Wow!

Wow.

That is my review of the bike course at CdA

Just, wow.

We drove it today, and then I rode the out and back a couple times. The course is ABSOLUTELY PERFECT. In every way. It's gorgeous, for one. It goes right by 2 different lakes and through a lovely cottage town. It meanders through back roads with light traffic and courteous drivers. The roads are well maintained, smooth, and cleaned. And the best part....

it has hills

Beautiful, rolling hills. Steep hills, long hills. And they are really in the perfect place. The first 20 miles are easy, then 25 miles of hills, then 11 miles downhill to the finish (or turnaround). I think it would be hard to make a more ideal Ironman course. I highly recommend that anyone who even thinks they MIGHT want to sign up for this race to do it!

Here is some photo evidence. First, look how happy Mike Honcho looks! He's totally in his element:



Me at the out and back turnaround. Excuse the taper weight and tanlines ;-)




The road the out and back of the bike course and run course runs along:



Lake CdA



Finished the day with a nice swim in chilly Lake CdA, and then over to Qdoba for a veggie burrito...

and...

maybe just a couple Reeces Pieces. Don't tell anyone!!!!!!!!!!

Guess where I am?????

Got into town today. It's wonderful here! Reminds me of summers in northern Wisconsin. People are very friendly, the landscape is green and lush and the weather is perfect!

I'm surprisingly calm and happy. Had a lot of laughs today with Paulo as we cruised around the town and got some dinner at a Thai restaurant. My IT band is quite sore and achy, but I'll do everything I can to help that heal up by race day. The week is really light with training. Probably no running, a fair bit of swimming, and just enough biking to get me comfortable that the bike is set up right and to get used to the race wheels again.

Tomorrow is just really laid back, so I'll take lots more pictures. More friends and family start arriving Thursday and that's when things will start moving for real! For now, I'm enjoying the time here as a nice vacation. So far... I love Idaho!

Time to build up that mental game

I was feeling very confident and relaxed yesterday. I had another short run on the schedule and it felt fabulous! For the first 7 minutes... then my IT band flared. Of all things to worry about, that was one that I thought was a thing of the past. 10 ART treatments, rest and stretching and I thought it was gone.

So the past 24 hours I have spend alternating between feeling sorry for myself and scouring youtube for motivational videos.

But you know what? Screw the knee. The kneecap is healed and feels great. If the IT band wants to flare for 26 miles, let it flare! If I need to do some walking, I'll do some walking. But I didn't train this hard to let something like this get me down. Sunday will be fun. It will be a challenge. I will feel a full range of emotions- I'll feel hurt, excitement, joy, pain, but I'm not going to be disappointed. If I have to go slower than I had wanted, I'll use my extra energy to cheer on my fellow competitors. I saw this today on Slowtwitch and it is my new motto

Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it

Game on

My Ironman, in pictures, as interpreted by my nephew

Stretch, stretch, stretch! It's almost time to race. This is so fun. I can't WAIT to start!


Swim: Don't tell me you just swam over me biatch... no you Didn't!



Bike: This first loop is pretty easy. I can't believe I have to keep my heart rate below 150! I'm barely moving


Second loop: Now THIS is getting fun! I'm cruising! YeeeeHaw!



Run: Look at me- I'm standing for the first time in HOURS! This is pretty cool



Oh, good GOD, can I get back on my bike now? This is pure torture!


Only a couple miles left, maybe I CAN make it....



Finishers chute: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!



And the crowd goes WILD!



That was great. Can't wait to do it again next year!

With a little help from my friends...

Another super fun taper day in the books. And it's all thanks to a new group of friends that have been just wonderful! Jeff and Joel from Tri-Wisconsin have taken me under their wings to make sure I get all my taper workouts in. So last night was the Pewaukee Lake swim and tequila challenge. We also had very special guests all the way from Kona, Hawaii- my friend Will from Smartasscamp and his family! It was so great to see them and they're also coming down today for my last longish ride before CdA.

We started off the day by dropping Mike Honcho off at the bike shop. They gave him a quick tune-up and fixed his new pink bar tape that had ALREADY fallen off (don't get me started...). A big thanks to the people at Transitions bike shop in Pewaukee for helping me out for FREE. And what a cool tri-shop!

Then we hit the lake. We got a dual swim/resistance training workout as we swam through some pretty thick weeds. Weeds or no weeds, it's still great to be in open water.

Then we hit a mexican restaurant for some margaritas and oh, so nutritious chips, guacamole, and tacos. I have officially decided that I will not be looking at the scale for my CdA weigh-in. But it's so worth it. I've had such a nice and relaxing taper. Just what I needed!

Here is the photo evidence- Jeff, Joel, Me, and Will. I'm the tall one...




And now your moment of Zen courtesy of nephew Casey...

Disaster averted!

Phew!

I thought I was going to have to ask my blogger friends to give me some strength in this difficult time. There was something very dear to me that was missing after the basement flood incident. Something absolutely crucial to my taper. Something so hard to replace. We looked high and low, in complete desperation. As we were about to give up and collapse in exhaustion, we found it:



Don't worry, friends. The peanut M&M dispenser has been found!

You can just call me #2033

BIB NUMBERS ARE UP, BIB NUMBERS ARE UP!

It's real now. I have a number. Thank GOD. I can't imagine bouncing off the walls for 2 weeks and then not having a nice release for all this energy!!!!!!!!!!! I'm seriously going nutso!

Time for randomness:

I'm loving taper and vacation. So much relaxing, sun, family, new friends. Good stuff! There is a wonderful group of triathlon guys in Milwaukee that are taking care of me here. Joel from Tri-Wisconsin took me swimming yesterday and we had a great set. The 8 x 100 at race pace just about killed me. Joel did the whole workout with me without a single complaint. Not even when I made him do 2 x 400 breathe every 3,5,7,9 by 100. That was tough! He's taking me on my ride today and then a bunch of people are meeting at Pewaukee Lake tomorrow for an open water swim and tequila challenge (in that order, don't worry). Sounds like my idea of a Friday!

Here are some pics of my taper...

We played with bubbles



Ate some cookie dough



Had a good laugh at my nephew too. He discovered his little soldier this week.... and thinks we all need to see it. He went up to my dad the other day, pulled down his pants, and proudly exclaimed: Look Papa, it's up!!!

Relaxed, doggie style



Relaxed, Jodi style



Also having some fun over on Slowtwitch. My CdA time is the tie-breaker for Tom Ziebart's competition to win a signed gatorade hat. You can see the predictions so far here

My parents are going through a rough spell, so we're trying to make the best of it. In the past month my Dad lost his job (I won't get into the nasty business practices of the pharmaceutical industry but lets just say he was encouraged to retire), and the basement flooded after the washing machine broke. We're talking major damage. The basement is a living space and so far all walls have been torn out and carpeting removed. Likely we will have to buy all new furniture too. So we're trying to take everything as a blessing in disguise. I'm going to spend a lot more time with Dad this summer and we are really going to enjoy this vacation! As for the basement, my mom's best friend Glenna is coming over today and we are going to have some fun redesigning the basement (thank God for home owner's insurance!). Glenna has been like a second Mom to me, so I'm really looking forward to spending some time with her. And she is one hell of a designer, so she'll have great plans for us for that flooded space!

OK, time for me to go find some other outlet for this energy now. I think sunning by the pool sounds like a good idea today...