. I want to watch the race, but I'm so hot and probably need some more calories, but I watch the last lap of the Cat 1 race and then think about how am I going to get home? I end up riding on sidewalks for a few blocks and get quite a few looks from riders who are on the course warming up for the 100K race. I actually think that once I shower and eat that I'll come back and watch that.

Get home and I'm really not hungry, but I get in the shower to dedisgustify, and of course it's one of the best showers ever, and I put on a robe and grab cold Endurox and begin sipping on that. Lay on the couch and watch some Olympics, and all of a sudden I'm pretty cold. Crap. Go upstairs and put more clothes on, go back downstairs, and I still need the blankets all over me. I must have been in heat exhaustion. I was even shivering. Go upstairs and grab my exercise physiology book and read about it. Yep, that's it. Says to drink cold fluids. I find it interesting that hypothermia and hyperthermia produce the same reaction, only with hyperthermia, the body is all confused and thinks you need to be even warmer. After about 1/2 hour of shivering, my body figures out things are fine, and the blankets come off, and I'm even starting to feel pretty warm. Get tired of Olympics and just want to lay down. Can't fall asleep because of all the caffeine, but laying in bed with a fan blowing right on me feels good. Figure I'll just lay there until I get hungry, because I must need some more calories, right? I think I stayed there about an hour and a half (getting up every 15 minutes to pee and drink more cold water), and then I started feeling hungry. Heated up a burger I'd grilled on Saturday and fixed a nice salad with unpitted cherries! I like fruit in my salad now.

I never did go back to watch the bike race. The thought of being out in the sun just wasn't very appealing. Once again, today when I looked at the wind history for yesterday, yeah, it was bad, so I guess I HTFU'ed a little. I almost phoned a friend while I was out there to ask for some HTFU, because I didn't feel like I was doing the day justice, but at some level I supposed I had. I reviewed my last 3 big rides--#1 was lost and hurting, #2 was windy as hell and cool, and #3 was windy as hell, hot and humid. Maybe I don't suck after all.

I am going to give swimming a go this morning, and no I'm not riding a bike there! Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Weekly Workout Totals	08/11/2008-08/17/2008 This week's totals are sponsored by HTFU, which I need more of.
Swim:	14075 yards (7.99 miles) in 4.92 hours; 23% of weekly workout time; approx. 1722 calories burned Canadian: 12870.18 meters
Bike:	Approx. 185.22 miles in 10.58 hours; 50% of weekly workout time; approx. 4834 calories burned; Total TSS=634 Canadian: 298.08 kilometers
Run:	Approx. 28.93 miles in 4.36 hours; 21% of weekly workout time; approx. 1965 calories burned Canadian: 46.56 kilometers
Strength:	1.32 hours; 6% of weekly workout time; approx. 330 calories burned
All Sports:	Approx. 222.14 miles in 21.18 hours; approx. 8851 calories burned Canadian: 357.5 kilometers
Sleep:	8.29 hours avg./night
Stretching:	2.52 hours. Massage: 1 hours

Nothing

Bliss. Oneness. Wholeness. Enlightenment. Peace. Completeness. Transcendence.

Some of the things that I seek. And yet, the method appears completely contrary to the essence of the desired end state.

Nothingness. Emptiness. Solitude.

Enduring. Pain. Suffering. Terror.

Joy. Awe. Wonder. Beauty.

They all blend together. If you have never experienced suffering, how can you know joy? If you have never been empty, how will you know when you're full? If you've never gone too far, how can you know when you've gone far enough?

This is what it is to me. To push myself to a place in training that makes me appreciate the fleeting moments of bliss, of connection, of joy, of peace. And the hope that they will be extended, perhaps permanently. To know these moments is to know there are more of them out there. They are like rainbows--they are really always there--you just have to come in from the right angle!

Life can be challenging and sad, but there is so much of it that if you just grab onto it and live it that everyone can find a way to position themselves to experience the entire gamut of everything--the highs, the lows, and in between. Most of it is in between--and the lows can seem like bottomless abysses, but the highs are like fireworks illuminating the night sky making you go "oooooh" and the fact that you saw it is enough at the moment.

Why is celebration reserved for special occasions? Isn't today special? Yes, it is. And I know that tomorrow will be, too.

Everything and nothing.

Running--from Craptastic to Cracktastic!

I've been struggling getting my running legs back. It's to be expected, though--even though I was slow as molasses at IMLP, I still did a marathon, and oh, yeah an Ironman.

Up until today, my legs have pretty much felt like bricks whenever I've run. I am not a runner. Running has never come naturally to me, although I've had some really good runs. But I still don't consider myself a runner. I just get it done when I need to. I'd rather ride a bike!

I have pushed myself through some really bad runs in the last 2 weeks. "Really bad" meaning my legs hurt like hell. I do realize that a marathon causes all sorts of muscular damage (I did 3 of them in 2007--Disney and then those 2 Ironmans), and I know it would be better if I had access to a trail nearby to lessen the impact, but I don't, so run on roads I must most of the time.

Tuesday I was not supposed to run off the bike, but that is just a hassle (extra showers and the eating thing), so I went ahead and ran off the bike. I wasn't able to ride very hard (I guess I blew my wad, as they say, on Sunday riding like hell into the wind), so I shouldn't feel too bad running. I didn't feel all that bad, but since no matter which way I go from my house I'm running hills, well, it's one thing to recover from a marathon, another to be able to run on flats, and another thing entirely to be able to cope with hills. I didn't do as poorly as I thought I would, though. The workout was made harder by the fact that on Monday I went back to my normal level of weights, including legs, so I knew I was asking for it on Tuesday to think I could ride with power and then run off the bike! But I did it anyway, and I'm never sorry for pushing myself through stuff like that, because it has to be done if I'm going to regain my strength.

Yesterday I swam leisurely in the morning (2800 meters is all), and went for a run in the middle of the day. I did not drink any Coke (besides who knows how many calories are in a can anyway?) before I left, but in retrospect maybe could have used some. I decided to run west instead of my usual east (thinking the winds were out of the west, but I was wrong--they were out of the north), and the first mile is mostly uphill, and then more uphill and then more uphill, and my legs felt like rocks. But I was laughing and smiling about it because I'm doing it to myself! When I was almost done, I took a different way home (the last about .3 miles), which normally would be downhill, but it was uphill! Sometimes I swear everywhere I run is uphill, but I am used to it, which is why when I'm recovering from something major, it sucks because I pretty much have to run hills. All good, though!

