Runner's High

IMCDA - THIS is happening.

I feel like I have heard over and over again, "oh, you have done an Ironman, {you know what to expect, what it is all about, you'll have no problem, insert your own assumption here}".

Not true.

I woke up this past Monday morning. Ironman had sent me some email, I clicked on a link, it sent me to the website and, although it was in the corner, off to the side, THIS is what I saw:

and what I thought was.... "HOLY MOLY. THIS is happening."

Yes, I know that I have been training for this for 8 months, so it would only seem logical and realistic that I was well aware of the fact that my "A" race was occurring in 5 days (15 hrs, 54 mins and 14 secs), but I wasn't.

And that has been what my week has been like so far. A series of "OMG! THIS is happening."
Shopping for race. Dropping off my bike. Packing for race. Just a bunch of little steps forward. And everyone feels like I am taking a little step closer to a ledge.

About to get on a plane - THIS is happening.

Driving from Spokane to Coeur d'Alene (gorgeous!) - THIS is happening.

I did some thinking on the plane and on the drive as to why I was having these anxious feelings and what I needed to do to get over them. So, I got to CDA and off I went...

...to the swim beach.

Swim course, Lake Coeur d'Alene - THIS is happening.

Fear 1: cold cold cold water.
Those of you who know IM courses know that IMCDA is known for its cold water. Add to that, that last year was EXTREMELY cold and I have an acquaintance who was pulled from the water (and another one who was pulled the year before from IMAZ) - and I was scared. In fact, the coldness of the water may have been one of my ultimate fears about this race. Not when I signed up, but as I learned about it, the fear grew. And grew. And grew.

In I went and... it wasn't so bad. I can do this! I thought. And it felt (dare I say?) good. 40 minute swim and cold water anxiety was put to rest

wetsuit + booties + 2 neoprene caps + latex cap = 1 warm(ish) swimmer

Fear 1 subsided.

Fear 2: the bike course
This year they changed the bike course to include a lot more climbing than the previous course. Not that I knew what the previous course was like... but it went from "hilly" to "climby" and that was a little daunting. So, off it was to recon the course by car.

Is THIS really happening? Oh wait, that is Tyler and Beth - of course it is happening.

SO PRETTY

And it was BEAUTIFUL! and it didn't look so bad, but I wasn't fully at rest with the course. (In the past, I have also learned pretty = hard.)

So this morning it was off on my bike with Cory and Beth to see how it really felt.

Off we go..... to conquer the climbs

I know - this is the downhill. Keep in mind that we have to climb this coming back/out.

My favorite parts are the views!

Going down - unfortunately, we will also have to go up!

AND, I will say, the climbs were hard, but not nearly as bad as I thought. (and still beautiful!)

So... Fear 2 subsided!

So here I am. A few days out. I am feeling more confident and not internally freaking out about the impending race. In fact, instead of inching towards a ledge, I feel like I climbing up to it, ready to jump. And with the fears subsided, I am having a pretty good time in Idaho.

My new Idaho-an friend.

Cheers from Lake Coeur d'Alene

THIS. Is. Happening.

And I can't wait!

Hey COW!!!

On a lighter note to my last post, despite my fears in starting and completing the ride, I do have to admit, I had an EXCELLENT game of "Hey Cow!".

What is "Hey Cow!" you ask? It is a car game my friend, Lorynne, taught me that I have transformed into a riding game.

Next time you are on a long car/bike ride, when you pass a cow field, you shout out "Hey Cow!" and see how many cows turn to look at you. That is the number of points you get. If playing by yourself, you count your points. If playing with someone else, you alternate fields to see who gets the most points.

Luckily for me, the cows were out last Thursday and I got a whopping 42 points! My Hey Cow! all-time high! A PR, if you will.

Facing Fears

Thursday morning, I woke up scared. Terrified, actually, to do my workout.

I texted my friend Jen and told her I was nervous, to which she texted back:
"why?"

And right away a flood of reasons came to my mind:
- riding for 100 miles
- in the middle of nowhere
- on a hard course
- by myself
- in the wind
- possible rain, hail, tornadoes (all of which we had had within the last 8 hours - twice!)
- did I mention I was riding in the middle of nowhere?
- bike failures
- flats
- could I do it?
- would I do it?

