Why I won't leave...

Okay mom... Beyond a certain person whose name starts and ends with the letter "G", here's the other reason I'll never move home.

This is Waterton Canyon.
It is 15 minutes from my house. It is a fire road that is only open to foot and bike traffic. It goes back almost 7 miles. More often than not, it is my favorite local place to do my long runs. It's not unheard of for me to have to dodge a bighorn sheep running down the road. (Which by the way, is the reason they don't allow dogs in the canyon. Can't take a dog to my favorite running spot? Another reason not to get the dog. Sad, I know.)

Since I'm not really in shape to do a 10 mile run right now, I grabbed my mountain bike and, well, why the heck not? I grabbed my camera. It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon. Ahhh!!!!!!!!!!! Just what the doctor ordered!

Puppy b-control

Oh... To get through these mid-winter blues...

And the funny part is that I'm not alone. I'm struggling through the post big event, what do I do now? syndrome--coupled with a bitter cold winter that's kept me indoors far more than I'd like... But it's good that I have some of the best girlfriends in the world. Turns out I'm not alone this winter. A week ago a couple of my best gal pals in the world stayed up til the wee hours of the morning sharing lots of fun stories. Yep, I'm not alone.

Yesterday... A beautiful (FINALLY!) winter day in the 50's, two other great gal pals go for a run. They, too, share in their own mid-winter blueness... Only they helped me a little....

You see, in all my winter blueness, I've been seriously considering getting a dog. While I get no support from my husband on this matter (he's not a big dog or cat person), I know that if I gave a heartfelt plea, he would give in...

So... The run this morning. Girl 1 has two dogs that are pulling and tugging ridiculously at the idea of a walk/run. I've run many times with Girl 2 and her dog. Both girls finally give the dogs the freedom they desire... The dogs get let off their leashes... HEAVEN! Until we see another dog owner, another runner, a cow on the trail (seriously!) and every time we have to stop, leash them up, unleash them, go. Dog 2 has previously come close to taking me out at the knees as he comes up between myself and girl 2 with a very large dead tree in his mouth. Dog 1 goes to the bathroom and then sends up gravel in full projectile style with his back legs when done. I have to put up my arms to defend myself...

Hmmm.... This dog thing. Everytime I'm almost sold on it... I'm not so sure.

I did make a comment to girl 2 about how I worry that I won't want to take my dog for a walk after a long hot summer several hour bike ride. She argued with me that I'd love to go for a walk after a nice bike ride. I realized she's never been on her bike for longer than 2 hours in one session her entire life. Girl 1 told me I'd just have to switch from triathlete to runner exclusively. I'm not ready to do that. Hmmm.... The dog debate continues.

SOLD OUT!!!!

What!!!!? The Triple Bypass sold out on January 11!!!!!? Can you believe that? It's a monumental bike tour over three mountain passes, 120 miles, in one day. I did it three years ago with my Iron pal Amy, and we signed up two weeks prior.

It IS my husband's turn to participate and have me sherpa, so he missed registration last year because it sold out March 3. This year he knew he should sign up soon, but apparently he wanted me to sign up with him. I wanted to give it another month to see what my belly might be doing. I looked yesterday. SOLD OUT! Unbelievable! I can name off five friends that were also interested in doing it this year. It would have been a blast! Has the Evergreen Cycling Club created an event that will soon rival the two hour Ironman sell outs? Wow!

So what now? Is this a sign that we better sign up for the Boulder Peak and 5430 series ASAP? Crazy athletic Coloradoans. I love this state.

Unsolicited Advice

Here's a little unsolicited advice... Don't sit around and do nothing for two months after an Ironman... Even if you want to give it a break and just see if maybe, just maybe, you can pregnant by sitting around eating bon bons for two months...

Because it doesn't help anything. Except make it harder to work out when you finally feel motivated to work out again.