I felt pretty wasted after running yesterday, but I really wanted to finish up my core routine (which includes some leg work) so I didn't have to do it today. I knew it would only take about 15 minutes, but I kept putting it off until finally I decided, fuck it, it's go time. All I was doing was watching mindless TV anyway (waiting for the Olympics to be on), so I may as well get it done. My legs protested mightily, and I wondered while doing it whether I was digging myself into a hole. I stretched really well afterwards, ate some more spaghetti and meatballs, decided I needed to get a good night's sleep, and was fast asleep at 8:30. I mean I passed out in like 5 seconds after my head hit the pillow!

When I woke up this morning, I could tell as soon as I got out of bed that I felt really great! My legs felt the best they've felt in weeks--going downstairs I felt nice and loose. I filled my 2 12-oz. bottles with partially defizzed Coke (I opened the cans yesterday and left them in the fridge, and one day in a can is not professional defizzing), put them in the cooler, ate a Powerbar and had some coffee, and I was off to Waterfall Glen for a 2-hour run. It was a very cool morning (high 50's) so no swimsuit today.

As I started to run (at 6:15), I knew I wasn't going very fast, but I felt comfortable, and I didn't want to jinx myself, but I thought this might be a good run. About 1.5 miles in, I saw 6 bucks all just hanging out browsing! They just looked at me and went back to their early morning snack. I didn't want any Coke until about 2 miles in (I had woken up at 5:00). As soon as I took a sip, it worked its magic (probably more the sugar than anything), and I continued to feel great. I think I was about 3.5 miles in when I decided I would go out for :45 and back, but as I wasn't feeling like I needed much liquids, I decided to just keep going around the full loop (about 9.7 miles) and then add on.

During Mile 8, I thought about when was the last time I ran the entire loop? It was back in April during one of my half NothingMan's, and I remembered how great I felt that day, and I know I was smiling a lot today, too. When I finished the loop, my watch told me that this was probably the second fastest time I've had going around.

I grabbed my other 12-oz. bottle of Coke from my car and headed out for another 1/2 hour or so. The fog had burned off, but it was still very humid. I chucked my singlet back at my car, as it was soaked through and through. That last bit of running seemed to go by pretty fast, and it made me look forward to next week's long run which will be 2:15.

When I got back to my car, I saw a cyclist that I had seen while running and have seen several other times I've run there. He asked me (after seeing the sticker on my car) if I'm really a "Triathlon Freak." Answer: YES! I told him how happy I was to have a good run today after last week's death march. He told me he's done one Ironman, Great Floridian, and how during the marathon it was like an out of body experience, like he was floating even though he knew he was in pain and...well you can guess the rest. About all I could say is that this is why I do this. Only it took me 4 Ironman's to get to that point! We exchanged information, and I hope he comes out and joins us for part of NothingMan. He got that concept--how you strip away everything except just the DOING of the sports.

I don't know how the next few weeks of training will go, but today was perfect! Tomorrow I'm going to swim 3 miles total (2.5 straight) and see how that feels. I'll probably end up riding 100 miles on Sunday all by my lonesome, but that's OK...last Sunday was pretty much that way, too. And then I get to enjoy a bike race afterwards!

Right now I feel "appropriately tired" from my run, and am getting a massage tonight, so I should be good to go tomorrow. I am almost feeling as strong as I wanted to feel about 4 weeks ago, and now I am really looking forward to NothingMan! I know there will be other runs coming up where I'll struggle, but that's OK. It's in the pushing through when you feel like crap that you really learn what your body can do, and I'm amazed that I'm able to do this at all most days.

Life is good!

I'm an Olympic Beach Volleyball Player for Brazil

No, I'm not (notice the lack of sand). But in case you don't get it, lookie here. You guys especially should appreciate those pics.

Food

I like food. I need to eat a lot of food when I'm training in my usual fashion during the summer. Michael Phelps needs to eat a lot of food. It seems some people are pretty incredulous about the types of food he eats. Hey--when you need to eat 8,000 calories a day, it's pretty hard to get that all from fruits, vegetables, lean protein and whole grains. There is not enough time in the day to chew all of that! I mean seriously! When Eskimos used to subsist on a lot of whale blubber, was there someone telling them, "Hey, don't eat all that whale blubber!" Hell no. You eat what you need to eat and sometimes your body tells you to just eat a lot of calorie dense food that's not too bulky. Example: cake, cookies, candy.

So far today, I have biked for 1:40 and ran (brick) for :45 (**NEW** NO BONKING!!!) and here's what I've had to eat/drink:

Breakfast:
4 cups of coffee with non-fat Coffeemate creamer
1 Powerbar Triple Threat

10:00AM snack
2 large bananas

Pre-workout carb loading:
4 fruit slices (candy)
1 can Coke (unknown calorie content!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

During workout:
32 oz. Gatorade

Post-workout Recovery:
Endurox R4

Lunch--Sandwich consisting of:
2 slices bread
1 can albacore tuna packed in water
about 2 tbsp. low-fat mayonnaise
about 2 tsp. pickle relish
1/2 of a medium tomato

Salt Craving:
3 Pringles

How many calories in all that? Off the top of my head, I'd say about 2000? Except for the Coke, fruit slices and Pringles, pretty nutritional stuff. I could use more veggies. How many calories do I need today? About 1250 for the exercise, and about 2000 for my basal rate. So let's call it 3,300. So I need 1300 more. No problemo! Spaghetti and meatballs (homemade meatballs and sauce) tonight and a couple of beers should do it.

I think it's pretty easy to hit 3,500 calories a day of pretty healthy stuff, and that's already a lot of food! I can't imagine needing 5-7,000 more than that!

Back when I mostly just lifted weights, I was a little heavier than now (fatter, too) and could only eat maybe 1600-1800 calories a day to maintain my weight. Fuck that shit! I like food! For a person of my size, I think about 2,500 calories a day lets me eat a lot of different things in moderation (figure 1800 basal rate and then about 1.5 hours of exercise). 1.5 hours of exercise a day is only 10.5 per week, and that's about my winter load. This is why I stay away from pasta unless I'm at 15 hours or more a week--it's just too calorically dense and more of a treat.

