Death march...

This past Sunday was one of the most frustrating Ironman finishes that I have had. It was my eleventh Ironman. Despite my 4th place finish in IM Lake Placid 2008 was a dissapointing season for me. However, my training was going great and I felt ready for Arizona. My friends were there, my parents and George were there and I stayed with my friend Michelle before the race. I was acclimated I was ready and I was psyched! The morning of the race came and I was quite nervous. The water was cold and I wanted to be sure to warm up...I was the first woman to enter the water. Without a warmup, I would definitely lose my breath in the beginning of the race (like I did in Boise 70.3) and I wanted to avoid that. After a long warm up, the pros lined up in the water and waiting for the gun to go off. Next to me was Tyler Stewart. She said hello and Good Luck. We both agreed that the swim was not our favorite part of the race. Soon the gun went off and so were we. It was one of the biggest pro fields to compete: over 60 men and over 20 women! I got into a good pack right away. We stayed together for the whole swim, sometimes I led, sometimes one of the others took over. I noticed that one of the girls in the pack was Tyler. Funny since we started together. I also noticed Haley Copper (fellow ZOOT Teammate). I exited the water and realized that the air was chilly! I quickly got on my bike and was on my way. Haley and Tyler were ahead of me, but in sight.

WINDY! It seemed that we had a good head wind on the way out (by good, I mean STRONG, not “good”). My legs didn’t feel great to begin with. In fact, they ached! Yikes…not a good sign...”just keep pushing” I said to myself. “You will open up soon enough”. I did get somewhat used to the pain, but I can’t say that they felt “great” or “effortless” at any point on the bike. By the end of the bike, I was fading a bit, but trying to keep up my 1:44-1:45 laps for a 5:15!! The last lap was a bit slower, but I still managed a 5:19 at the end of the bike! Woo Hoo! Actually, 5:20 according to the race splits. “Awesome” I thought…”I only have to run a 3:25 and I’ll be well under 10”! If I go sub 3:20 (my goal for the day), I’ll be in the 9:40’s!!!! I can DEFINITELY do that!

I started running and tried to “run how I feel”. Since I didn’t "feel great”, I didn't want to push an unreasonable pace. First mile: sub-7 min. “OK, Keep it steady and comfortable”. Next mile: 7 min. “Nice, Im going to have a great run!”. Next mile (including a bit of an incline) 7:25, next mile: 7:11. I ran by George and my parents after the 3rd mile, told them that I didn’t feel great, but then managed a nice smile…I still assumed I would run well, despite not feeling amazing. “Eventually the feeling will go away and you will feel fine... You will be on autopilot”. Soon after this I got a side-stitch. I didn’t want to stop. It got worse. I ran slower. Eventually, I stopped for a "bathroom break"…”Well this is just GREAT”! I thought. I started running again... It lasted a little while, then I slowed again. I ran past my family again and gave them the thumbs down. Bummer. The remainder of the marathon was running, walking, bathroom stops, walking, chatting with others. In fact, I even thought of the title for this blog during the marathon! I knew my “sure thing” of breaking 10 hours (going WAY under 10 hours) was gone. I wanted to quit, but couldn’t. My parents went out of their way to be there, George went out of his way to be there and I just couldn’t DNF. So, I got through it. I ended up running my slowest marathon since my first Ironman back in 2001: 3:50-something. I finished at 10:21.

I felt disappointment for myselfand for my family who all went out of there way to be there for me. I wanted to have that great race, not another rough day! I finished, disappointed, but soon after crossing the line I looked over and saw Geroge, smile on his face as I posed for a finish picture unenthusiastically...I had to laugh and it made all the dissappointment fade, for a little while anyway!

I do have great frustration with this race because I know that it was there and I only had to do what I normally do, but this is Ironman and it is a tough sport. We all put so much mental energy into what we do and so much physical energy into these races and we want it to go absolutely right on when we race. It just doesn’t happen that way. SO, a friend of mine (Bob Cook) said he thought of a great mantra for me..."Things will be fine in 2009". I like this thought. So I move on and learn from it, plan ahead for a fine race in 2009!