But I'm being smart. I'm slowly working my way back into it. I biked twice last week, swam twice, and ran twice. I'm working my way up to it. :) My husband wants to start attending a local swim masters class for triathletes. I'm still a little jittery on that one. Maybe another week in the pool will get me up to speed, but I'm working towards it. Same goes for spin classes. I'm getting there!

Here's to the new year!

Merry, Merry holidays to anybody that just happens to be reading this!

My husband and I had a wonderful Christmas with our family this year. I hope you did too!

Have you ever heard the phrase, "God, please let me be the person my dog things I am?" I haven't done much since the Ironman... But if I could be anybody at all... I'd say, "God, please let me be the athlete that my coworkers think I am." Ha! I haven't done much working out since Ironman the first of November, but boy do some of my coworkers love to have fun making up workouts that I supposedly do in my free time these days... "She probably goes home everyday and runs 9 miles on the treadmill since it's snowing out. Then she probably runs 3 more miles backwards. Yeah, and then...." Boy, do I wish I was the person they think I am... ha!

Thing is... I'm not going to be that person that they think I am... I'm instead going to be "THAT" person. Y'know... The ones that you've never seen at the gym, and then suddenly on Jan. 1 you can't get a treadmill because "those" people are hogging up the machines. Yep. that's going to be me this year. I've done a few workouts here and there recently, but not much. I've eaten a whole lot of cookies, and gotten a whole lotta extra sleep though! I'm going to get back on the horse at the new year. I normally detest THAT person. But this year... I own it. I'm going to be one of the reasons the treadmills are busy when you go in on Jan. 1.

Thanks to Chris because he now has me all signed up for my first race of 2008. The Colfax half-marathon! Can't wait Chris!!!!! Chris and I are pretty even paced, too. Could be interesting!!!

Happy New Year everybody!!! May your 2008 be happy and healthy!!!!

I send sincere love to all my friends and family. I am a very blessed person.

Turtle Updates

First update) I'm still living. I'm still glowing with the new found pride of all that I know I have the ability to do--which is now anything!!!! I'm an Ironman!!!! And it's the best feeling ever!!!!

Second update) My coach told me not to think about running for a month after Ironman. I didn't. Oh happy day. He told me swimming and biking would be fine... But I didn't think about those either...

My race was on Nov. 3. On November 30, it hit me. Up until that time, I'd think "I should probably work out tomorrow." And then tomorrow, I'd think the exact same thought. On Nov. 30, I really, really, really felt like running. So I got up the courage to go to the rec center and I went for a run!!! Whoo-hoo! And the next morning? I felt like running again!!!! Can you believe that? And I enjoyed it. Tonight, my body is all but screaming "Put that bike on the trainer!!! PLEASE!!!!" So that's what I'm going to do. I'm glad I gave my body the break. It's now ready to get back on the horse.

Third Update) I'm definitely struggling with some issues. I LOVE the shape I'm in right now. I'm also loving that I don't have to fit 2 workouts in a day. I don't have to fit in any workouts if I don't want to. But I need to stay in shape. ESPECIALLY during the holidays!

I need a goal. I'm just that kind of person. I need the fear and drive for my motivation. No goal = no motivation. So.... Triple Bypass next summer. Done it before, but I want to do better. It's a stellar goal. OF COURSE I want to do another Ironman. My husband and I have had many, many discussions on the merits of this race vs. that race. We also now know the cost of an Ironman (both physically and financially--Ouch! Not a bad thing to save a little cash before the next one!) I'd also love to do a marathon without the prerequisite 2.4/112 warm up!

Here's my dilemma: I'm a 35 year old woman that has been wanting to get pregnant for almost 3 years. Okay, so the last year was worth throwing my body into mass chaos just to take my mind off of things. And really, it didn't actually throw my body into any sort of chaos. I just got a little more fit in the process. It was fantastic and I don't regret it for a second. I keep thinking that Susan Williams had baby Sydney while she was training for the Sydney Olympics. Doctors really don't know why some people get pregnant just thinking about sex, and others... Well... Who knows why they can't get pregnant? (If you don't know me, I have plenty of body fat--that's not the issue.)