But tonight, I'm going to add a bunch of carbs so I'm prepared for about 3 hours of training tomorrow. By the way, last week's little stomach upset I'm chalking up to well, just readjusting to training and introducing more carbs back into my system. Even though I rode for well over 6 hours on Sunday, I did not eat any starch post-workout and felt just fine yesterday. I feel like I need a ton of protein right now, and so I'm going to honor my body's request, and throw in some starch as needed.

If Phelps can win 8 gold medals eating whatever he wants, who are we to tell him he should do differently? Amongst whatever it is he's eating, he's getting what his body needs. Rock on, dude!

Weekly Workout Totals 08/04/2008-08/10/2008, Sunday Ride and General Rambling

First, I back up to last Wednesday. After my little bonk episode, I did eat a big bowl of pasta and a "normal" (as of late, anyway) dinner of lean protein and vegetables. Thursday morning I wake up and feel like crap. Bloated, gassy, crampy--my entire GI tract was in knots. So bad that I ended up calling in sick. I spent many hours curled up in the fetal position hoping it would subside. Was it the extra dose of carbs that I wasn't used to? Who knows. All I know is I felt like shit. But I needed to do a long run. I wasn't dying...I was just uncomfortable. So around 1:15, I went to Waterfall Glen and did it. It wasn't pretty--it was one of the slowest runs I've done in years--almost 10mpm. But it was an absolutely beautiful day, so I toughed it out. Since my stomach was a mess, of course, I barely ate anything before I started, so by the time I got comfortable running, then I had little fuel to draw on and my legs just plain hurt! It made me laugh that I was swapping one type of pain for another.

On Friday morning, I felt a little better--enough to be able to work, but still not great. I went to the outdoor pool and knocked out 3100 meters. It felt good to stretch out my midsection, but it didn't fix anything. I decided to do a ride in the middle of the day so I could be lazy on Saturday, and I headed out on CF to Greene Valley (a dump with accompanying trail system--it's actually pretty nice), and rode around in bright sunshine. I enjoyed the ride, even when my stomach would cramp up on me and try and bring me down.

Saturday morning I got to sleep in, and I didn't feel like doing much of anything, so I turned on the Olympics. I just got into it, and it was a really cool day, and I had wanted to go swim outdoors, but it rained a little and I decided I really didn't need to anyway, so I just vegged out. Ever have one of those days where you get really lazy and can't imagine getting excited about a big workout the next day? Saturday was one of those days for me. I just went into this mode of "I can't believe I work out so much when this laziness feels so good." I felt like my body was conspiring to shut me down anyway, so I let my brain indulge this fantasy for the better part of the day, all the while thinking I needed to fix some bottles, stretch and do a whole lot of other things, none of which seemed more appealing than parking my butt in front of the TV.

Finally, at about 2:30, I decided I had better do something because even though the laziness felt good, it didn't feel right. So I did an abs/core workout, and that got my blood flowing, and got me thinking about riding on Sunday. I decided that with my stomach still in knots that aero position probably wouldn't feel too good, so I lovingly carressed LGL to let her know she was going to get to go long on Sunday.

Of course, I had to stay up (anything past 9PM is late for me) and watch Phelps swim his 400IM, and that was awesome. I set my alarm for 4:30AM and fell asleep quickly. Upon waking yesterday morning, it was quite cool outside, so I had some time to obsess about what to wear. The forecast called for a high of 75, so I knew bike shorts were in order and maybe even a jersey. I felt better than the day before, but not overly excited about riding. Given all the training and racing I'd already done for the year, I knew that in the big scheme of things, if I really didn't feel like riding 100 miles that I didn't need to, but that was still my objective for the day.

I drove to Dekalb (home of Northern Illinois University, home of the Huskies) for the Windy 60. The ride had 20, 40 and 60-mile route options, so I figured I'd combine the 60 and 40. When I got the route map, though, it looked like there was an inner loop that I could just repeat, and now that I think of it, I'd done that before a few years back. I ended up leaving on my sleeveless tank and putting a bike jersey over it plus arm warmers, as it was still only maybe 56 when we started.

I had brought a can of Coke along for the ride in case I wanted it before I started, but I never did open it. I left it in the cup holder next to the driver's seat of my car. A few miles into the ride, I remembered I left it there and thought it might explode, but I didn't really worry too much about it. I had made a 6-hour bottle of Infinit for my nutrition, which was good, because on this ride they don't have Gatorade--they just have lemonade--and I am just not into carrying all the salt tablets with me anymore.

Odd for August (or summer, for that matter), the winds were out of the north. And our route took us, guess what? About 25 miles south to begin with. Nice! The tailwind was great, but considering there was little chance of the wind changing direction today, I knew the ride back would suck. About 20 miles in, you get to the main rest stop, and then you do a 21-mile loop and come back to the same spot, and then it's about 20 miles back to the start. The first time through the loop is when I got to experience the north wind. It sucked! Not only that, but the road we took north featured very long uphill grades, so that was really nice!

I finished the first loop and thought about whether I wanted to do it again. I could just stop and do a 60-mile ride, but there was this little voice in my head that was telling me it was no big deal and that I can suffer. Besides, the north leg only lasted about 20 minutes (of hell) or so. On loop 2, of course the wind picked up and it was even harder. It was funny that I was recognizing things, like a certain empty bottle of water tossed to the side of the road, an empty (or so I thought) bag from some sort of chips, corner dog (there was a dog at a right-hand turn and that's what I named him) and a whole lot of corn. Oh well, the ride south was fun!

I checked with the folks at the aid station (which I didn't really need because there was a water fountain) to see how long they'd be there and to let them know I was heading out for one more loop. I spoke with the woman heading the station and she noticed my Ironman Canada jersey and asked me how many I'd done, and I told her and that I was doing a self-supported one in a few weeks. I wasn't even very animated while talking to her, because, well, it's just stuff I do, but her eyes and her daughter's eyes went pretty wide when I told them about NothingMan. I really enjoy seeing the look on people's faces--I guess because I want them to see in me how much I love doing this that I would just "go do it" even though I do "regular" Ironman races, too.

