I don't know what's going on at work today with the air quality, but I have had a horrible time breathing. I got to work, and I was fine, but my throat started to feel a little irritated. By 10am, I had to take my inhaler and was having a panic attack because I was having such a hard time. I think I'm going to live, but wow! I have never had trouble like this before last week when the air quality seemed to start going downhill. Something fishy is going on around here...
Anywho, enough of that because I'm not going to suffocate today. Training is going well and I think it's because I know I only have a few more days of hard training until the official taper begins. I'm going to celebrate my last day of hard training by going to the Great Minnesota Get Together. Nothing says taper like deep fried food on a stick! Oh man, I can't wait to get my hands on a corn dog, some mini donuts, and don't you think for a second that I'm going to share my Sweet Martha's Cookies with you!
I also attribute the recent goodness to my training to the massive beat down I got from Strong Hands Terri on Monday night. Holy buckets, that woman spelled P-A-I-N all over my body for 90 of the longest minutes of my life. I told her halfway through the massage that I can survive Ironman if I can survive her. She was laughing so hard that she had to pause from beating me.
After the collassal karate chop from Strong Hands, I went to a family/friend get-together. My mom saw me drive up to the house and greeted me at the end of the driveway. She got a good laugh when I hobbled out of my car and said ever so sweetly, "Was Terri hard on you? You poor baby..." Thanks for the sympathy mom, can I have an ice pack...advil...a beer....or all three please? Ok, so I didn't get any of the requested, but I did get a nice cold glass of water and a mound of food. I know I'm eating a lot when my older brother says, "Geez Rach, that's more than I ate." I promptly laughed, smiled, stuffed my face and then went back for seconds. Yum.
That is for sure one thing I will not miss about IM training. I have become a bottomless pit, and I cannot wait to feel full again. I heart eating, but I'm really starting to get sick of it. ::GASP:: I know. I said it. I am sick of eating. My jaw hurts just thinking about it. Ah crap. Talking about food has made me hungry again. Ugh.
Happy eating...
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Almost there....or am I?
The past couple of weeks I have started to feel antsy and the anticipation of the race is really starting to get to me. It's like I'm 8 years old again and I'm waiting for Santa Claus to come and deliver presents.
Today marks 25 days until race day, and after 8+ months of training so far, I'm starting to feel like it's so close, but yet so far away. Captain Cartwheel emailed me today and said that she's feeling a lack of motivation, and I understand that feeling. I realize that at this point in my training, I'm not going to gain too much more from long training rides or runs, but basically maintain what I have accumulated to this point. This leaves me thinking...so what's the point?? I could go do this race tomorrow if I had to, right?
I know I have to keep going so I don't lose any fitness from now until race day, but the couch is calling me especially now that the Olympics are on every night. Order me up a slice of Olympic pie and a side of Michael Phelps please... Tasty.
Just like this little guy, I have a few more stairs to climb until I get to the top.
Today marks 25 days until race day, and after 8+ months of training so far, I'm starting to feel like it's so close, but yet so far away. Captain Cartwheel emailed me today and said that she's feeling a lack of motivation, and I understand that feeling. I realize that at this point in my training, I'm not going to gain too much more from long training rides or runs, but basically maintain what I have accumulated to this point. This leaves me thinking...so what's the point?? I could go do this race tomorrow if I had to, right?
I know I have to keep going so I don't lose any fitness from now until race day, but the couch is calling me especially now that the Olympics are on every night. Order me up a slice of Olympic pie and a side of Michael Phelps please... Tasty.
Just like this little guy, I have a few more stairs to climb until I get to the top.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
2 Meals and 100 miles
I made it, and I did a little jig to celebrate! Captain Cartwheel and I rode the bike course this weekend, and I am going to say we may have even had fun doing it. Mr. Fury was our driver and sag wagon for the weekend which was much appreciated.