I texted back and forth with Jen and she gave me some courage. So, I hopped in the car and drove down to Castle Rock where I was doing my workout. On the way, I glanced over and saw a field FILLED with hail and foreboding clouds above. Great. Texted Ross to say I was starting and to "keep close" to his phone.

Maybe this wasn't the wisest decision.

I thought about my friend, Sonja, who is one BAMF. She's an amazing athlete and over the years has done tons of crazy things. But, I have to imagine, that even she was scared at some point and just went out it and did it. And then did it more. And then did it even more. And that is how she became so indestructible.

And off I went. And I went. And I went.

And being alone for 100 miles gives you some time to think and I thought about why I woke up feeling that way. Was it is a fear of the unknown? Was it is a fear of doing it all by myself? Was it a fear of pushing my limits? Was it a fear of not "successfully" completing my workout? I am still not sure. All I knew is the only way to get over that fear is to do it. So I did.

Quite proud of myself for that day. I know it is not much to many. And looking back, I still wonder why I was feeling that way, but I was. But I also got over it. As I got further along in my journey, the fear started to subside until... finally it was gone! I was doing it!

And I did. I finished. Ahead of schedule and feeling great! And odd enough, the best thing may not have been that I finished it.

Perhaps the best thing about that day is that I will carry that feeling of fear inside me. The next time I am scared of something, I have that experience and that fear to draw upon. I will dig deep and know I can face it and succeed.

Get By With A Little Help From My Friends...

Wow! It's been awhile since I posted... and I guess it's not the time period, but have been doing LOADS of training and actually have LOADS to talk about, but not too much time to blog. So, oops.

But, I will say, the thing that has kept me going and positive the last couple weeks are my friends and training partners - one in the same, if you ask me!

This is very different for me. I am a creature of habit and also a creature that does stuff, on my own time schedule, when it is convenient for me. I have SO MANY things in life that I love, that in order to "fit them all in", I have had to be this way. And at the top of the list of things is family. Yes, I have kids AND I train. Some find this selfish. I find it a balancing act, where if done right, both me, my husband and my kids get the benefit of a happier, healthier self/mom/wife.

To accomplish this, I have needed to be very, very scheduled over the years. Often, this includes early morning workouts by my home, just so that I can get them in and back home to see and help with the kids before school. Working at 4 a.m., so that I can then later take time away from my work day while my kids are in school to workout, etc. etc. AND this definitely includes getting my LONG workouts in over the workweek.

Taking that time away (like 5-8 hours/day) from my kids on the weekend, well, that is not a lifestyle I want to lead. And I don't. Not a lifestyle. But for 4 weeks, my husband (smartest, most supportive person I know) assured me that it would be ok. "Do what you have to do. Focus on your race and I will take care of the rest." And I love him SO much for it.

So the last couple weeks have been hard, but doable, and at times, dare I say "fun"? Yes. FUN!

Feeling a little cooky after the Boulder Sunrise on Saturday

Unfortunately, I don't have more pictures to prove it, but I have been blessed with so many friends who have stepped up to meet me and get a good workout in. From my early, early morning runs with Todd, (yes, the man wants to meet at 5 or, gulp, earlier) to Beth and Nancy for mid-week climbing rides, and Tyler who just knows when I am about to break and meets me at the pool. Lest we not forget my RMTC peeps (Tim, Candice, Jen, Nina, Yon, Heather, Ty, Beth, the list goes on...) who have probably seen more of me in the last few weekends then probably all year. And, not to mention, for 5-8 hours at a time. (I thought Ross was the only one who could handle that much of me.)

So, there you have it. Three more weeks to go, and three weeks of unreal support and training from the friends and family. I couldn't be happier, and I couldn't have done it without everyone. This is AMAZING! and I think THIS is the best part of the training this time.

Comfort zone. And why I need to extend it.

I saw this diagram a few weeks ago somewhere. It was probably on someone's facebook page, so I apologize if I 'stole' it and am not giving you credit.

The reason I don't remember where I saw it is because I dismissed it thinking it was all too similar to a diagram I would have seen in ad/grad school. You know "think outside the box", "push your limits", etc. etc.

Coming back from DR, though, I was feeling a bit behind and bit unsure about my current IM training and I knew I wanted to change that. I thought back to my first IM training and tried to figure out what really made me feel confident and sure and ready of my abilities the first time around. I concluded that I needed to do more of that, whatever that was.