That little voice was playing with me about now. I could just head back and call it 80 or so miles and that would be a good ride, especially with the amount of wind. But hey--I drove 46 miles to get there, so how stupid would it be for me to ride less distance than I drove? Pretty stupid. At least if you have a little voice in your head that's telling you to get back out there and suffer some more in the wind. So I went back out. I hadn't seen too many riders on the previous lap, but anyone I could see ahead of me I was able to catch. On this last lap, I didn't expect to see anyone, but sure enough, when I hit the north leg into the headwind, I saw first a solo rider, whom I caught, and then a group of three. The group of 3 looked like maybe they were players, but I guess not since I caught and passed them. Some people just give up into a headwind, and I was hurting big time, but not giving up. I knew it wasn't long into the wind, so I just kept pressing on.

Getting back to the rest stop for the last time, I pulled in first and was by myself. The group of 3 followed shortly thereafter, and when it seemed like we were all ready to go home, I asked them to come along and we could ride a pace line to make it easier. They looked at me like I was nuts, and maybe they thought I was too fast for them or else a little brash? But hey, I meant it, but they didn't follow right behind me.

At this point now, we had about 15 miles north to go. It was miserable. At one point we were on a road that was a long uphill grade of maybe 4 miles, into the headwind, and the pavement was grooved! My legs were screaming at me, and all I could think was hey--it may as well be raining, too! I was happy when I could get up to 15mph on this stretch. I did encounter one guy up ahead who eluded me for about 4 miles, but finally I caught up to him, and I could tell he was really suffering. We came up to this little nothing of a rest stop (which I hadn't expected), and someone flagged me down and said they had water. Well, I could have kept going, but the thought of cold water sounded great, so I stopped, dismounted, and grabbed some. One guy remarked that I didn't fall off my bike like other riders had. I was still hanging in there, and they said we had 8 miles left, mostly north. I thanked them for being out there and forged onwards.

At least the grooved pavement stopped, and it wasn't so much uphill anymore, so I was thankful for that. I wasn't looking at where I was at mileage-wise, because I just didn't care. I knew I'd be over 100 miles, and that was good. When I was almost back, I came upon a family of 4--Dad had an extension on his bike for his son, and Mom and a daughter were on their own bikes. I asked Dad how many miles they had done and he said 40. I was totally impressed! I told them all good job, and Dad asked me where I was at, and that's when I looked at the Ergomo and saw 107 miles. When all was said and done, I had 108.5 miles and was one happy camper to be finished.

I rode into the parking lot and proceeded right to get my t-shirt. Normally, I don't want shirts from rides, since I do so many of these, but this one I wanted. A man who I'd seen at various points asked me about my mileage and I told him and he said he wished he could give me a prize or something! All I wanted, though, was the shirt.

When I got back to my car, guess what? The can of Coke had exploded, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Luckily, I always bring a frozen washcloth to these long rides that I drive to, which by now was perfect for wiping up the Coke, but not until I wiped off my face. I was able to pretty much clean it all up, and just chalked it up to another minor obstacle in my day. I had brought along frozen Endurox, too, and it was ice cold. Now I wondered if I could make the entire drive home without going hypoglycemic.

Luckily, traffic wasn't bad at all, so I cruised home, and even was able to stop at the grocery store for a few things before going home. Although while at the grocery store I could tell I was on the verge of hypoglycemia, all I was craving was protein. And Olympics! As soon as I got in the door, I started eating and cracked a beer, and remembered I needed to mow the front lawn (I had done the back on Friday), and figured I should do that before I shower, so I did, and then I had the BEST SHOWER EVER and finally I could just lay around and watch the Olympics. I made myself stretch, which felt good, and while doing so, thought either I rode pretty hard or I suck!

That was one of the toughest rides I've done because of the wind, but also because my mental state wasn't in it initially. Pretty typical for 3 weeks after an Ironman race! There were points during the day when I thought I pretty much sucked, but when I realized what I was doing and the fact that there was no option but for me to keep riding loops into the wind, I thought, hey, I guess that shows some mental toughness, right? When I downloaded the ride information, well, I did ride pretty hard because I averaged 80% of FTP on the day. Wind makes me work!

This is when it's "fun" to me. When I feel like I'm struggling a bit because I've been pouring it on for months, and I'm starting to ask myself why do I keep going and think maybe I suck, but I know I don't and someone tells me I'm nuts, and in a way I am, and it's a good thing. This is the whole NothingMan thing--to want to do it, but not want to do it--to want to stop training, but to keep going anyway--to think it will be fun but realize that it's pretty sick to think of an Ironman as fun--to feel like everything and nothing all at once--to care and not care--to want to tell everyone about it but also to keep silent--to act like it's a big deal but it really isn't. And the whole objective of the exercise really is nothing, so here again is my favorite quote:

To achieve satisfaction
in everything
Desire it in nothing.
To possess everything,
Desire to have nothing.
To be everything,
Desire to be nothing.
To know everything,
Desire to know nothing.
--John of the Cross

Weekly Workout Totals	08/04/2008-08/10/2008 This week's totals are sponsored by the Olympics. I just can't get enough. Swimming, especially--soon to be followed by track and field!
Swim:	7815 yards (4.44 miles) in 2.65 hours; 13% of weekly workout time; approx. 928 calories burned Canadian: 7146.04 meters
Bike:	Approx. 214.32 miles in 12.2 hours; 60% of weekly workout time; approx. 6007 calories burned; Total TSS=722 Canadian: 344.91 kilometers
Run:	Approx. 25.14 miles in 4.01 hours; 20% of weekly workout time; approx. 1819 calories burned Canadian: 40.46 kilometers
Strength:	1.6 hours; 8% of weekly workout time; approx. 400 calories burned
All Sports:	Approx. 243.9 miles in 20.46 hours; approx. 9154 calories burned Canadian: 392.52 kilometers
Sleep:	9 hours avg./night
Stretching:	2.55 hours. Massage: 2 hours

...

Once divided...nothing left to subtract...
Some words when spoken...can't be taken back...
Walks on his own...with thoughts he can't help thinking...
Futures above...but in the past he's slow and sinking...
Caught a bolt a lightning...cursed the day he let it go...

Nothingman...
Isnt it something?
Nothingman...

She once believed...in every story he had to tell...
One day she stiffened...took the other side...
Empty stares...from each corner of a shared prison cell...
One just escapes...one's left inside the well...
And he who forgets...will be destined to remember...oh...oh...oh...

Nothingman...
Isnt it something?
Nothingman...