Sunny Arizona

All is good here in Tempe Arizona! I arrived last Wednesday night and am fortunate to do some acclimation to the dry weather as I stay at my friend Michelle's house. Michelle is the best! She always opens up her house to me and I feel like Tempe has become a second home! The temperature is a chilly 50-something in the morning, but once the sun comes up it warms up quickly! High in the 80's (we may hit a record of 86 degrees today) and EVERYDAY is sunny! Last Saturday, I joined the local tri community down at Tempe Town Lake (where the race site is) to do a "Splash and dash". Actually, I only did the "Splash" part of the race which consisted of a 2000 Meter swim. The rest of the race was a 3K run, but I opted out of that, and hopped on my bike instead. OK...the water is COLD!! I figured, Arizona=warm air=warm water...Not the case! The temperature was 64 degrees, and to me, that is COLD!! Im glad I did it though, as I am a HUGE wimp when it comes to cold water, and now I will be "mentally prepared" for race day.

After the swim, I hopped on my bike for a nice 3 hour ride with some Ironman paced intervals mixed in. WOW! The wind was CRAZY!! I felt like I was in Kona on a bad day! The wind was so bad that I was afraid to grab my water bottle for fear that I would get blown into the traffic on the highway! I ended up riding with two cyclists for a few miles and asked them about the wind. "They said it wouldn't be windy this time of year"!, I said to them... "You believed them"? is how they replied! GREAT! ;-) I spoke to another local after the ride and he said that it was the windiest day he had witnessed in a while...OK, so maybe it won't be so bad on race day! If it is, I guess Im prepared for that too! Always prepare for the worst, right?! Hey, at least we won't have torrential rain all day like IM Lake Placid!

I had a "day off" yesterday, so I drove up to Sedona, which is absolutely beautiful! I did some short (and easy) hikes and had a perfect day off doing nothing Ironman related. It was a great break! here are some pics from yesterday. Oh and being a "solo hiker" yesterday, I would carefully prop up my camera on a rock, set the timer, then run into postion and pose for the picture! It was very amusing! Below are pictures of Red Rock State Park, the Chapel near Sedona, and some other rock formations near Sedona:

Inspiration

This past weekend was the NYC marathon and Ironman Florida. I wanted to congratulate a couple of people on both races… Bob Cook, owner of Runners Edge a specialty running shop located in Farmingdale NY (http://www.runnersedgeny.com/), and also a great friend and boss completed Ironman Florida this past weekend. Bob is 63 years old and finished the Ironman in an impressive 12:53!!! Bob also finished 8th place in his age group out of 37 men! Not only did Bob do a fantastic job, but he did so with a “crash course” of training after finding out that he got awarded a slot to the race by Newton Running just this past September! It goes to show the talent that Bob has and the mental toughness to go along with his talents! He was a true inspiration this past weekend. I will think of him while competing in Arizona in 2 ½ weeks!

Another true inspiration is a friend Matt Long who competed in the NYC Marathon this past Sunday. I had first met Matt in Lake Placid in 2005 (Matt competed in the Ironman there in 2005). That same year, Matt came to Hawaii to watch his friend Frank compete in Hawaii. I too was competing in Hawaii that year and I can actually remember seeing Matt cheering on the sidelines. His love of the sport and his enthusiasm and energy was remarkable. I had the feeling that Matt was making a pact with himself to one day qualify and race Kona. I figured that it would be just a matter of time. Unfortunately, that December, Matt was run over by a bus while riding his bike to work during the illegal Mass transit strike in NYC. Matt survived the accident against all odds. He was left with special needs and a body rebuilt with metal.. When I was in Arizona training last April, I ran into Matt at the local bike shop. He was out in Arizona doing physical therapy and he was excited to report that he had just run his first mile post-accident (he had just had his 40th surgery before heading out to Arizona). Running a mile was a HUGE accomplishment! He told me that he wanted to run the NYC Marathon and I thought, “WOW”! I couldn't believe it, but at the same time I knew that Matt would in fact complete the marathon. His will and enthusiasm is contagious, but the amount of work ahead of him seemed unreal. I think I train hard? No way…
Here is his story: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2008/10/28/2008-10-28_three_years_after_being_hit_by_bus_firef.html
Well, Matt finished the NY Marathon this past Sunday! AMAZING is all I can say… He ran in Zoot shoes and Compression socks too...Go Zoot!
You can also check out the link to his foundation, “The I Will Foundation” at: http://www.iwillfoundation.com/, where you can read more about Matt and his story, as well as his foundation which “helps people overcome adversity and challenges caused by illness or traumatic injury”. Congratulations Matt on a huge accomplishment!!