Ironman CDA

Sunday was up and down in more ways than one.

My day started with a 4:30 am wake-up call so we could leave the house by 5:15. Neil, Betsy, Mike B and I made our various race day breakfasts: oatmeal, bagels with peanut butter and banana and a big glass of water. We sat in silence as we attempted to eat. We all had the race day jitters and you could feel the anxiety in the air. I had so much anxiety built up from my last tri racing experience at Pigman last summer where I didn't finish. I was paranoid that I wasn't eating enough pre-race, I would get hungry during the swim, I was going to bonk on the bike and not even start the run. I had so much of this anxiety building over the course of this training season and I needed to prove myself wrong. I needed to really believe that I was going to be OK and fully rely on the hundreds of training hours I put in over the last 36 weeks.

At 5:15, Mike drove us down to the transition area where we dropped off our special needs bags for the bike and run, checked on our transition bags for the bike and run, and got ready for the swim. I felt marginally better when we arrived at the race site, but I knew that we still had an hour and a half before the cannon went off. Neil took off to check on his things while Mike B. and Betsy waited in the long port-o-potty lines and I put on my wetsuit. The four of us regrouped around 6:40, dropped off our morning clothes bags with the volunteers and then made the slow walk to the beach. There were so many people trying to get down to the beach that we only had to wait a few minutes before the cannon went off. When we got to the beach, we said our last "good lucks" to each other before the boys went closer to the water while Betsy and I found a somewhat comfortable area in the middle and off to the side of the pack. We ended up being more in the exact middle than we anticipated, but with 2,460 racers, it was hard to find your way to the perimeter.

The cannon went off at exactly 7am and all 2,400+ of us made our way from the beach to the balmy, 57 degree waters of Lake Coeur d'Alene. I had an idea of what the swim would be like based on my experience at Ironman Wisconsin where there was a mass start with everyone starting in the water. That was a stepping stone to the mass beach start. There are few words to describe that experience, but one of them is definitely, "Chaos." There were arms and legs everywhere, people swimming over other people, and I feel lucky to say that I only got hit in the face and kicked in the stomach once. It was incredibly difficult to find space the entire first lap of the swim, and with females comprising only 27% of the racing field, I was constantly surrounded by men. No offense to all the guys out there, but I don't like to swim by y'all. I hate to stereotype, but I have rarely found this stereotype to be inaccurate especially when it comes to longer distance racing: men are notorious for grabbing ankles, throwing elbows and being generally obnoxious in the water. I think I did a fairly good job of holding my own during the swim and made it out of the water without injury. In Ironman, that is called a successful swim. On the second lap of the swim, I noticed that my ring finger on my right hand was quite literally frozen in place. The water was so cold that my finger was stuck in a half-way bent position and I could tell that my middle finger was soon to follow. Thankfully, the beach was in site.

Swim: 1:17:21

(On a total side note, there is absolutely no shame during Ironman. None.)

The water was so brutally cold that getting out of the swim and going into T1, I couldn't feel anything. My legs were numb, I couldn't grab anything with my hands and my feet were white. I got my wetsuit stripped, grabbed my T1 bag and ran into the changing tent. Thank God for the amazing volunteers in the changing tent because without them, I would have struggled to get my bike gear on for another 20 minutes. The volunteer that helped me was great. She dumped out my transition bag and said, "What do you want to put on first?" and then she jumped into helping me get dressed. My volunteer completely undressed and dressed me all the way down to my socks, shoes and helmet. I could not do a thing and every time I tried to help she just said to me, "Don't worry, I've got it."

T1: 10:36

I was so thankful to be out of the water and on my bike that I didn't think much about the fact that I would now be biking for the next 7 hours of the race. I didn't care and it didn't much matter to me at the time since I was no longer in the water. Until mile 20, I didn't have feeling in my legs because they were numb. They were moving and they were doing the work I needed them to do, but I didn't have a clear idea of how hard I was pushing. I was grateful when the feeling finally returned; just in time for the hilly section of the course. From mile 20-45 the course consisted of all of the hills with the exception of 2 (which make their appearance at the beginning of the course). In between these two sections, there is a flat section that I looked forward to hitting on both loops of the course. This was by far the most challenging bike course I have ridden. It wasn't just the elevation gain that was a challenge, but the technicality of the course is unmatched in my racing history. This course is riddled with steep climbs followed by fast declines, sharp turns, and blind approaches. From the start of the bike, I couldn't get my nutrition under control. At first, I took too much. Then, during the hilly section of the bike, I couldn't take in enough calories. This routine unfortunately repeated itself on the second lap of the bike and I was really concerned about how I was going to feel on the run. Riding the flat section back into transition, I knew I was right where I wanted to be as far as my time. I came into transition around 8:30 hrs with my stomach still feeling pretty queasy and feeling hopeful that I could remedy my nutrition woes on the run.