After thinking and thinking, I realized it was stepping outside of my comfort zone that gave me confidence. Doing things I wasn't sure I could do, but hoped I could do. You know, things I was maybe capable of doing, but wasn't certain I could do... I did that over and over (and over) the first time I trained, but for some reason, not this time... I have been getting my workouts in and not really pushing my boundaries. And I figured out that THAT is what needed to change. So I did so this week.

Turned my plain, old century into a climbing century!
(And convinced Heather to do it with me as well!)

Rode Shadow Mountain Loop all BY MYSELF. I am not sure if I am more proud of the fact
that I didn't get lost or that I did it in under 4 hours.

But, in thinking about all this biz, I came to another conclusion and formed my own diagram about comfort zones. One that I hope will motivate me more.

By extending my comfort zone, I am hoping there won't be quite so much distance to travel to "where the magic" happens come race day!

IMCDA - My second child

When I finished my first Ironman, I knew I wanted to do anther one immediately. I knew this, but I thought maybe that the feeling would pass as time went by. Before immediately jumping into signing up for a second one (I was seriously considering it), I asked my friend Matt if it was just the post-race high and he said, "there's a reason they call Ironman a 'lifestyle'. If you love it, it doesn't go away that easy." I knew he was right and that this feeling wasn't going away.

I loved every minute of my Ironman - all 756 of them!

Upon realizing that, I also knew that while I could handle another IM right away, my family and friends couldn't. It was too much of me to ask them to support me again so soon after my Ironman.

That being said, 9 months later, I signed up for IMCDA 2012! And IMCDA is quickly coming up - funny how 16 months can pass so quickly.

Anyways, when I was talking to my friend Andrea the other night, she was asking about training and I was explaining to her that it was going good, just different. I was saying how I didn't have the nerves or anxiety that I did before. Or maybe I did, just in a different way. I wasn't so scared about what the day would bring me. How I was doing better at preparing and planning. But at the same time, it was weird since Ross wasn't right beside me ALL the time. Instead I have other friends to train with. In addition, I was trying to pay attention to the other aspects of my life whilst also training. I think she sensed that I wasn't as excited as my first because the anticipation of the unknown wasn't there. And then she said, "It's your second child". And I said "huh?" and she explained how training this time sounded a lot like having a second child. Being pregnant your second time, you kinda know what to expect, you are more comfortable in all the little aches and pains and you now know they are "normal", you are at a different place in your life and your family the second time, you have other things to attend to (ie, raise your other child), while also paying attention to what you are trying to foster. How you ARE excited, just in a different way for your second child.

And, I must say, I think she was spot on. I loved the way she put it because it made me think back to my children. As much as I hate to admit it, it is true that I was not as excited during the pregnancy of my second child as my first because the anticipation of the unknown was not as prevalent the second time around. Regardless, I LOVE my second child. He has brought so much joy into my life. After having my first, I even considered not having a second (even though I have always wanted at least two) because I wondered if I could ever love my second as much. And, of course I did. When I thought back to all the things I thought I "knew" and all the way I "knew" I would feel - and I didn't, I felt them more and they were better. When I thought back to that, I became that much more excited for my second IM and made me delight in all the things that will be different this time... and all those unknowns I do have yet to experience with my second.

In all this reminiscing, I couldn't help but think back to how I felt right after my second was born. Here is a little clip of those good old days.

After finishing my first IM, I imparted some advice to those attempting their "first" of anything in how to look at things. I guess this would be what I have learned about looking at my "second" of anything... Only it is not really from me, but Andrea.

Recovery Week

It's true that last week WAS NOT the optimal time to throw in a recovery week if training for IMCDA. But... sometimes life is more important than training. {Did I just say that? Yes. Good. I guess I am not completely Type-A. Hallelujah!!!} While others were racing and putting in the miles, I was on a beach or in a pool or ocean thousands of miles away.

Even though most would think a trip to the Dominican Republic would serve as a distraction, I made the most of it, while staying somewhat "inline" with my training.

I was sure to stay hydrated the whole time.

See all the straws/cups in our party float.

Ate and/or drank a lot of fruit.

The resort made it easy for us serving fruity drinks INSIDE of fruit.
(Stace modeling a Pina Colada. She swore it was pineapple juice. I had to tell her different.)

Got plenty of time in the water.