That said, can I really put my heart into the Triple, a marathon, or another Ironman if I really want to get pregnant?

This blog was meant to be very tri specific. I'm comfortable posting to the world about training and racing. I'm not as comfortable using it as an online personal diary. I still have every intention of doing my ol' favorites in the Boulder 5430 series this summer... But I just can't decide what else to put on my calendar right now.

If you don't hear from me for awhile, don't worry. I'm in a good place. I think I just have to sit back and let life dictate to me how things need to go. That's a little hard when I've spent the last year of my life dictating to my body THIS is what you're going to do. At the very minimum, I'll be back soon as the Spring race season takes off again. Because our year of ultimate endurance has peaked, my husband swears that this next year is the year of speed. Watch out friends and family! Greg is on a mission! The rumor at our house is that a certain Mr. Leidel will be left in the dust at next years Bolder Boulder!!!!

Good Times!

I guess it's time to cut my bracelet off. It's only been a week, but that smile continues on...

The Recap

It's a long race report, and I feel like it's still missing details that stand out in my mind (like the guy in the aero helmet, disc wheel, looking like he was really something... Only I was passing him at mile 95... Dude, if I'M passing you, you're not a stud! While I was overtaking him, I thought his water bottle was leaking... I was wrong.)

I really feel blessed that we had such good weather. It was 77 degrees. Calm waters. And only a very slight headwind on the second half of the bike course. How did I get so lucky? I know that I had friends that said they were praying for us. That's cool.

We took an entourage of friends of family with us--and I so appreciate them! We had other friends that couldn't go, but called the friends that were there and were able to get live updates. I never thought doing an Ironman would make me feel so loved!

I also had no idea that finishing the Ironman would give me the great sense of accomplishment that it has. I've heard people say that the training is the hardest part of doing an Ironman. It's funny, because you build so much through your training, you don't always see it when you're in it. I started with 2.5 hour bike rides. Then I went up to 5 hours. I knew it was going up to 7 hours. I didn't get down on it, because I always knew it was gonna get harder, so I tried to appreciate the easier stuff while I had it. Even my hardest workouts didn't seem that hard because I knew race day would be even harder. It wasn't always convenient, and I frequently had to move things around, skip time with friends, but I did every key workout. It paid out. I had no problems on the swim. I was getting tired on the bike, but I knew I could do it. The run? My legs had learned autopilot when they hurt... And it came in handy. I had my nutrition down... Do the training. Believe in your training. It WILL get you there.

I'm so thankful that I had did a couple half Ironman's in my training. I made mistakes in those races that I did NOT make in the big one. :)

I'm so happy I had a husband that understood and supported me. Our house and yard went downhill big time during all this. Weekends were devoted to training, and then we were too tired to do stuff around the house. It was so nice that we both understood that. Doing an Ironman made my marriage stronger.

Don't make big plans the days prior to your race. I thought I was all packed and ready when I flew out of Denver, but there was still so much to do at the race site beforehand.

Get to the merchandise tent a half hour before it is slated to open the morning after the race. We did and it paid off. They opened early and we had first pick of the newly put out finisher merchandise. When we left the store, there was a 45 minute wait to get in the store, and by then it was already picked over.

Stay positive during the race. Push every negative thought as far away as possible. Easier said than done, I know. But it makes ALL the difference in the world.

It was amazing. If you've ever thought about doing an Ironman, do it. With training, it IS possible. I'm living proof.

Pre-Race and the Swim

IM Able had warned me not to make plans the day before the race because the day would fly by. My coach urged me not to make plans the two days before the race. Both gave great advice. I don’t know where the time went, but it seemed like I spent a great deal of wasted time down at Ironman Village the two days prior. Every visit (registration, bike and bag drop off, athlete dinner and meeting, random visits to the expo) was a minimum three hour visit, and I think we were there twice each day. We spent an hour just standing in line waiting to register to pick up our bags. It was worth it once we got in the tent to get all our swag. Every visit to Ironman village also fueled the butterflies in my stomach. The people walking around were amazingly fit. The inner demons continued to war that I did not belong there.