Bike: 7:01:22

Transition 2 went much more smoothly than the first. I took care of dressing myself this time! I still couldn't really feel my toes from the swim, but I knew that when I started running, the feeling would come back. The volunteer that was helping me dumped out my bag, handed me all my items, and helped me put on my race belt. She gave me some words of encouragement, I grabbed some pretzels on the way out of the change tent, stopped at the sunscreen ladies just outside the tent and they slathered up my face, arms and legs, and then I was on my way out to the run course.

T2: 6:47

Starting the run, I knew I would have to pace myself. My legs felt pretty good coming off the bike and I wanted to be able to push it. My goal on the run was to run a 4:30 marathon. I knew it was possible, but I had to watch my pace and make sure I didn't push it too hard out of the gate. I tried to keep my pace and heart rate in check, but the excitement of being off the bike took over and I ran my first mile in 8:30min. I kept telling myself, "SLOW DOWN!" Finally, by mile 2.5 I found my pace and goal heart rate, and my stomach started to even out and feel better. I started the run eating pretzels, keeping that up between water stops, and I supplemented that by taking in oranges, bananas, powerade, water and finally succumbing to cola near mile 21. This seemed to calm my stomach and allowing me enough calories to keep going.

The same big hill we started on the bike was the same hill we had to run up and over, and then turn around and run up again and back down. This hill was a killer, but I decided early on in the race that I wasn't going to stop and walk going up or down either side of it. I gave myself permission to walk only during the water stops and that was it. I didn't want to fall into the trap of walking any other time during the run because it was so hard to get going again. I ran focusing on the pavement 10 feet in front of me, thinking about a quote from Clarence DeMar a friend posted on my wall before the race, "Run like hell and get the agony over with." So, I did. I ran like hell. I ran as fast as I could go without going out of my zones.

The first lap was a little faster than I intended so I knew the second lap was going to be a little slower. And, it was slower, and more painful than the first. The bottoms of my feet started to ache and felt like they were swollen. Everything started to ache including my skin, but I knew in just over 2 hours, it was all going to melt away when I ran down the finisher chute. I remained focused on the hill; up, over, turn around, up, down. Run to the water stop, orange, banana, Powerade, water, cola, start running again. This was my schedule, and I stuck to it. I saw Neil going up the hill shortly before the turn around, on the way back down the hill, I saw Betsy. We stopped to give each other some encouragement, and she laughed as she picked out some ear plug from my hair that had been there since the swim. We parted ways and I found Mike B. on his way to the turn around. He had a rough day and his expression said it all. I yelled to him to keep going, and he smiled and waved. I shuffled through the remaining miles, and got to the last water stop before the finish line. The last woman at the stop had chicken broth and she asked if I wanted some. I looked at her, smiled and said, "No thanks, I'm going home!!" She laughed, yelled at me, "Take it home!" and I was off.

Finally, I was to the split in the course; second lap to the right, finish line to the left, and I got to run to the left. Running around the corner to Sherman Ave was nothing less than glorious. The street was packed with spectators, I could see the finish line at the end of the street, and it was all downhill. Turning the corner, I couldn't help the flood of emotion. It felt as good as it did the first time I finished Ironman, and the tears came running down my face. (At least I was hydrated enough to cry!) I hit the carpet of the finish line, and the spectators in the bleachers were going crazy. I ran down the left side of the finish line giving high fives, and I found Mike and my cousin Paul in the crowd going crazy! I gave them both a high five, and then (literally) danced across the finish line. My dance wasn't coordinated or on beat, but who cares. I am an Ironman again.

Run: 4:31:39

Finish Time: 13:07:45

Adventures in Cooking and Stuff

I'm making my first attempt at cooking an artichoke for dinner tonight.  I'm not talking about canned hearts, but the whole damn thing.  I've never done this before and I've wanted to try for awhile so when I bought groceries online I bought an artichoke to try it out.  Yes, I did say that I bought groceries online.  I'm training for Ironman and I hate going grocery shopping so I figured it was a great time to try out the order online, pick-up later feature.  It was overall pretty awesome, and you should try it. I digress... 