Our driver drove us out to Fireman's Park in/near Verona to start the double loop on Saturday morning. It took a little while for me to get situated because I was trying out a friend's Zipp wheels and Power Tap. It's borderline hilarious when you see them on my tiny 49cm bike frame and the front wheel says: Zipp 404 Clydesdale. HA! Tiny little me on a clydesdale Zipp wheel. Oh, it still makes me chuckle. Needless to say, my friend has a little larger body frame than me. After we got our bikes and bodies loaded down with fluids and food for the ride, we were off.
We spent the whole first loop just figuring out the course, where we needed to turn, the terrain, and just trying to enjoy the sights of the countryside. What really struck me was how beautiful the scenery is along the course. Wow! If you're doing IMWI, stop to enjoy the countryside because it's not all cornfields and cows. Although, when you are by a cow pasture, there is incentive to peddle faster to get away from the smell...
The Captain and I have heard nightmare stories about the hills on this course. We kept waiting to see Tour de France-like 3 mile grinders, but they never came. Granted, this course wasn't easy as pie, but it was not what we expected based on what we have heard. It was tough, but do-able. There were about four hard hills throughout the loop and the rest were "rolling" hills or gentle-ish inclines.
About a 1/4 of the way through the first loop, I was going down a hill and trying to gain speed but it never came. I couldn't help but think, "Geez, these wheels are crap! Talk about false advertising!" When I was climbing up the next hill, I thought I either have a flat or the tire is rubbing on my frame. As it turned out, the latter was true and I am now the proud owner of major skid marks. Not that kind of skid mark, sheesh! Get your head out of the gutter! My poor frame has black marks all over my silver paint job. Insert big frowny face here. Our sag wagon extraordinaire came to the rescue and we just switched out my wheels, and all was right in world. Ahhhh.
We met up with Mr. Fury again at the two Kwik stops along the course to re-fuel and check-in, and before we knew it, we were done with our first loop. It really did not seem so bad. I was surprised. Captain Cartwheel and I decided another loop was in order, and that is exactly what we did. The hills seemed a little bit harder, the quads started to scream a little bit, but all-in-all I was impressed with how well we did. We met up with Mr. Fury at the second Kwik Trip on the course and told him we were going to finish the loop and head back to Madison.
There is one more tough hill on the way back to Madison, and when we got to it, we were neither expecting it nor did we know that it was the last hill. From a prior race, spectators spray painted on the hill, "Last Hill!" and all I could think was, "If they're lying, someone will pay for this!". Who they are and the someone that would pay is still a mystery to me, but that is the level of rationale when you are riding up what seemed like the 100th hill of the day. The last thing you want to hear is that you are on the last hill and then come to find out that it indeed was not. About 1/2 way up this last hill they also spray painted, "Now Run!". Thanks for the reminder...
Captain Cartwheel and I hit John Nolen Dr. and just about celebrated. We saw the lake, the Capitol and the Terrace. It was like the clouds parted on downtown Madison and I could hear the angels singing the Hallelujah chorus, or maybe that was fatigue I heard ringing in my ears. We were getting closer to the Mecca better known as Monona Terrace, and I did a little jig when we got to the base of the parking ramp. It was then that Captain Cartwheel ruined my high and said, "And if this were the race, we would have to ride up the 3 levels of that helix to transition." Ugh. Thanks for the reminder...again.
Even though my high was crushed, I still felt pretty good about the day. We rode a total of 100 miles in about 6:30 + stops. We finally got back to the hotel, showered up and shuffled to the local Irish Pub across from the Capitol. It was delicious and the first real meal of the day. Turns out it was a cheap trip for us. We ate GUs, bananas, Accelerade, Luna Moons and potatoes all day on our ride and only had to buy dinner. The next day we had to get our long run in which consisted of about the same diet, stopped for lunch, and then we were on our way back home.