Oh, she don't want him...
Oh, she won't feed him...after he's flown away...
Oh, into the sun...ah, into the sun...

Burn...burn...
Nothingman...
Isnt it something?
Nothingman...
Nothingman...
Coulda been something...
Nothingman...
Oh...ohh...ohh...

Just Add More Carbs!

Had my usual breakfast of some coffee and a Powerbar. Rode CF to the outdoor pool and drank about 10 oz. of Gatorade during a 3200 meter workout. Rode home. Finished the Gatorade. Had 2 more cups of coffee. Ate a Twinkie (low-fat--why did I buy those???). Ate 2 huge peaches. Drank 1/2 can of Coke (with the mysterious amount of calories since I know they lie on the can). Ate 2 pieces of fruit slice candy. Went for a run. Wasn't exactly bonky, but could tell my muscles are not fully loaded with glycogen (no pics today--wore the swimsuit I ran in yesterday which got cleaned up during this morning's swim). Kept telling myself while running that I should eat rice or pasta for lunch. Drank 12 oz. Gatorade during my :50 run. Got home, forgot to make bottles of Endurox, crap need to drink some warm. Put pot of water on stove to boil. It's going to be pasta, baby! I think I ate almost 1/2 lb. of pasta with some walnut pesto on top. More like wolfed it down. I needed that! Tonight I may have rice with dinner just to punch up my carbs even more. Thing is, all I need to do tomorrow is run for 1:40, but I think I'm 3 days' worth down on glycogen. Could explain why I'm all sore, too.

Stupid Crackhead! You'd think I'd know better, right? Sure, I do, but sometimes I just get sick of the starchy stuff. No worries--I just need a little here and there.

I saw Chuck at the pool today, and he told me that he circled back for me in his car on Monday during the storm that I waited out. What a nice thing to do! I told him I just waited for the lightning to stop and made it home between storms. I'm lucky to know some really great people like him. On our ride back from the pool together, I told Chuck about my bonk yesterday and we had some good laughs about bonking and how "regular" people don't understand how that happens and how desperate you can get when bonking! I would have snatched anything sugary from anyone yesterday! In retrospect, I should have eaten some pasta last night, but I didn't (1/2 of a PB&J sandwich right before bed). Oh well!

When I say I'm "training," it means I'm paying attention to all that minutiae, like how much carbs I'm taking in, sleep, stretching, all that. I was trying to "not train," but I have failed miserably. I guess it's back to actual training now...stupid NothingMan!

Bike, Run, BONK!

I did not run in a swimsuit yesterday because it was on a treadmill. Today, I had a 1:45 bike and :45 run scheduled--the run was not supposed to be a brick run.

I suited up in this to ride. Notice my balls. Also the mop on my head, which is getting cut in 2 days--I can't wait!










Here I am with the helmet, shades and shoes. Also my balls.











Here I am post-ride. With my balls. I ended up riding almost 2 hours. It was hot. VERY hot.










I didn't want to wait too long before I ran, so I wasn't able to eat a meal right after biking. I drank Endurox and ate 2 huge peaches (without the skin, which I peeled off using my teeth, by the way) and 2 apricots (with the skin--they are a PIA to try and peel but the skin doesn't bother me as much as peach skin). About 1 3/4 hours after finishing biking, I suited up to run:

Again, with the balls. Different swimsuit, because I just couldn't stand putting on the one I wore to bike in.










I headed out to run with a 12-oz. bottle of Gatorade. I thought I had enough calories in me for a short, :45 run. I was wrong. First off, it was HOT. Even hotter than when I had been riding. As soon as I started running, I felt a little light-headed, but I attributed it to the heat. I pressed on and got 1 mile out and then I knew the light-headedness wasn't just the heat--it was a bonk. I drank all the Gatorade, but as I know from other bonks, Gatorade just doesn't do the trick for me--I need more concentrated sugar and NOW. I tried to convince the guy on the golf course who was selling candy to just give me some, but he wouldn't (I didn't have any money with me). I should have told him I'm diabetic and was about to pass out!

So what did I do? I walked a little bit, sat in some shade for a little bit, filled up my bottle with water and thought about what I should do. I decided to try run/walking, and that worked, but at first I had to walk more than I ran. After about a 1/2 mile of suckage, I was able to run a lot more than walk and make it home, so 3 miles covered. Did I stop? Hell no. I'm Crackhead, after all. I chowed down on 6 fruit slices, which I needed whether or not I continued running, and gave them about 2 minutes to work their magic. And then I went back out and finished my run!

Here I am post run with the bonk saving candy











Now, of course I needed to figure out how much I was off on my nutrition for the day to have caused the bonk, and so I sat down and figured things out. Before I began running, I had 817 calories, including 213 grams of carbs, in me. That would have worked if I had just run straight off the bike, but that included the wait time, so it wasn't enough. I then immediately added the fruit slices and more Gatorade which brought me up to 1,117 calories with 288 grams of carbs, but that's still really not enough for 2:45 of working out! Oh well. One thing I discovered in adding things up is that nutrition information on cans of Coke are fucking wrong. It says 140 calories and 39 grams of carbs. That doesn't add up. 39 grams of carbs is 4 x 39 = 156 calories. Which is it, Coke? People who can bonk need to know!

Anyway, I also discovered that peaches don't have very many calories. And I still have not been eating any pasta, but maybe I should start. I don't know. I still feel fat. But I tell you, wearing a swimsuit to bike and run in is making me very conscious of every bit of unnecessary weight hanging off me! It's the best diet ever! I just need to be a little more careful of getting sufficient carbs now that I'm effectively training like a mad woman again.

It was fun, though! Even the bonking!

A Little Bit "Thinky" Today

Got up this morning after sleeping OK, although not great. I use Infinit on my ride yesterday, and it's been awhile (um...2 weeks) since I've been wired on all the caffeine, so it took some work to get to sleep, but that's just the price I pay.

I looked at the radar (I HEART Doppler), and saw a storm that looked to be well north pounding Madison, Wisconsin, among other areas to the north. It didn't look like it was going to sag too far south, so I had 2 cups of coffee, a Powerbar, and suited up to go swim.

While riding to the pool, a number of things were swirling in my head. Maybe it was all the negative ions in the air with storms just to the north. Maybe it was because my legs were telling me I was nuts to be on a bike right now (there were times yesterday when my left IT band was screaming at me and my right VMO), and that I was so tired that maybe I should just take a day off from training.