So, where was I? Oh yes, I was just about to tell you about how I was assaulted by the artichoke which I was so excited to prepare for my delicious dinner feast.  I know very little about artichokes other than I find them absolutely delightful.  They're so deliciously buttery and my mouth is watering just thinking about eating them.  I've never touched a whole artichoke before it was cooked though, let alone cooked one myself so this has truly been a voyage into the wild blue green yonder.  Trimming the thing was quite entertaining.  First of all, did you know that artichokes have thorns?  Thorns!  I read this online and thought, no, really?   I had no idea artichokes had thorns.  I later found this to be true when I was trying to trim the artichoke and I got pricked. Hard.  The thorns look cute and harmless, but those suckers hurt!  Also, and I was not warned of this online, but the innards of this weird looking vegetable are also sharp!  What the heck?!  There's like a thousand little thorns inside it!  Well, I showed that artichoke who's boss and put it in a pot and steamed it.   It's still cooking so you'll have to ask how it tasted later.  

On to other happenings in the Fury household.  I finally got my new bike, and her name is Stella.  She's going to rock everyone's face off (including mine) when I finally get to ride her.  Unfortunately, I've been laid up with the flu this past week so she's been parked in the guest bedroom all sad and lonely.  She's beautiful, and the current love of my life.  Move over Mr. Fury! 

In racing news, I ran the Get Lucky Half-Marathon put on by Team Ortho a couple weeks ago with my friend SP (aka Asspounder).  He and I discussed our racing goals previous to this race and he really wanted to qualify for a corral spot for Chicago Marathon in October, and I really wanted to PR.  In order for him to get in the last corral before general entry he needed to race 1:50 or better, and to get the next best corral spot he had to race 1:45 or better.  Race morning we discussed what our plan was going to be, and we decided to go for the gold and try to cross the finish line before 1:45.  Hm...sounds like a challenge!  We didn't really warm-up before the race, which was pretty stupid considering our goal time, but we did take the first mile relatively easy at 8:25/mile.  We knew we would have to speed things up in order to finish sub-1:45, so we sped up to closer to 8:00 min miles until the turn around.  At that point, we knew we had to run sub 8:00s to finish with the 1:45 pace group.  Our plan at that point was to run 7:50s until we caught up to the pace group.  This plan is flawless*, right?  Well, it would have been more flawless if the 1:45 pacer was running a 1:45 pace, but as we later found out, the pacer crossed the finish line at 1:43ish and then cheered in his pace group. What?  Who does that?  Needless to say, we never caught up to the pace group, but it all worked out because SP and I crossed the finish line at 1:44:40.  He got his corral spot and I got my PR by 7 minutes.  Goodness, it feels good to PR and know that I'm not as slow as I thought I was in January.  After shedding a few layers of clothes and a major snow melt, it turns out I'm actually a half-way decent runner.  Thanks SP for pushing me because I really don't think I would have run that hard had it not been for you. 

In other really happy news, I found out two friends are planning on camping their way to CDA to cheer for BV, NH, and I.  I am so excited that we'll have an expanded cheer group out there, I can hardly contain myself!  I think this will be good for Mr. Fury also to have a couple other familiar faces out there during the race.  So, anyone else interested in going out to Coeur d'Alene to cheer us on?  

* I was starting to think that this was either going to be awesome or the greatest blow-up we've both experienced in racing. 

It Happened on a Wednesday

Everyone has heard of runner's high, but is it possible to achieve swimmer's high?  I think it is and last Wednesday, I also think I may have achieved it.  Approximately every six weeks I have a 400 yd test worked into my swim workouts.  Typically, this is the worst swim for me.  I struggle to get through the 400s fully focused and sometimes I have a really hard time getting into my groove and finding my stroke.  I think it's knowing that the distance isn't that long, but long enough to warrant some serious concentration.

I found during my second test of the season that if I thought about one person for every lap of the 400, I really could focus.  So, I started dedicating laps to my family: my brothers, sister-in-law, brother's girlfriend, mom, dad, husband.  It was amazing what it did for my speed and focus.  Without this focus, I was swimming a 6:40 400, but with this new focal point, I got my times consistently down to a 6:30.  Well, of course, I got a little restless swimming a 6:30 400.  I need to be stronger and faster and better than a 6:30, so for my third 400 swim test of the year, I wanted to beat the 6:30.