It was weird when we left Madison knowing we would be back in a little over a month's time. The feeling I was left with is hard to describe which is another reason why this Ironman journey has been so difficult. I have had nine months of training for the biggest event of my life and I have found so few words to describe it. It is hard to shut me up sometimes so you can imagine my frustration. Maybe when this journey has culminated I will have more words, but maybe I won't. My best guess at this point is that you will just have to try an IM on for size to fully understand.
Happy Trails!
Our driver drove us out to Fireman's Park in/near Verona to start the double loop on Saturday morning. It took a little while for me to get situated because I was trying out a friend's Zipp wheels and Power Tap. It's borderline hilarious when you see them on my tiny 49cm bike frame and the front wheel says: Zipp 404 Clydesdale. HA! Tiny little me on a clydesdale Zipp wheel. Oh, it still makes me chuckle. Needless to say, my friend has a little larger body frame than me. After we got our bikes and bodies loaded down with fluids and food for the ride, we were off.
We spent the whole first loop just figuring out the course, where we needed to turn, the terrain, and just trying to enjoy the sights of the countryside. What really struck me was how beautiful the scenery is along the course. Wow! If you're doing IMWI, stop to enjoy the countryside because it's not all cornfields and cows. Although, when you are by a cow pasture, there is incentive to peddle faster to get away from the smell...
The Captain and I have heard nightmare stories about the hills on this course. We kept waiting to see Tour de France-like 3 mile grinders, but they never came. Granted, this course wasn't easy as pie, but it was not what we expected based on what we have heard. It was tough, but do-able. There were about four hard hills throughout the loop and the rest were "rolling" hills or gentle-ish inclines.
About a 1/4 of the way through the first loop, I was going down a hill and trying to gain speed but it never came. I couldn't help but think, "Geez, these wheels are crap! Talk about false advertising!" When I was climbing up the next hill, I thought I either have a flat or the tire is rubbing on my frame. As it turned out, the latter was true and I am now the proud owner of major skid marks. Not that kind of skid mark, sheesh! Get your head out of the gutter! My poor frame has black marks all over my silver paint job. Insert big frowny face here. Our sag wagon extraordinaire came to the rescue and we just switched out my wheels, and all was right in world. Ahhhh.
We met up with Mr. Fury again at the two Kwik stops along the course to re-fuel and check-in, and before we knew it, we were done with our first loop. It really did not seem so bad. I was surprised. Captain Cartwheel and I decided another loop was in order, and that is exactly what we did. The hills seemed a little bit harder, the quads started to scream a little bit, but all-in-all I was impressed with how well we did. We met up with Mr. Fury at the second Kwik Trip on the course and told him we were going to finish the loop and head back to Madison.
There is one more tough hill on the way back to Madison, and when we got to it, we were neither expecting it nor did we know that it was the last hill. From a prior race, spectators spray painted on the hill, "Last Hill!" and all I could think was, "If they're lying, someone will pay for this!". Who they are and the someone that would pay is still a mystery to me, but that is the level of rationale when you are riding up what seemed like the 100th hill of the day. The last thing you want to hear is that you are on the last hill and then come to find out that it indeed was not. About 1/2 way up this last hill they also spray painted, "Now Run!". Thanks for the reminder...
Captain Cartwheel and I hit John Nolen Dr. and just about celebrated. We saw the lake, the Capitol and the Terrace. It was like the clouds parted on downtown Madison and I could hear the angels singing the Hallelujah chorus, or maybe that was fatigue I heard ringing in my ears. We were getting closer to the Mecca better known as Monona Terrace, and I did a little jig when we got to the base of the parking ramp. It was then that Captain Cartwheel ruined my high and said, "And if this were the race, we would have to ride up the 3 levels of that helix to transition." Ugh. Thanks for the reminder...again.
Even though my high was crushed, I still felt pretty good about the day. We rode a total of 100 miles in about 6:30 + stops. We finally got back to the hotel, showered up and shuffled to the local Irish Pub across from the Capitol. It was delicious and the first real meal of the day. Turns out it was a cheap trip for us. We ate GUs, bananas, Accelerade, Luna Moons and potatoes all day on our ride and only had to buy dinner. The next day we had to get our long run in which consisted of about the same diet, stopped for lunch, and then we were on our way back home.
