I am an Ironman!

Details later in a race report...

Thanks to all the supporters (in person and online) though!

TGIF!

TGIF - because today is like my Friday. A nice short work week since I have some packing to do. My list is now (I think) complete. I have some shopping to do tonight...and a wetsuit to pick up mid-day. I did not do a damn thing last night other than set up the new Garmin...and see Harry Potter 6, which I loved. Patrick seemed to like it, too. There was a lot more humor in it than I expected - fun! Speaking of the new Garmin, it is now fully charged and ready for its trial run tonight.

Lake Placid here I come...

My race plan...

Last night I worked on my race plan along with my lengthy packing list. I was pretty happy when I saved it last night... I planned to review it one final time tonight before printing it out to go along with all of my OTHER documentation for the weekend.

Then today I thoguht of a few more items for my list!

Along with a couple of additional errands I have to and want to run.

And while typing *this* thought of yet another item that also needs to be purchased!

Pre-race freak-out, perhaps?

Anyway, my easy run last night and my shortened swim this morning both went well. My new Garmin arrived and that will get charged, set up, and used tomorrow morning for track practice - can't wait! However I might do the track workout tomorrow after work...so I can sleep in a bit. This new Garmn is good for swimming with, too.

So...I wonder how many more things I will add to today's list before I send it tomyself at home?

Today is...

Today is work - hard time focusing, then a '30 minute easy run', then after dinner it will be time to complete my race plan! I've procrastinated enough and need to put down on paper what is rolling around in my head! I have notes from the new IM peeps meeting last week also, and I want to make sure I cover everything!

On a fun note: the additional Team Z Support Crew t-shirts arrived today, along with my other new pair of tri shorts. I think I am all set! That is, I have everything I need...

Tomorrow - Tuesday - I only have a swim in the morning, and only an hour at that. So tomorrow night I think I will go see Harry Potter with my son - it will be fun to disappear in that for a few hours.

To repeat Maggie's comment from my FB status: Holy Cow! 6 days! And really, per the official Ironman countdown timer, it is *only* 5 days and 14 hours and... Yikes! And the seconds keep ticking away...

Cool!

The last ride...

Today was the last group ride - only 40 miles - with Team Z... The last ride before Lake Placid, that is! I have a 30 minute easy ride on the schedule for Thursday, of course then I will BE in Lake Placid, so I should get that done right when I get there - which might be nice after the long car ride. We'll see...

Anyway, the ride was just about perfect. The weather was fabulous - no wind, no heat, no rain! The company of course was the best - my riding buddies! What else could you ask for?

After the ride it was massage time with Robin, another Team Zer who just completed Ironman Switzerland with Es and Jason.

After the massage I swam in the outdoor pool - a straight 1.24 miles. It felt great and being in the outdoor pool was a nice change from being indoors. I wonder why I don't do it more often? I also tested out one of my new pairs of goggles. They are of course the same as I always get - Speedo Women's Vanquisher. This time in ORANGE! They go well with one of my newer suits, too.

What a great weekend!

What a day...

Today was a fabulous day! The weather could not have been nicer - low humidity and not too hot. That is amazing for July in Northern Virginia. I headed out for my 1 hour scheduled run a bit late - I think it was close to 10AM. It was a little breezy and just really, really nice. My legs seemed to take a while to loosen up - my calves mostly. I think it was close to 40 minutes before they felt loose. But by the time I finished I just wanted to keep on running! So I guess that is good.

After the run I went to the pool for about an hour or so - more work on the funky tan lines. Then I cleaned up and ran a few errands: I got two pairs of goggles, tri shorts, and two tubes. Then, tonight after dinner I took my rear wheel off, again, and got the yucky new tire off. Took the tube out and found it was pinched and had a teeny leak - glad I found out this way! Then I put the good new tire on all by myself and got a new tube inserted then actually FINISHED mounting it. All withOUT tools! I am sticking with these tires!!! The only thing I have not done yet is practiced using the CO2 cartridge...soon though. :)

Well...one week from tonight I will be doing final preparations for Ironman. Probably packing my special needs bags and reviewing my race plan... Wow - it is almost here! I can't wait!!