I think I chose a bad day to try to beat this time.  I woke up late for work, I had a crappy day, I was tired, and I had a million excuses to not get in the pool.  As usual, I made myself go with the thought that once I was finished with my swim, I would be happy I went.  So, I got in the pool and sucked it up like a big kid, and found that I regretted almost every moment of my warm-up and my first 400.  I looked at my watch, and I came in at 6:41 for my first 400.  Great, it's going to be that kind of swim. Ugh.  I tried focusing on my family, and that helped for the second 400: 6:32.  Sweet, back on track.  Third 400: 6:31, nice!  At least I'm being somewhat consistent.  I only had one more 400, and typically I swim the fourth one the fastest.  I reset my watch, and kicked off the wall.  For some reason, everything felt really good.  My breath was steady, my stroke was strong, and my kick wasn't all over the place like it was on the first 400.  I felt better and happier in the watter than I have all season.  I got through all eight laps, stopped my watch, and saw 6:19 frozen on the watch face.  What? For real!?  A-W-E-S-O-M-E! I did not think that I was going to swim it considerably faster than my second or third, but sometimes I do surprise myself.  So there it is:  Swimmer's High.

Ironman Revisited

Many of you that read my blog already know this news, but for those of you that don't know, I am taking on the challenge of Ironman again.  Yes, 140.6 miles of pure bliss is coming my way on June 26, 2011 in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.  I can't wait and I am really excited to race on an Ironman course again!  Although I am not in it for the prize purse, I am in it for pride, and I fully plan on racing against my previous IM times from Wisconsin.

I am on week 17 of training which is hard to believe, and next week is halfway through my training program which is even harder for me to believe.  I don't have an overall time goal in mind right now other than trying to beat my previous time of 13:57:40.  The one goal I have been working on all training season is to beat my previous bike time from IMWI.  I don't just want to finish the bike in the 6 hour time frame, I need to finish the bike in the 6 hour time frame.  7:22:42 on the bike was much too long, and I plan on doing much better in CDA.  

I got a couple new toys this year to help with that bike goal: a Garmin 310xt (I love it!) and on its way to me is a Cannondale Women's Slice 4 Rival.  I can not wait to ride her.  She's not here yet, but I am hoping she will arrive straight from the factory by the end of February or early March.  Speaking of bikes, I need to go ride mine in the basement!

Ride on.

Happiest in 2

I realized something on a run last night with Mr. Fury that is season changing.  I don't want to race anymore.  It's not that I never want to do a triathlon, marathon or road race ever again, but it's that I'm worn out mentally and maybe even physically from trying to become faster.  My workouts and racing have started to feel like a second job that is more stressful than my day job.  I used to love racing because it was fun not because I felt obligated to get a certain time or to place in my age group.  The increase in speed and faster times came from the years of training and my love of the sport, not from frustrating workouts at the track.  I feel like I have lost all sense of fun with racing and I really need to get that back. 

Last night I decided that there will be no attempt at Boston this year.  I'm going to spend as much time as I can in zone 2 because that is truly my happy place.  I made Mr. Fury swear that he would keep reminding me of this and not let me buy a GPS HRM because that will make me focus more on times and paces which is exactly what I don't want to do.  The hope is that by October, I will look back on this season and feel happy that I had fun.  I don't want a repeat of last year when I showed up to Brewhouse angry at the thought of racing and ran TCM thinking: Why the hell am I doing this?  It's hard to put my dream of Boston on the shelf for awhile, but I know it's what I need to do in order to salvage my love of running, triathlon and racing.  Someday I'll get there.  ::sigh::

In other (happier) news, it was my birthday last weekend.  Mr. Fury and I went to my parents' lake home with a group of our friends and my brothers to hang out and have a relaxing weekend.  It was a great time and I'm so glad we decided to celebrate there this year.  It was rainy and chilly most of the weekend, but my brothers and my friend Dave made the most of it by taking the boat out anyway and going water skiing.  Crazy kids...