We rented a house just outside of town. We thought it was three miles from town. It was actually six, which might have been a little farther than I would have liked, but I wouldn't trade it. My husband said he thinks he would have preferred to stay at the race venue. I completely disagree. Everytime we went there, it keyed up my nerves too much. I was able to settle down a bit everytime we went back to the house. It was also loud with so much going on at the host hotel. I guess everybody is different.

I was up late packing all the transition bags two nights prior to the race because those get turned in the day before the race. I did okay on the sleep that night, but not as good as I had hoped. I was amazed the night prior to the race to find my husband in bed at 8 p.m. He always keeps me up far later than I want the night prior to a race. Even if he wasn’t saying much, this was a telltale sign that he was definitely nervous. Surprisingly, I slept good that night.

4:15 a.m. Rise and shine. I dressed quickly and headed up for breakfast. I always play with my food this early, I'm just not hungry yet, so I knew to give myself some time to force it down. Malt-O-Meal, half a bagel with peanut butter, half a banana, and some Green Machine juice. I’d practiced with this breakfast many times, and it hadn’t failed me yet.

We get to the race site. Tons of nervous energy everywhere. I was not alone. I restocked some of my transition bags because I came across some new issues that morning. I just kept reminding myself that when I ran my packing list by my coach, he reminded me to also pack a sense of flexibility, because something was sure to go wrong. I stayed positive.

I stood in line to have my bike tires pumped up one last time. Stood in line for the bathroom. It was now time to head to the beach. All of the athletes were being herded and we couldn’t see where they were herding us to. I just followed the slow moving mass of athletes. Finally I entered the small fenced channel that lead to the area for the athletes.

My husband and I kissed. I looked over at my friend Amy, and whether she realizes it or not, she looked like she wanted to cry. I have a very strong memory of Eminem’s song “Lose Yourself” blaring over the loud speaker. I think that was the beginning of a great day mentally for me.

You better lose yourself in the music,

the moment You own it, you better never let it go

You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow

This opportunity comes once in a lifetime yo

I looked up the lyrics just to make sure I was quoting them correctly because naturally I was singing them the way that worked best for me in my head, and I just noticed the last verse of the song…

You can do anything you set your mind to, man

That's cool. I found myself humming it again on my bike later in the day when I needed a boost.

The canon blew. I started on the far left closest to the buoys, about 2/3 the way back. I realized that I didn’t get in the water to warm up prior to the start, so I was worried that the water would be cold, but there was so much emotion at that moment, the water temp didn’t phase me. It was the same as every other triathlon I did this year. People were elbowing and kicking. Deal with it. When I made it to the first turn buoy, the helicopter was directly overhead and people were yelling “Don’t even think about cutting the inside of that buoy.” I came up to doggie paddle for a second, and there were a minimum of 30 heads bobbing that were also doggie paddling. Then it became a tread water session because there was no room to use my arms. We all moved as one head bobbing mass around the buoy. I remember somebody yelling, “Don’t worry, the first turn is the worst.” He was right. The second one was bad, but it was on par with other triathlons I’ve done. The difference with this triathlon was that usually I lose the pack about half way through the loop. This was an Ironman with 2200 people. I continued to get kicked and punched the entire 1.2 miles, all the way into land.