TGI...R!

Thank God it's Restday! And Friday, too, of course. I hope to get out of work a bit early and go relax at the pool again. Our office tends to close by 3:00PM on Friday, so as long as the weather cooperates, I should get about an hour poolside. :) I may do a very easy spin tonight on my bike on the trainer, to make up for the ride I did not do Tuesday night. Of course if I do this it will no longer be 'Restday' for me. :)

I am now in my final taper days before race day, which is a WEEK from Sunday. Gosh, that is not much time! This weekend I *only* have a one hour run on Saturday and a 40 mile ride on Sunday. That does not seem like much... But I remember the first time I rode 30 miles - it seemed like such a big deal. Haha!

This morning when I got to work I got my shipping confirmation / notice for the tires. They are scheduled to be delivered by 3:00PM - how convenient! The sooner they come the sooner I can leave, most likely!

Today this does kind of freak me out. So maybe my 'freakout' period is (finally) starting! Since I plan on working on my 'race plan' this weekend and hopefully gathering things together I will be in full-on freakout mode! And yesterday, Coach Ed came out with the Team Z schedule of events and the cheering guide for our family friends. That certainly makes it more real! But whatever...I cannot wait for race day! I am so excited about this I've been on journey - next Sunday will be the final stop!

Tires and Tired!

I will start with tired! This morning I was very tired during our swim workout. It could be the fact that I was out till 10PM last night! We saw Joe Cocker with good friends at Wolf Trap! It was a nice show and a beautiful night for an outdoor concert. My arms just felt very tired...and we had some Z4 work, though not lots...but I went and I survived!

As for tires...I was trying to decide if I should get new tires for my bike - just like the ones I've been using for the past several months. I had to replace the rear tire due to a bad spot on it, and while I have another set of brand new tires, they are different and I had a hard time mounting it myself - had to ask Jeff for help. Argh...

So, yesterday I ordered two tires - one to mount now and one as my race day spare. However, I did 'regular' shipping. After thinking about it and realizing I needed time on the new tire, I called today to see if I could get the shipment changed to next day delivery. But it was too late! So. I did a brand new order for next day, which means I'll get them tomorrow and have it mounted for my ride on Sunday. Yay! When the original order arrives (which is actually coming to the local store) I can tell them I do not need them and they will return them for me and then I will get a refund...

All of this so I am 'comfortable' on race day! I want the confidence of knowing I can actually remove the tire from the rim with little difficulty. And at that point I will have had LOTS of practice removing the BACK wheel off of my bike. And putting it back on again.

9 days...!

2377...

Unless things change, 2377 is my bib number for IM USA!

The numbers were posted today... Cool!

Back to the track...

...and one more taper workout done! This morning I met Team Z at the track for my scheduled speed work. I have to say, I do appreciate running in the morning as opposed to the evening. And I could not do the workout tonight, because we are going to see Joe Cocker at Wolftrap. So I was very motivated to get up and run!

Aside from my breathing / sinus problems (the never ending sinus infection) the workout went OK. And it was a lot easier than last week's speed workout! Between the warm-up, speed work, and cool down I got about 4 miles in. However, I feel very...tired.

Last night I had a 40 minute Z2 ride schedule...but I also need to (try) to change out my rear tire because the one that was mounted had some tread missing...anyway, I coud NOT get the new tire mounted and had to wait for Jeff to get home. By the time he did it was pretty late but I did get a test loop done in my parking lot. Of course, I could have ridden the trainer, but I had a movie on in the kitchen and was cooking dinner...I may try to make up the ride on Friday evening...we'll see. But seeing how I could not mount the tire myself I need to decide - and quickly - if I want to get a replacement tire to match the one I removed and use that for IM USA...at least I know I can easily remove and mount that one. The positive thing in all this though is I've now gotten my rear wheel off and back on my bike twice in the last couple weeks.