I started asking myself why do I do this? That happens periodically. Should I be doing something else? Is this taking away from more important things? Do I really think that in the big scheme of things this bike ride, this swim workout, means anything? It looked like it might rain. I can turn around whenever I want and just bag it all. I could just ride the bike a few miles and call it a short bike workout and skip the swim. Why do I do this? And I just kept riding. What's the worse thing that can happen? I get caught in a rainstorm. Been there, done that. All day! It wouldn't bother me for it to happen right now. Keep riding. Why do I do this? Look at all the people in their cars, many of them driving to work. I'm riding a bike! To a pool! So what my legs are tired and sore, so what that I'll probably swim like shit. I've got plenty of time before I need to be working, what else would I be doing? I didn't wear a shirt over my swim top because it was pretty warm already and I'd just get it all sweaty anyway and maybe I wouldn't need to wear a shirt home, either. Maybe it's going to rain. Whatever. It's just rain. Not like rain is going to ruin my day today. I feel hungry. Maybe I didn't stuff down enough calories after yesterday's ride. I did get out of bed at 10:30PM and ate another hamburger pretty much in my sleep because I needed something. Oh--I'm making my shortcut through the loser pool's parking lot. Thank God I don't have to swim there--it's only 25 yards. Outdoors, yes, but only 25 yards. Loser pool!

I get to my pool and there are a good number of cars in the parking lot, and only 1 bike. Hmmm...maybe everyone thought it was going to rain? Whatever, now I get to swim. Get on deck and see a number of happy faces of people I know...some that I only see at the pool. I wonder if they ever ask themselves why they do this. I pick a lane, get in, and yeah, oh shit, am I tired! I need to breathe every stroke I'm so tired. But my legs feel good in the water! I swim 200 meters and then kick 200 meters and then Thor goes off. Everyone out of the pool! The skies didn't really look that bad, and we couldn't see lightning or hear thunder, but still...a few more swimmers arrive only to see that we've all gotten out of the pool, and we chat. Is it for real? The skies begin to darken up, someone has Doppler on their phone, and yeah, it's coming for us now. I should have jumped on Chuck to load my bike in his car and drive me home, but now the clouds are coming fast, and I literally jump in the shower and rinse off thinking I can make it home before it hits. No such luck! The skies open up and the lightning show begins. It's actually pretty spectacular! Everyone else is leaving in their cars...I figure it can't go on forever and I can wait it out. I realize that one gift I've received from doing this Ironman thing is that I can be pretty relaxed in situations like this. I do a little stretching and chat with the guards, who ask me if there's someone they can call for me. I tell them, no, I have a phone, and besides, I just need to wait for the lightning to stop and I'll ride home in the rain if I have to. I mean, I did an entire Ironman in the rain! No big deal to ride in the rain today--just 5.3 miles. Worst case scenario is I call a cab and load my bike in there. I can wait a little more. The guards ask me about the distances in an Ironman and I tell them. They look at me like it's pretty far and ask how I train. A lot. I tell them I really like the training and am very lucky that I can do it. I go and look outside again and it looks like the lightning has stopped, so I tell them I'm going to leave and hope they have a nice day.

The rain has pretty much stopped (it was about a 1-hour wait), and I get back on the bike, and my legs still hurt, but it's not raining--I'm just getting a little road spray and tree drip is all. And now instead of asking myself why I do this I'm thinking that life is like the weather--storms drop in every now and then, and if you are just willing to watch them and see them for all they are, which is sometimes destructive and sometimes beautiful, in the end you know they pass and everything is all right. Sometimes there is damage afterwards, but you just pick up and keep going. And you know there will be other storms and maybe they will somehow interrupt your life temporarily, but you'll get through them. And sometimes you get to see really beautiful rainbows. And you can't plan for the storms. They just happen!

I made it home just fine. A few minutes after I got inside it started raining again. I guess it's just going to be a rainy day today. Oh well! I swam 400 meters and biked about 10.5 miles already, and I'm going to go for a run. No, not in the rain. On the treadmill.

Weekly Workout Totals 7/28/2008-8/3/2008 and Ride of Lostness

But first, some messages from my food sponsors--fruits and vegetables picked up yesterday at the farmer's market and some meat that all got grilled yesterday:
Chicken soaking in hot sauces and cayenne pepper








Burgers containing hot, spicy, olive mufaletta








Eggplant, red bell peppers and jalapeños








Peaches and apricots









Red leaf lettuce








Chicken's on the grill








Chicken's done









Bell peppers are grilled









Eggplant and jalapeños done being grilled with rosemary and basil from my garden








Burgers are done being grilled









And I got to eat at last!










I did a local ride called the Rotary Ride today. It didn't get into the 90's--just low 80's. But there was a lot of lostness. Apparently, some guy in a pickup went and gathered up a lot of the turn signs. Dickhead. Funny thing was it didn't really matter all that much to me. I ran into a number of people I know, and we were all comparing "tiredness" notes. I did get to hammer with many of them for bits and pieces, and we'd then go off separately and get lost separately and then somehow reconnect! It was pretty funny. I ended up at 110 miles, and my legs let me know. Hard to believe, but I did 3,000 ft. of climbing today. Not bad for flatland, eh? But look at what I did this past week below. That's the most stretching this entire season (I needed it). Also a good bit of biking. I am pretty beat, but think I can put together another good "not training" week this week. And oh yeah, I rode in tri suit panties today. I never did take off the token tank--it just wasn't uncomfortable--and my legs are browner than they've been in a few years. I'll even things out this week as I swim and run more. My quads are really beat up right now, but I get worked on tomorrow evening.

I am too tired to bold anything at this point. Figure it out!

Weekly Workout Totals	07/28/2008-08/03/2008 This week's totals are sponsored by crack. I MUST be on crack to do this 2 weeks after an Ironman, right?
Swim:	13300 yards (7.55 miles) in 4.87 hours; 23% of weekly workout time; approx. 1704 calories burned Canadian: 12161.52 meters
Bike:	Approx. 223.71 miles in 12.52 hours; 60% of weekly workout time; approx. 5598 calories burned; Total TSS=689 Canadian: 360.03 kilometers
Run:	Approx. 16.26 miles in 2.44 hours; 12% of weekly workout time; approx. 1107 calories burned Canadian: 26.17 kilometers
Strength:	0.95 hours; 5% of weekly workout time; approx. 238 calories burned
All Sports:	Approx. 247.52 miles in 20.78 hours; approx. 8647 calories burned Canadian: 398.34 kilometers
Sleep:	8.75 hours avg./night
Stretching:	3.17 hours. Massage: 1 hours

Run Like a Whore

Here's the before shot. Notice where my keys are. Or not. Your choice. Thanks, Jamie!