I looked at my watch. I did 41 minutes. I did 44 and 45 at my HIM’s this summer. Nice job me! I ran back in the water, and I couldn’t believe that I was on my second loop. The first loop flew by. I think all the jockeying for position took my mind off everything else. The second loop dragged a little more, and I was still running into people off and on. I just tried to enjoy it. I was doing an Ironman! The water was perfect. I only saw two jellyfish. There were no big waves throwing me around or making me seasick like I feared. I had felt my skin tingle a couple times. Could that have been a jellyfish sting? It didn’t hurt enough. It could just be the residual from a good kick or punch. Who knows? I never felt overly tired on the swim. My training had set me up well. I got out of the water with a giant smile on my face. When I did my HIM last summer, I couldn’t imagine doing a second 1.2 mile loop. I just did two loops in 1:29. I slapped hands with fans on the course and had so much energy I ran all the way to the changing tent. I was actually surprised that I was one of a very few that was running. Most everybody was walking.

Transition 1:
Wow. There were a lot of women in there. Where to go? I finally found a spot right in the middle of the room, and everything was wet and sandy, so pulling out the stuff in my bag was tricky. I was trying to hurry. “Lori!” It was my friend Amy. She was in there, already dressed and leaving. She had beaten me in the swim! I was sad because her swim times weren’t as strong as mine this past summer, but I quickly pushed it out of my head. Be happy for her. We both did awesome! This race was for me anyways. I just had to finish. It wasn’t about beating anyone. It was about beating the clock. Go Amy!

The Bike

I was told that my tongue would swell from the salt water and not to let it freak me out. As it turned out, my tongue didn't feel swollen, but it did feel like it was covered in hair for the first hour and a half. It was just a weird feeling.

I really wanted to maintain at least 15 mph, so I kept it right there. Everybody and their grandmother was passing me. Deal with it. I stopped to go to the bathroom at the 1:30 mark. I had to wait in line for three people. I didn’t like that, but I tried to appreciate the butt time off the seat. I saw lots of people with flat tires. One poor guy had a tv camera about two inches from his nose while he changed his tire. I felt bad for him. Who the heck wants a camera in your face at a time like that?

The special needs stop was kind of fun. It was like a drive up service. They had boxes with sets of 50 numbers per box set up along the road for about a quarter of a mile. My box was near the end. I rode up to it and a volunteer handed me my bag. There were two other girls next to me. One was eating a PB & J. Ooh! That sounds good! She offered me a bite (aren’t triathletes the best?!) I declined because I had my own. It was good, too! (I ran into her again later, she asked “Are you the PB & J girl?” I had fun talking to lots of people on the bike.)

I remembered that my coach had told me to start out at the pace I thought I would be riding at the 90 mile mark. I had originally forgotten that, but luckily I didn’t go out hard anyways. I remembered this, because suddenly I started to pass people. From halfway on, I passed people, and some passed me. My coach was absolutely right when he said people would go out too hard and blow up later on.

My butt started to hurt around hour 3. I just told myself, “Don’t be surprised! You even blogged about how you know your butt always hurts between hours 3 & 4 and then it gets a little better.” I did start to get really tired though. This course is flat, which is nice, but there is no recourse. You never get to coast. You just have to pedal, pedal, pedal. Argh. I wanted to savor every moment on the bike, but I was definitely getting tired. I swear the mileage between miles 90 and 100 were wrong. It sure did seem like 20 miles instead of 10. When we turned to head into to town, I got a spring in my step again. I only had a handful of miles left, and I had just crossed the 7 hour mark. I was going to come in around 7.5 hours. I got teary at that moment (that was the only moment the entire race). I thought for sure I would do 8 or 8.5 hours. I bettered what I thought I could do. I was going to have 8 hours for the run. I WAS GOING TO DO THIS!!!!! Barring any stomach issues, I was going to finish! I was so happy.

It hurt to walk when I got off the bike. Our parents had signed up to bodymark, and they were STILL in the transition area. No wonder they weren’t out on the bike course cheering us on (but we had other friends that were. They were awesome! Thanks Matt, Dani, and Julie!) I couldn’t believe our parents were still there in the transition area. My father in-law handed me my bag. I could tell he was really proud of me. My mom cheered. I could hardly walk I was so stiff. I went in, changed my clothes (with the help of an awesome volunteer), and suddenly my legs felt fresh again.

I started running.