It was weird when we left Madison knowing we would be back in a little over a month's time. The feeling I was left with is hard to describe which is another reason why this Ironman journey has been so difficult. I have had nine months of training for the biggest event of my life and I have found so few words to describe it. It is hard to shut me up sometimes so you can imagine my frustration. Maybe when this journey has culminated I will have more words, but maybe I won't. My best guess at this point is that you will just have to try an IM on for size to fully understand.
Happy Trails!
Friday, August 1, 2008
Nerves
I feel more nervous for this weekend than I did for the 1/2 Iron last weekend. Why, you may ask? Captain Cartwheel and I are going out to Madison to ride the bike course, and for some reason that makes butterflies flutter around my tummy. Oh, my poor tummy, it has taken such a beating these past few weeks...
I think I'm mostly axious about what the course is going to be like. Anyone that knows anything about this bike course talks about it like it's the Armegeddon of hilly bike courses. Ok, come on. It can not be that bad! I looked at the elevation chart for IM Canada, and that is way worse than Wisconsin! ::enter stage left:: Relief that I'm not doing IM Canada.
I'll let you all know how it goes, and if I don't survive, I'll have Mr. Fury post something here with all the details of my demise.
Happy Weekending!
I think I'm mostly axious about what the course is going to be like. Anyone that knows anything about this bike course talks about it like it's the Armegeddon of hilly bike courses. Ok, come on. It can not be that bad! I looked at the elevation chart for IM Canada, and that is way worse than Wisconsin! ::enter stage left:: Relief that I'm not doing IM Canada.
I'll let you all know how it goes, and if I don't survive, I'll have Mr. Fury post something here with all the details of my demise.
Happy Weekending!
Monday, July 28, 2008
Race Report: Chisago 1/2 Ironman
This weekend was the first true test of my racing wills. I will toot my own horn and say that I blew last years race out of the water...literally.
Swim: 0:34:07
Pace: 0:01:46/100 yds
T1: 0:01:37
Bike: 2:53:17
Pace: 19.2 mph
T2: 0.01:32
Run: 2:05:00
Pace: 0:09:32/mile
Overall Time: 5:35:35
I placed 9/20 in my age group, 47/95 female, and 181/299 overall. Awesome. I shaved an hour off my total time from last year. When I got out of the water, I looked at my watch and couldn't believe my eyes! I thought maybe my watched stopped while I was in the water. I took 7+ minutes off my swim time from last year. I jumped on my bike and was soon cruising down the nicely paved, flat course.
I started having stomach cramps on the bike. I thought all hope was lost for a good run when in the last 6 miles of the bike, I didn't think I was going to make it. My stomach hurt so bad every time I took in calories, and not because I was hungry, but because everything felt so harsh in my tummy. I had cramps up both sides of my stomach, and every time on my down stroke on my right side, I thought I was going to double over in pain. This was incredibly worse pain than what I felt at my Afton ride with Captain Cartwheel and Dr. B. (See previous post...) The worst part of the whole ride was being down in my aero bars because I get low enough that I can actually bump my abdomen with my legs. Ouch, ouch, ouch...ugh. I lost some momentum on two separate occasions when I launched a bottle off the back of my bike. I know I probably would have been just fine leaving the bottles on the side of the road without getting a penalty, but I feel bad littering and it's against the rules! It didn't take that much effort to stop and pick them up, and the second time it happened allowed me a little break from kneeing myself in my cramping stomach. I finally made it back into transition in under 3 hours which was my goal.