After running. I managed a little over 7.5 miles. My legs let me know that I did an Ironman 2 weeks ago, but it was such a gorgeous day, I didn't care that I walked a little here and there. Yeah, I got some looks running around like this, but I have to say, I was totally comfortable. The only problem is that I took off like a jack rabbit, which cost me, but still, I really enjoyed the run. I have to change the rules--the temperature only needs to be 70F or above to run like this.




Here's the backside. Geez, do you think I could have bigger legs???











Right after taking the after pics, I headed to the outdoor pool and knocked out 2800 meters in glorious sunshine--it was maybe 83 out, and several other folks swimming laps commented how this was the BEST day of the summer. I sure thought it was! I did a drill workout, and when I was on my back, I took time to contemplate the puffy clouds overhead.

When I finished swimming, I went and took a shower and washed my hair, and then returned to a chaise lounge to dry off a bit before heading back home. I was packing up my swim bag when a man came over with hand extended and asked me what my name is. His name is Kevin, and he told me that I "rock." I figure I was blushing, because that's just not a common thing, but he told me he'd seen me swimming and noticed my physique and figured I did more than just swim. What a nice thing to say! I bet some people think I make up these stories, but I do not. I am just out there doing my thing. I told Kevin how to find my blog and gave him the usual warning :)

Back at the ranch, I made a good lunch from some of the things I got at the farmer's market, then mowed the lawn, and felt tired so I laid down for a nap. Only thing is, I wasn't so much tired as in need of stretching, so I just got on that in bed and then on the floor and then I felt a lot better, got up and motivated to get things ready for tomorrow's riding (100+ miles, baby!) and grilling, got the grilling done, and here I am about to cash it in because I need to get up at 4AM!

The weather forecast for tomorrow is not as oppressive as predicted a few days ago, but it will still be H-O-T! I haven't picked out my more-or-less-nothing riding outfit--I'll do that in the wee hours tomorrow--but I did fix bottles which was a little weird. I hope to be riding at 6AM since it's going to be so hot, so I'll need to put something over my nothing to start, but no worries--the Hydrotail is good for wrapping stuff around it meaning I can go nearly naked as it warms up!

Hope everyone's having as great a weekend as I am!

Today's Ride

Before. Wow, I look kind of excited. The outfit is a combo--the top is something I got in Hawaii years ago but hardly ever wear because of the fabric, but it seemed like just the thing to wear with the bottoms, which are Zoot. They are actually a tad too big, oh well, my booty hung out and I don't think anyone cared. I sure didn't.







After. It was H-O-T. 90 with a heat index of 96. Did I say it was hot? It was hot. I rode for 2 hours on Bitchie, drinking really warm Gatorade. Yum. I stopped once to pee at a church (hey God doesn't mind if I water the grass, right?). I didn't feel tired, but I didn't feel great, either. Did I say it was hot? It was hot. REALLY hot. Thankfully it wasn't too humid. But it was HOT.

The forecast calls for even hotter on Sunday, but it could change...most likely to EVEN HOTTER.

Oh well, tomorrow will be a fun day. Farmer's Market to restock the fruits and veggies, a nice run in some sort of swimsuit, a nice swim to keep the tan going, grilling, maybe mow the lawn, fix some bottles, keep working on the house...all good.

About one hour to beer and groceries, a little stretching and some din din. I think I'm going to treat myself to a little pasta tonight. For some reason I'm wanting a bit more carbs. Not like I'm underfed or anything.

I was thinking of this song while riding. One of my favorite Clash tunes. I saw them live years ago back when I was into the "punk" thing. I still feel like a punk. Only a Crackhead punk.

NothingMan Swimsuit Throw Down

I hereby declare that between now and NothingMan 2008, on the 13th of September (or the 14th if it's crappy on the 13th), that I will wear nothing but swimsuits to bike and run, if it's at least 75 degrees Fahrenheit.

Furthermore, said swimsuits shall be 2-piece unless the supply of 2-piece becomes so disgusting that they can no longer be worn. Included in 2-piece is a selection of tri suits whose bottoms may be mixed and matched with various tops, so as long as my legs are uncovered, it qualifies.

Thanks to Jamie, I have ideas on what to do with the keys, and I am taking a cue from Blink in that I can also use duct tape when needed.

Oh and there will be pics. Here's the tan so far:


Actually, this won't be that difficult, since other than the Pirate Ride in Lake Placid and the actual race there, I haven't worn bike shorts in about 5 weeks. But other than brick runs where I was already shortless, I've been wearing running shorts. THIS HAS TO STOP!!!

Forecast for Chicago calls for HOT HOT HOT over the next 10 days.

It's not enough to know I can do NothingMan--hey--it's really nothing--a girl's got to have goals, right?

Pink Day

I decided today was Pink Day, and I've worn nothing but pink (or nothing). I rode CF to the outdoor pool and knocked out 3500 meters and rode home. Here's what I wore riding:













Here's what I swam in (taken after running):












Then a little after noon, I went for a run. It's really hot again, and so I decided to just throw on my cold and wet swimsuit top and a pair of shorts. I was so hot, I ended up rolling the shorts down and also tucking them in on my legs--I know, I should have just worn the swimsuit bottom, but it doesn't have a pocket to hold my keys (now what a great idea that would be!). I tossed a lot of water over myself in the last 1.5 miles, but I had a great, GREAT run! I feel really recovered now, but the proof will be my ability to knock out a 100-mile ride on Sunday. So far, so good!













I made some simple egg salad from 5 hardboiled eggs (eggs, mayo, salt and pepper), and fixed myself this sandwich with farmer's market romaine lettuce and Arkansas (they're actually pretty good) tomatoes (I used a little over half the egg salad):










Man, that sandwich was T-A-S-T-Y!!! I HEART eggs. And tomatoes. Lettuce not so much, but it's not bad when combined with other stuff. I started on my lettuce kick at Triple T, when I was being fed by a small troop of Canadian men.