Last long swim...

Today was the last long swim practice at least. I will have a long swim in less than two weeks now! YIKES! Of course, that will be part of even bigger things...you know, that Ironman thing!

Today's long swim was different than the other ones that I've gone to in the past few weeks. This morning we did a straight 90-minute swim. (I don't know if we did one already though, as I missed the first two long swims.) Wow...my back was aching a bit after, but that is normal for me. I did stop periodically to get a drink from my bottle or let a lane mate pass me. All in all it was a good practice. I felt good afterwards. Yay!

Last night Coach Ed had a meeting for new Ironman people about 'what to expect' during race weekend. It was pretty informatinve. There were about a dozen or so people there. Ed talked about having a race plan - and back-up plans - for all aspects of the race: mental preparation, nutrition, clothing, etc. I've got a couple of sample plans and will need to work on my own this weekend. Or sooner! He talked about the Team Z plans for the weekend as well. He said he would provide more information on that soon.

It is starting to feel very real now...but while I'm nervous about it I think it is good nervous and I'm not freaking out. Yet. :) But it is all good - I have waited almost a whole year for the day to come...which is now in 11 days!!

Monday, Monday...

And one week closer to IM USA! Well, now we are less than two weeks away. So far I'm still pretty calm. People ask me if I am ready...and I say Yes, I am ready as I am going to get! But really, yes, I am ready for whatever the day brings.

So, for my weekend adventures...most of the weekend went according to the plan I had in place:

Friday night cookout - check
Saturday morning bike - changed to the run because we got home too late Friday night and I needed more sleep
Saturday afternoon party - check
Saturday late afternoon swim - no go - the party ran too late
Sunday morning bike - check
Sunday aftenroon lunch with friend - check

It was a great weekend! It was good to see all of my family that was in town for the party on Friday and Saturday night. Some folks I have not seen in quite a few years and it brought tears to my eyes (this would be my god child who is all grown up now!)

And the countdown to IM USA continues...I've been reading the athlete's guide and am anxioulsy awaiting my race number! I hope to find that out sometime this week. Then a week from Thursday we leave for Lake Placid!! However, tonight I will gather with other first time Team Z Ironman peeps for a QA/what to expect session!

A busy weekend ahead...

So, I wrote down on my Facebook status that I was looking forward to my weekend activities...someone asked what I was doing so I wrote it all down...

Friday:
- I have a family cookout tonight (lots of folks in town for a party tomorrow)
- I am *hoping* to get out of work a tad earlier than usual so I can go relax at the pool for an hour first

Saturday:
- a 60-mile bike ride in the morning
- a family reunion celebrating my aunt's 80th birthday in the afternoon
- followed by a 2-mile(?) swim at the pool (hopefully)

Sunday:
- a 2-hour run in the morning
- lunch and girl time with a good friend in the afternoon

Is that enough? :) Gosh, I'm tired now, just seeing of all that in writing!

Maybe this Ironman thing in 15 days won't be so bad! (Ha - kidding!)

Getting closer...

Yikes, as of yesterday, Ironman USA is only 2 weeks and 6 days away. I cannot believe it is almost here! I feel like I've been waiting forever...but it has really only been less than a year...

And speaking of yikes! Es, Jason and Robin (some of my Team Z teammates) have only 6 days until the start of Ironman Switzerland. Go guys!!! I will be tracking them online!

Speaking of yesterday, for the first time I rode Skyline Drive. It was a nice ride that had a climb that went from about 600 feet to about 3,000 feet. Then we turned around and 'flew' back to where we started. While we did a lot of hill riding this season it was nice to get this ride under my belt before Lake Placid.

Happy Monday!