Mr. Fury waited by my transition area, and when I rolled in with tears welling in my eyes and a big frowny face, he knew something was not OK. He asked me if I was alright, and I answered with an assertive, "NO!" and I told him all about my lousy, yet PR, ride. I should have acted like everything was fine because I just worried him as I ran out of transition favoring my front-end and crouching forward to help the pain. I ran to the port-o-potties to relieve my bladder because I figured 10lbs of heavy bladder may help relieve some of my tummy pain. I figured right, but it took me a couple minutes to find a not-so-nasty privy. None of them had toilet paper except one that had unmentionables smeared all over the seat. Seriously, COME ON PEOPLE! Have a little control, eh? Thankfully, one of the nice spectators waiting for an open/clean potty let me cut in line and fished out some toilet paper for me from the johnny-that-must-not-be-named.
After a relieving pit stop, I was off to the run course. To my surprise and dismay, the course was not changed to the double loop through the shaded neighborhoods as promised. We went out on the country road to grit and bare the hot pavement for the middle 4+ miles of the course. Ugh. Thankfully, the sun stayed incognito the whole race. Thank you overcast clouds! I was met along the course by the world's most enthusiastic single person cheer squad, and for my purposes will refer to him as Sir Random Guy. Here's the thing about Sir Random Guy, he was all over the course. When I say all over the course, I mean all over the course! I saw him on the bike and the run, all. over. the. place. He was so enthusiastic and every time I saw him he yelled and screamed and jump up and down and pumped his fists and told us all how much of an inspiration we were. Oh, he also informed us that we were his legs for the day because he has bad knees. Sir Random Guy just brought a smile to my face whenever I saw him, and he still does just thinking about him. He was so excited for me every time I saw him and cheered me on, "Go Team! Alright Team in Training!" Finally, he asked me my name so I told him and from then on his cheer when something like this:
I don't know how he had so much energy left after so many miles of cheering! It amazed me, and I was the one that was racing!! Another racer ran up next to me and said, "Wow, you have quite the cheer squad!" and I laughed saying, "Yeah, and I don't even know that guy!" Sir Random Guy cheered me all the way in to the finish line, and I would not have done it with nearly as big of a smile without his support.
About a half hour after I finished, I saw Sir Random Guy talking to all my teammates and friends. It was then that I found out that Sir Random Guy is the dad of one of my friends on the team! My friend, Sean, was entertained listening to me tell the story of his dad cheering me into the finish line. Thank you Sir Random Guy!
Overall, it was a great race and great day despite the stomach cramping. I'm glad it happened though because if it happens at Ironman, I know I can work through it. A big congratulations to all the halfsies: Dr. B, Dana Banana, Tri Chick Kris, Captain Cartwheel, B-Rad and Sean (aka Asspounder). Everyone had an amazing race!! Great job guys!!
Here is one of my favorite pics of the day. My friend Karlene let me carry her new puppy across the finish line. He's an adorable 7 week old Golden Retriever named Dodger and he's the closest I'll get to having a puppy!
Swim: 0:34:07
Pace: 0:01:46/100 yds
T1: 0:01:37
Bike: 2:53:17
Pace: 19.2 mph
T2: 0.01:32
Run: 2:05:00
Pace: 0:09:32/mile
Overall Time: 5:35:35
I placed 9/20 in my age group, 47/95 female, and 181/299 overall. Awesome. I shaved an hour off my total time from last year. When I got out of the water, I looked at my watch and couldn't believe my eyes! I thought maybe my watched stopped while I was in the water. I took 7+ minutes off my swim time from last year. I jumped on my bike and was soon cruising down the nicely paved, flat course.
I started having stomach cramps on the bike. I thought all hope was lost for a good run when in the last 6 miles of the bike, I didn't think I was going to make it. My stomach hurt so bad every time I took in calories, and not because I was hungry, but because everything felt so harsh in my tummy. I had cramps up both sides of my stomach, and every time on my down stroke on my right side, I thought I was going to double over in pain. This was incredibly worse pain than what I felt at my Afton ride with Captain Cartwheel and Dr. B. (See previous post...) The worst part of the whole ride was being down in my aero bars because I get low enough that I can actually bump my abdomen with my legs. Ouch, ouch, ouch...ugh. I lost some momentum on two separate occasions when I launched a bottle off the back of my bike. I know I probably would have been just fine leaving the bottles on the side of the road without getting a penalty, but I feel bad littering and it's against the rules! It didn't take that much effort to stop and pick them up, and the second time it happened allowed me a little break from kneeing myself in my cramping stomach. I finally made it back into transition in under 3 hours which was my goal.