I'm at about 10 1/3 hours for the week so far, and feeling really good. I have a little DOMS from my strength workout on Tuesday (plus just for shits and grins I did 50 "air squats" and tried out a couple other Crossfit moves yesterday), and I'm starting to have a little fatigue, but other than that, I'm doing great. This is what happens when your longest workout has only been 2 hours! This isn't "real" training until I knock out a 2-hour run and 6 hour ride. The ride should happen on Sunday, but it will be 2 more weeks before I'm up to a 2-hour run, then I'll have a couple more weeks at 2+ hours and then it's taper time again. Sigh...

First Run since IMLP

For some reason, I thought going for a run would feel bad, but it didn't, and maybe that means I am recovering well. Even better is the fact that I lifted yesterday (first time in 3 weeks), and earlier today I biked to the pool, swam 3,000 meters and biked home.

My quads felt, well, normal! I was sort of shocked. Running uphill didn't feel bad, and neither did running downhill. Plus it was near 90! I only ran 3.5 miles--I felt like I could have and wanted to go further--but I purposely didn't brink any Gatorade with me, which I would have wanted had I gone further.

The only downside is all the glares and scowls I got from women who saw me running. I can no longer stand wearing running shorts up near my waist when it's warm out. I don't think I look bad, but maybe I do?

Today was just a shorty run, and tomorrow I'll add on a bit, and then I'll see if I can knock out maybe 8 miles on Saturday.

I don't often say I like running, but today it felt really good. I'll take it!

Meanwhile, I'm keeping my diet to lean (mostly) protein supplemented with lots of fruit and vegetables.









grilled summer squash, Vidalia onions & garlic










grilled chicken breast, filet mignon and turkey sausage (I HEART meat!)










white flesh peaches and apricots

I'm laying off the starch mostly except maybe for the occasional sandwich. It's still summer, so I'm still very much in the mood for a beer or two in the evening! I'm getting lots of sleep, keeping up stretching, and generally feeling pretty good. Even though I'm allegedly "training," I'm not taking things too seriously at all. Mostly I just want to enjoy what's left of summer by garbaging up on swimming, biking and running outdoors--three of my favorite things! But I have to be honest that I am antsy to train more so I can eat some other goodies that are on my "allowed" list when I'm over 15 hours, like Cheetos, Twinkies and pasta! Oops--just checked what I'm doing, and I guess I might hit 20 hours this week, so my grocery list is going to have some additions!

A Few Corrections and Thanks

NothingMan is 9/13. A few days ago I said it was 42 days until, but even though I studied higher mathematics, sometimes mundane addition and subtraction escape me. 46 days from today! Phew...I get another week to train...

The vid below was sent to me by Kim right after IMLP. She reminded me that it belonged in the 100% Fuckage post, so it has a permanent home there, but I am also including it here together with a list of people I'd like to thank for...well...just for being upstanding human beings, putting up with my shit, encouraging me and all that blather. Turn it up! Apparently I know a lot of Mikes. If you're not in there, apologies, I just typed this off the top of my head!

Mike
Rob
Cindy
Mark
Steve
Shelley
Brian
Mike
Mike
Mike
Mark
Patricia
Susan
David
Mike
Lou
Deb
D
Kim
Kim
Karen
Ino
Al
Karen
Michelle
Laurie
Nick
Louis
Joe
Kevin
Russ
Chuck
Brett
Marty
Darren
Greg
Julie
Rob
Dave
Ian
Cindy
Jen
Jen
Matt
Jay
Rich
Rich
Sol
Brent
AJ
Analisa
Wolfgang
Julie
Anthony
Tyler
Jamie
Jamey
Patty
Ed
Lori
Kurt
Mike
Mike
Mike
Dino
Mike
Sarah
Stephanie
Hazel
Liana
Courtney
Fred
Pierre
Harlan
Cheryl
Pat
David
William
Harold
Judi
Jim
Peter
Vicky
Verne
Calvin
Gene
Oswaldo

IMLP in Pics

I look totally hot in rubber, don't I?

My swim sucked. But the people behind me sucked even more.


















At least the aero helmet kept the rain off the TOP of my head, but going downhill or riding up on someone else pretty much sucked--spray-o-rama.

I should win an award for biggest dork!















I felt pretty much like ass most of the day, especially with the constant peeing, but I tried to smile when I noticed a photographer and also at the volunteers, because, hey, they don't need to be part of my misery!















See? I saw the photographer and managed a big smile even though I was cold (notice my hands inside my jacket), wet, smelly and my legs hurt pretty much. Oh well, when everything sucks, you can always still smile!

















Do I look like I'm glad it's over?


















No that's not a pizza in the bag I'm holding. It's my Special Needs bags.

I want to black out the time clock. Ugh...Oh well, you can guarantee I'll be faster at NothingMan!

On the plus side, those black shorts are slimming, don't you think?














The typical "deer in headlights" photo. At first, I was going to take off the rain jacket, but the thing went 138.2 miles with me so it earned a place in this photo.














I didn't write in my brief race report that I spent the better part of the bike and run trying not to cry--I was successful much of the time. Not because I was in physical pain--it was because this was my second Ironman following the death of a parent. It's not easy. I thought that because it had been 8 months that I wouldn't feel so sad. But hey, a ton of rain, being cold and wet, not being as well trained as I wanted to be (in fact I'll be where I should have been by NothingMan), and I had a lot of time in which to think over the last 8 months. IMLP became the punctuation on the experience, and I got through it. I think I worked out a lot of things that day, but there are more to come. The best part of all is that Dad got to do it with me. Nobody else in my family will ever be able to say "I did an Ironman with Dad." And it was a PR for him!

Meanwhile, I don't see anything in my way right now. My legs are starting to feel good on the bike (no running yet), and I'm still digging on swimming outdoors. I'm getting a lot of sleep and eating well. I just don't have the desire for junk food. I've got maybe 2-3 more lbs. to come off and I'm good to go. I'm actually looking forward to my first run in a few days!

100% Fuckage

Sometimes I just can't get enough. Results of my poll have said that I should not curb it, so even though it's Sunday, here's a good bit of it. This is not meant to imply anything to anyone. If you don't like it, get the fuck off my blog! Enjoy!