Ironman prep

Hey blogland! Thanks for all the good vibes last week. My teacher mechanic friend was able to get the parts to fix my bike. Yeah! Panic attack thwarted! And let me tell you, it rode SOOO nice after the tune-up and new parts.

I was able to get the six hour bike ride in this past weekend. :) I had a little dilemma though. Saturday was accurately forecasted with 25-35 mph winds, with occasional 40 mph gusts, but nice warm 70-80 degree temps. Sunday the weather had a high of 48 and rain forecasted. Hmmm... Which day for the bike? Which day for the run? I chose windy ride, and cold run (which turned out to be a PERFECT day for a run! I think it had to be low 50's and sunny. Absolutely perfect running weather.)

So... I'm getting a pretty good mental game together for my big race. Things I've learned in my training:

- I've been practicing my nutrition all summer. It's not perfect, but I think I've finally got it nailed down. For the bike: Clif bars, Clif Bloks, and Powerbar brand gels (Powerbar has extra electrolytes.) Every 45 minutes, not every hour (that wasn't enough this past weekend.) Although I've been told nothing solid the last two hours of the bike. My coach would rather I didn't do solid foods at all, but I found I really do crave it on the bike. I'll stick with just gels on the run. Boy, I'm not looking forward to that...
- Someone suggested, and I want to follow, that I put Vaseline on my lips before the salt water swim. I definitely noticed some funkiness while goofing off in the ocean in California. Will do it!
- I found a bike jersey on clearance at Performance a couple weeks ago. I really like it. It's red and that's my favorite color. I thought that it would be perfect for photos. Unfortunately I learned this past weekend, the pockets are smaller than standard jersey pockets. Hard to hold food, extra tube, etc. for six plus hours of riding. Another lesson learned!
- I want to take two tubes and two CO2 cartridges. Possibly throw more in my special needs bag.
- I think I want to put some eye drops in my T2 bag. After a long bike, my contact lenses get dry. Chapstik, too.
- Maybe I do need to get off the bike after a couple hours, just for a minute or two, to get some blood flowing in my booty. Helped on my long rides the last two weekends. I think the pro's outweigh the con's. I'll be playing this one by ear on race day.
- Goggle dilemma, I'm thinking comfort over peripheral vision. Small competitive style goggles.
- By swimming in hot sulphur mineral springs, I think I've got over the mental block of the yucky salt water taste in my mouth.
- I've trained in all types of conditions: rain, wind, heat, before the sunrise, middle of the day, in the dark. (I'm lacking cold weather training, but the next couple of weeks seem to have that base covered--could also use some training in humidity.) Oh yeah, I've trained at altitude, so that should help.
- I got another flat tire this past weekend. I insisted on changing it myself. Rear wheel, too! My poor husband watched on while people rode by and looked at him with an eye of disgust as he made his wife change her own flat. He's such a sweetie! I feel like I could do it no problem if I had to.
- We have lodging, airfare, rental car, bike transport...

I'm at the do or die stage in my training. I have two weeks left of heavy stuff. I can't believe it. Do I feel ready? Absolutely not. Would I feel ready if I were faster? Maybe. Those time cut-offs scare me a ton. Obviously I've not done the entire distance... But soon I have to show up. I have to know that I've done everything I could do physically and mentally. The real question is whether or not my legs can do what I need them to do. My brain has done everything it can do. I'm just wondering about this body of mine. It's kind of a scary funny peaceful feeling when you hit this point.

I still have a 3.5 hour run and another six hour bike to go... So I'm not at that point JUST yet, but almost...

25 days, 9 hours, 19 minutes. When will you ever have an event in your life where 25 days seems SO close? (Let me answer that one... It's gotta be childbirth... But I don't know what else might fall in the same category.)