Mr. Fury waited by my transition area, and when I rolled in with tears welling in my eyes and a big frowny face, he knew something was not OK. He asked me if I was alright, and I answered with an assertive, "NO!" and I told him all about my lousy, yet PR, ride. I should have acted like everything was fine because I just worried him as I ran out of transition favoring my front-end and crouching forward to help the pain. I ran to the port-o-potties to relieve my bladder because I figured 10lbs of heavy bladder may help relieve some of my tummy pain. I figured right, but it took me a couple minutes to find a not-so-nasty privy. None of them had toilet paper except one that had unmentionables smeared all over the seat. Seriously, COME ON PEOPLE! Have a little control, eh? Thankfully, one of the nice spectators waiting for an open/clean potty let me cut in line and fished out some toilet paper for me from the johnny-that-must-not-be-named.
After a relieving pit stop, I was off to the run course. To my surprise and dismay, the course was not changed to the double loop through the shaded neighborhoods as promised. We went out on the country road to grit and bare the hot pavement for the middle 4+ miles of the course. Ugh. Thankfully, the sun stayed incognito the whole race. Thank you overcast clouds! I was met along the course by the world's most enthusiastic single person cheer squad, and for my purposes will refer to him as Sir Random Guy. Here's the thing about Sir Random Guy, he was all over the course. When I say all over the course, I mean all over the course! I saw him on the bike and the run, all. over. the. place. He was so enthusiastic and every time I saw him he yelled and screamed and jump up and down and pumped his fists and told us all how much of an inspiration we were. Oh, he also informed us that we were his legs for the day because he has bad knees. Sir Random Guy just brought a smile to my face whenever I saw him, and he still does just thinking about him. He was so excited for me every time I saw him and cheered me on, "Go Team! Alright Team in Training!" Finally, he asked me my name so I told him and from then on his cheer when something like this:
Oh, here she comes! RRRRAAACHHEL!!!! Alright, Rachel! You can do it, you're doing great! Keep it up! Go Team! ::insert Sir Random Guy's jovial laugh here::
I don't know how he had so much energy left after so many miles of cheering! It amazed me, and I was the one that was racing!! Another racer ran up next to me and said, "Wow, you have quite the cheer squad!" and I laughed saying, "Yeah, and I don't even know that guy!" Sir Random Guy cheered me all the way in to the finish line, and I would not have done it with nearly as big of a smile without his support.
About a half hour after I finished, I saw Sir Random Guy talking to all my teammates and friends. It was then that I found out that Sir Random Guy is the dad of one of my friends on the team! My friend, Sean, was entertained listening to me tell the story of his dad cheering me into the finish line. Thank you Sir Random Guy!
Overall, it was a great race and great day despite the stomach cramping. I'm glad it happened though because if it happens at Ironman, I know I can work through it. A big congratulations to all the halfsies: Dr. B, Dana Banana, Tri Chick Kris, Captain Cartwheel, B-Rad and Sean (aka Asspounder). Everyone had an amazing race!! Great job guys!!
Here is one of my favorite pics of the day. My friend Karlene let me carry her new puppy across the finish line. He's an adorable 7 week old Golden Retriever named Dodger and he's the closest I'll get to having a puppy!
Friday, July 25, 2008
Official Man Report
I received word of the manly, manliness that went on last night with the manly men, and I'm please to report that there was no nose picking. Turns out my mom was right: "You can pick your friends and you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friend's nose." I'm glad we got that straightened out.
Happy Friday!
Happy Friday!