I love birthdays, and mostly because I'm completely surprised by Mr. Fury and his tremendous memory.  This year he got me some awesome gifts that I had even forgotten that I asked for back..well...let's not say how early I start talking about my birthday, but rest assured, it's pretty darn early in the year.  He got me a wireless keyboard for my computer that I can use when I work at home and super tasty delicious brownies that he ordered from the Vermont Brownie Company.  Oh.My.Gawd.  They are so freaking good.  I tried the Espresso Brownie today and it was unbelievable.  Look at this tasty goodness:

Really, can it get any better than espresso beans inside a brownie?!  You get a chocolate and caffeine high all at the same time!  Genius!  Don't be jealous you didn't think of it first and go order a tasty delicious box of your own.  You don't even have to share unless you want to.  The best, and funniest, part of how I received the brownies was that they came via USPS while we were gone.  The mail dude put the box just inside the door, but the box was too big for the door to shut all the way.  The squirrels tried to bust into the brownies by chewing away at the outside box.  Little did they know that the Vermont Brownie Company is prepared for such rodent initiated box raids, and they package their brownies in a box inside a box.  HA! Take that you filthy animals!  No brownies for you!

Last night the birthday festivities continued when we had a rousing soiree at my parents' house for my younger brother's birthday who turned, brace yourselves, 25 years old.  25 YEARS OLD! I still can't believe it.  I still think he should be 12, and never grow older.  On the bright side, he's still one of the funniest and most smiley-est people I know.  Happy birthday dude, it was an honor to share a massive DQ birthday cake with you last night. 

Cheers!

GU, I Love You!

I reached GU nirvana a few weekends ago.  Seriously.  Traveling through Wisconsin to go to a friend's wedding, Mr. Fury and I realized we forgot all of our nutrition products at home and we needed some for our long run on Saturday.  We stopped at good ole' Scheel's in Eau Claire and picked up some GU.  The salesman at the store said the Jet Blackberry was a good seller and insisted I would love it.  Ok, not just love it, but LOVE IT!  I'm a sucker so I bought a box of six.  If I'm going to LOVE something, why bother with just buying one packet at a time?

Fast forward to Saturday.

Mr. Fury were out on our run, and I took my first GU.  Ok Jet Blackberry, prove the crazy salesman right, I want to LOVE you.  Honestly, after that first packet, I wanted to O.D. on Jet Blackberry GU.  It was so tasty, and with 2x the caffeine, I dare you not to like it!  So, that's my challenge.  I dare you to hate the Jet Blackberry GU.  You can't.  It's too hard to hate it because it's too good.  You can't even lie, the caffeine high will give you away. 

Dare I say it's better than Orange GU?

Ms. R, Where Are You?

Howdy dooody!  Long time no write.  Sorry to disappoint, but really, I have a life to live here folks and it has been busy.  A lot has happened in the Fury household the last couple of months: loss of life, new life, sickness (multiple times and simultaneously), and many yard projects. Here's a picture of the cutest happening this spring, our new nephew Liam:

We haven't met him yet because he lives in Seattle, WA, but we're looking forward to making a trip soon to meet the little guy.  He makes my uterus ache a little... 

The SF and I have been busy with random projects around the house.  We just replanted part of the garden to put in a fire pit.  Stay tuned, bonfires and parties pending.

Training is going so-so.  Motivation is not so much part of the problem as is staying well enough to train.  I tried out a new pool just over a week ago and it proved to be a big mistake.  I got a nasty sinus infection and I'm blaming it all on the murky water at the LTF in Fridley.  Maybe my dirty nose is really to blame, but I prefer to point my finger at Life Time Fitness.  I just recovered from that for the most part when I woke up with violent vomiting on Sunday morning.  It was a doozy of a week, and one that I prefer to never re-live.  I got back in the pool last night for my first workout in 8 days.  I was still a little weak from no eating the day prior, but I made it through 1700 yds before calling it a day. 

In other news, I'm going to try the marathon thing again.  Oh, how did TCM go, you ask?  So well I didn't feel it was necessary to write about it.  Actually, it was awful, and I swore I would never do it again.  Well, until about two weeks later when I realized that I still really want to BQ. No, really want to BQ.  So, a couple friends and I are going up nort to run Whistlestop Marathon in October.  I've heard great things so I hope it lives up to all the hype.  If nothing else, there will be beautiful fall colors to distract me.

The next couple of weeks are wedding filled extravaganzas.  We have a wedding this weekend, I have a wedding shower next Tuesday and then another wedding Memorial Day weekend.  It's going to be fun and exhausting!  Well, until next time, Ms. R out.