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Good Food and Good Friends
Tonight, the 70.3 ladies got together to have a little carbo load. It was great to sit down and just chat about tri and non-tri related things. We, and when I say we, I mean I, made WAY too much pasta. I have what looks like an extra 5 lbs of spaghetti sitting in the fridge right now. I'll be eating pasta for the next week for lunch. I guess it saves me from cooking later, right? Mr. Fury caught wind of the ladies coming over tonight and bolted to his buddy's house for some man time. I'm sure they chopped wood, picked each other's noses or whatever it is that men do together. He missed out on my delicious homemade cream sauce. MMMmmm, yum. There's some leftover so maybe I'll share with him if he's lucky.
Three of the ladies that came over tonight are halfsies first-timers so Captain Cartwheel and I were fielding questions about the distance and what to expect. It brought me back to last year and the unknowns and questions I had about the race, and then it ended up feeling like a piece of cake. It helps that I raced a flat and fast course, but still, it's unnerving not fully knowing what you're getting yourself into! I'm excited for them and I can't wait to cheer for them on the course on Sunday. There are a bunch of other TNTers racing the sprint distance, so when they finish, they're going to have a pot luck picnic and then cheer for all of us halfsies.
My exciting news for the week: I MADE IT THROUGH A WHOLE SWIM MANAGING MY SIDE PAIN! I haven't done a full 1 hour swim in about a month and a half, and I have finally gotten my side pain under control. My massage therapist and chiropractor think I have a hiatal hernia: insert acid reflux and side pain here. I had the same issue last year and was able to get it under control about half way through the season. This year, I started out without the pain and then it gradually got worse about half way through the season. I have FINALLY figured out how to manage the pain and get rid of it when I'm on land. Oh, did I mention it only hurts when I'm swimming? I think it's all the twisty turny motion of my core that makes it flare up. Ugh. I just wish it would go away entirely. After the season is over, I will go to the doctor to have it checked out, but not until after Ironman! I read up on hiatal hernias on webmd.com. I don't know why I did that, but I did. Basically, all webmd.com told me was the only way to get rid of the side effects of a hiatal hernia is through surgery. D-U-M-B, DUMB! Surgery, huh? Maybe this pain is all in my head...
Well, that's all I have for now. I'm finally going to succumb to my food coma I was warding off earlier. Goodnight moon.
Three of the ladies that came over tonight are halfsies first-timers so Captain Cartwheel and I were fielding questions about the distance and what to expect. It brought me back to last year and the unknowns and questions I had about the race, and then it ended up feeling like a piece of cake. It helps that I raced a flat and fast course, but still, it's unnerving not fully knowing what you're getting yourself into! I'm excited for them and I can't wait to cheer for them on the course on Sunday. There are a bunch of other TNTers racing the sprint distance, so when they finish, they're going to have a pot luck picnic and then cheer for all of us halfsies.
My exciting news for the week: I MADE IT THROUGH A WHOLE SWIM MANAGING MY SIDE PAIN! I haven't done a full 1 hour swim in about a month and a half, and I have finally gotten my side pain under control. My massage therapist and chiropractor think I have a hiatal hernia: insert acid reflux and side pain here. I had the same issue last year and was able to get it under control about half way through the season. This year, I started out without the pain and then it gradually got worse about half way through the season. I have FINALLY figured out how to manage the pain and get rid of it when I'm on land. Oh, did I mention it only hurts when I'm swimming? I think it's all the twisty turny motion of my core that makes it flare up. Ugh. I just wish it would go away entirely. After the season is over, I will go to the doctor to have it checked out, but not until after Ironman! I read up on hiatal hernias on webmd.com. I don't know why I did that, but I did. Basically, all webmd.com told me was the only way to get rid of the side effects of a hiatal hernia is through surgery. D-U-M-B, DUMB! Surgery, huh? Maybe this pain is all in my head...
Well, that's all I have for now. I'm finally going to succumb to my food coma I was warding off earlier. Goodnight moon.
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